Development Notes

Early Brain Development

Developmental psychologists study how the mind and brain change across the lifespan.
The brain is composed of over 80 billion nerve cells (neurons).
Neurons communicate and process information.
Each neuron has a cell body with a nucleus, and a fibre called an axon.
Axon terminal releases chemicals called neurotransmitters.
Brain development begins around the third week of pregnancy.
Stem cells transform into any type of neuron.
Main structures of the central nervous system take shape by day 56.
The brain is largely complete by half-way through pregnancy.
Key structure complete by birth.

Brain stem: Autonomic functions such as breathing and heartbeat
Thalamus: Completes some basic sensory processing and relays signals to the cerebral cortex
Cerebellum: Controls precise physical movement and helps to coordinate actions
Cerebral cortex: Cognition - thinking, perception and most memory processes; the visual cortex is part of the cerebral cortex

A newborn baby has a more complex level of interconnections in their brain than an adult.
Neural development occurs by pruning unnecessary connections.
The brain becomes more attuned to its environment.
Connections are strengthened, as the child learns rapidly.
A stimulating environment is required.
Brain development continues until at least adolescence.
The brain shows plasticity throughout life.

Human psychological development depends on both input from a child's environment and the expression of genes.
Nature: Genes are more important than the environment.
Nurture: Upbringing and life experiences are more important.
Twin studies compare the psychology of identical and non-identical twins.
A gene is a sequence of DNA.
Expression of a gene causes the body to produce a protein.
Genes affect the development of the body.
Life experiences make human beings unique.
Parenting plays a key role in a child's educational success.
Genes and life experiences work in combination.
Genes can be switched off or on depending on life experiences.
Epigenetics is the study of this process and how the environment impacts gene expression.

Piaget believed that children develop schemas, which change and develop as they grow up.
Schemas develop through two key processes: assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation means fitting new information into an existing schema.
Accommodation means changing a schema, or developing a new one.
Younger children are not just worse at thinking than adults, but they solve problems in different ways.
Centration is the tendency of young children to focus on one element of a problem and ignore others.
Logical operations allow older children to show conservation of volume, mass and other properties.

Children's thinking goes through four main stages from birth to the age of 11:
- Sensorimotor (0-2 years): Schemas are based on movements and interactions with physical objects.
- Pre-operational (2-7 years): Thinking is egocentric; exhibit centration.
- Concrete operational (8-11 years): Can make logical operations but are limited to concrete problems.
- Formal operational (11+ years): Can think in the abstract.
Piaget suggested that a child will learn to do things when they are biologically ready.
Schools should facilitate discovery learning with support.

The theory of learning styles suggests that everyone has a way of learning that suits them best - visual, auditory or kinaesthetic.
There is no reliable scientific evidence for the learning styles theory.
Combining both verbal and visual information improves memory.
Factual knowledge is essential.