Developmental Topic 1: Developing as a Learner

Brain Development

Brain Development

The physical development of the brain (the organ)

Includes neurogenesis, the migration of neurons, differentiation, and pruning

occurs in 4 stages:

1. Neurogenesis: the birth of neurons, complete in gestation (conception-birth)

2. The migration of neurons to their correct location along neural pathways (9 weeks after conception)

3. Differentiation: development of connections between neurons (rapid growth conception-2 years)

4. Pruning: elimination of these connections as well as neurons themselves; increases efficiency in the brain (rapid pruning age 1 through the end of adolescence; another spurt of pruning in old age)

NMDP- not many ducks prune?

Brain development studies

1. chugani

2. luby

Cognitive Development

The development of the mind: personality, mental abilities, learning, etc.

Includes many theories about the stages of development;

there are two theories for this

1. piaget

2. vygotsky

Piaget

is a theory of cognitive development

• proposed that all children pass through developmental stages of logical thinking in the same order regardless of person or culture

Stages:

1. sensimotor period ((0-2 years)

2. preoperational period (2-7)

3. concrete operational period (7-11)

4. formal operational period (11-adulthood)

within each stage:

• assimilation- learning new informaiton to add to existing schemas

• accomodation- learning to incorporate new realities into existing schemas in order to function in the world

• equilibration- mental balancce attained through assimilating new experiences into mental schemas

STUDIES:

• Samuel & Bryant + Ahmad

Vygotsky

is a theory of cognitive development

• explains cognitive development as a process of internalizing culture through language and interaction with more knowledgeable peers and adults

the three levels of development:

1. cultural - children inherit cultural tools from society(like signs and language)

2. Interpersonal - interaction between cultural and the individual; experiences of socialization lead hildren towards self sufficiency

3. individual - switch from external regulation to self regulation

STUDIES

• Trainor + Paulus

  • trainor is not needed because when asked to discuss one theory you should just discuss piaget and NOT vygotsky

chugani

Brain development

• Qualitative

• Case Study

• Convenience sampling

aim: to investigate effects of early deprivation on brain development

process: pet scans were used to measure brain development of children adopted by US families from Romanian orphanages.

Orphans PET scans were compared to two control groups:

-non-orphan adults

-age-matched children with focal epilepsy

results:

all orphans showed significant deviations from the norm at the time of adoption. after a year, substantial “catch up” was reported in all orphans.

orphans showed decreased glucose metabolism in some brain areas, particularly the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and lateral temporal cortex → may result from the stress of early deprivation and may be involved in the long-term cognitive and behavioral disturbances observed in some orphans.

luby

Brain development

• Qualitative

• Meta-analysis - Use other people’s data

aim: To investigate whether poverty in early childhood impacts brain development at school age and to explore the mediators of this effect.

process:

Children were evaluated on psychosocial, behavioral, and other developmental dimensions. Participants included healthy preschoolers and those with clinical symptoms of depression.

Brain volumes of children’s white matter and cortical gray matter, as well as the hippocampus and amygdala volumes, were obtained using magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)

results:

Poverty was associated with smaller white and cortical gray matter and hippocampal and amygdala volumes.

The effects of poverty on hippocampal volume were mediated by caregiving, support, hostility, and stressful life events

implies: stress and poverty are bad for developing brains

• attempts to enhance early caregiving should be a focused public health target for prevention and early intervention

Ahmad

PIAGET

Aim: to investigate the role of play in the cognitive development of children

Procedure: a survey was given to 300 middle school students in public and private schools in Lahore, Pakistan. Questions addressed the role of play in cognitive development at the formal operations stage (Piaget), based on memorization ability, exploration ability, understanding ability, and problem solving.

Results: no significant difference between memorization, exploration, understanding, and problem solving abilities on the basis of their ages.

HOWEVER there’s a significant difference between memorization , exploration , understanding , and problem solving abilities on the basis of their play duration.

Implies: students who give more time to play in a day, have rapidly enhanced abilities of cognitive development due to play duration and their high achievement level at the formal operational stage.

• They think more logically and solve problems more efficiently than others.

Paulus

VYGOTSKY

• Both quantitative and qualitative

Aim: to investigate the relationship between prosocial behavior in infancy along with cognitive and social skills with sharing behavior

Procedure: A longitudinal study where children from white, middle-class families of Germany were tested at the ages of 7 months, 18 months, 24 months, 30 months, 48 months, and 60 months.

Cognitive Development: Goal-encoding, working memory

Social Development: instrumental helping, empathic reasoning, gift delay, inhibitory control, perspective taking, and sharing behavior.

Results:  Sharing= prosocial play with peers (the role of peers and play)*

-Found a relationship between delay of gratification at 24 months and inhibitory control at 30 months with sharing behavior at 5 years.

-Found a relationship between distress understanding at 24 months and sharing with friends at preschool age

-Found a relationship between goal encoding at 7 months and sharing with a disliked other at 5 years

*Overall, shows relationships between object manipulation and pretend play stages

*Supports Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development as interconnected with sociocultural factors / the environment

Samuel & Bryant

PIAGET

• Quantitative

• Experiment

• Opportunity

Aim: to challenge the standard Piagetian conservation task by changing parts of the procedure

Procedure: 3 conditions used the same question: “Do each of these containers/rows/lumps have the same amount of liquid/number of coins/amount of clay or does one have more than the other?

1. The standard Piagetian task: the child was asked the same 2 questions (one before and one after the transformation of the material)

2. The child sees the materials before and after, then is asked one question after transformation

3. The child only sees the materials after they have been transformed and is then asked only one question. (fixed-array control)

Results:

-Asking only the post-transformation question (group 2) was typically easier for participants than the standard Piagetian task (group 1)  and the fixed-array control (group 3)

-Age: there was a significant difference between every age group, the older groups doing consistently better than younger groups

-Materials: the number task was significantly easier than the mass and volume tasks

Implies: Older children have better cognitive function

Limitation: age group could have been wider

Studies for

1. Discuss ethical considerations in the study of developing as a learner.

2. Discuss one or more research methods used to understand developing as a learner

3. Contrast two theories of cognitive development.

PIAGET VS. VYGOTSKY - Samuel & Bryant + Paulus

Studies for

3. Discuss the role of brain development in developing as a learner.

4. Discuss developing as a learner from a biological approach.

Chugani + Luby

5. Discuss one theory of cognitive development.

PIAGET- Samuel & Bryant + Ahmad