brain developing as a learner

Potential ERQ

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

How does the brain develop?

the brain develops from ‘back to front’, with the first areas to mature being the hind and mid-brain which help with grasping and sucking, movement and sight, and the last area to develop is the frontal cortex which develops at around 21and it is is associated with decision-making, planning, and reflection.

What’s the correlation between brain development and being a learner?

some correlation between brain development and developing as a learner, with new neural connections being formed every day, and cognitive functions developing in parallel to these.

What is neural pruning and dendritic branching?

Neural pruning is where old neural connections are pruned to make room for new neural connections and dendritic branching is where more branches are grown on the dendrites of neurons in the brain to send electrochemical messages down the axon.

What studies would be used?

Chungani and Geidd

What’s the aim of Chungani?

to investigate brain development of infants

What was the design?

PET scans and a cross sectional research design.

What was the sample?

Children aged between 0-12 months of all genders

What was the method?

• PET scans were conducted on all of the children to investigate glucose metabolism.

• They were injected with radioactive glucose, an injection similar to a normal solution except a scanner can detect it.

• The more 'active' an area in the brain of a child, the more glucose they were injected with. They were scanned again to see which areas showed sign of activity, thus development.

What did he find?

• A baby’s brain develops neuronal connections (white matter) from the back to the front.

• Glucose metabolism in the brain of a newborn baby is 30% lower than adults

• Glucose metabolic rates decreases to adult levels by ages 16-18 in adolescence.

What are 2 strengths of chungani?

• cross sectional

• Large sample

What was a weakness of chugani?

• Independent samples design so the participants may be different

• It wasn’t longitudinal so you couldn’t see change over time.

What was the aim of Giedd?

To investigate whether

What was the design?

Longitudinal study where they used MRI scans in children

What was the sample?

95 males and 66 females.

What was the method.

Scans were conducted every 2 years on children between 6-20 years which is repeated measures design.

What did Geidd find?

• 95% of the brain structure is formed when the child is 5-6 but areas in the pre frontal cortex grow again in adolescence

The lateral prefrontal cortex doesn’t mature till early 20s and it is responsible for controlling impulses

What do these 2 studies provide evidence for?

It suggests a direct correlation between brain development and development as a learner and is certainly supported by Piaget’s stage theory which depends on biological readiness for transition from one developmental stage to another

What’s the conclusion?

while brain development is correlated with cognitive development it isn’t the main reason for it. Brain development cannot account for individual differences in cognitive development. This means developing as a learner is a complex process and can’t be simplified.