GCSE Psychology - Development (AQA) Exam Questions and Answers

GCSE Psychology - Development (AQA) Exam Questions and Answers Autonomic function - Answer-involuntary bodily functions such as breathing and heart rate. Brain stem - Answer-the part of the brain that controls basic functions such as breathing and heart rate. Cerebellum - Answer-a small, wrinkled structure at the back of the brain which coordinates motor movement, dexterity, and balance, among other things. Cognition - Answer-the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge; these include thinking, planning and problem solving. Cortex - Answer-the outer layer of the brain where higher cognitive functions takes place, e.g. speech. Thalamus - Answer-the part of the brain that passes information from the sense organs to the cortex. Nature - Answer-The idea that our characteristics and behaviour are inherited. Nurture - Answer-The idea that our characteristics and behaviour are influenced by the environment. Twin studies - Answer-Identical twins share 100% of their genes. Non-identical twins share around 50% of their genes. Where there are more common traits between identical twins than non-identical twins, it is likely that this is due to nature. But where their are common traits between all twins that have been raised in the same environment then this is likely to be due to nurture. Newborn baby studies - Answer-Newborn baby studies are important as there will be very little nurture impacting the baby before birth. Psychologists have found that besides being able to cry, newborn babies can also recognise faces. This means that nature is responsible for these abilities. As babies are not able to talk much later on, it is believed that nurture is responsible for language development. Animal studies - Answer-Baby rats were kept in cages on their own with no toys. Another group of baby rats were kept in cages together with a lot of stimulating toys. The rats then lived in the group in the stimulating environment development bigger brains and demonstrated better problem solving skills than the rats that lived on their own. This supports the idea that nurture is very important for early brain development. Cognitive development - Answer-All of the things that go on inside your brain, including perception, thinking, memory, attention, language, problem-solving, and learning. Schemas - Answer-Blocks of knowledge that develop in response to our experiences of the world. Assimilation - Answer-When new information is added to an existing schema. Accommodation - Answer-Changing a schema, or developing new schema to cope with new situations Concrete operational - Answer-The ability to apply logic to physical (concrete) objects to solve problems Conservation - Answer-Knowing that the amount of something stays the same, even though its appearance might change Egocentric - Answer-Not being able to see things from another's point of view Pre-operational - Answer-Before logic being unable from another person's point of view Sensorimotor - Answer-Learning through the senses and by physical (motor) activities. Formal operational - Answer-The ability to apply logic in an abstract (non-physical) way to solve problems, for example mental calculations. Sensorimotor stage - Answer-(0-2) Stage of development where children develop object permanence, in accordance to Piaget's study where a toy was hidden under a blanket while the children was watching, to see if the child would look for it under the blanket and therefore demonstrate object permenance. Pre-operational stage - Answer-(2-7) The stage where children are still egocentric. Piaget investigated this using the Mountain Study. Children were presented with three mountains and a doll seeing a different view of the mountains to the child. The child was asked to select the photo that showed the doll's view. Children over the age of 7 could select the right photo. Concrete operational stage - Answer-(7-11) Stage of development where children have developed the ability to conserve, in accordance to Piaget's study in which children were shown two rows of counters and asked if there were the same number of counters in each row. The experimenter spread out the counters in one row and asked the same question. Children over the age of 7 showed conservation and said that there were still the same number of counters in each row. Formal operational stage - Answer-(11+ years) A main feature of this stage is that children can solve problems in a systematic way. Children were given different lengths of string and a number of weights that could be attached to the string. The child's tas