GCSE Psychology 9-1

Psychology 9-1 GCSE -  7.2.2 - Van Houtte and Jarvis (1995) The Role of Pets in Preadolescent Psychosocial Development: Aims - To investigate the impact of pet ownership on adolescent personality provided evidence in terms of self-esteem and a more positive self-concept. Procedures -  130 pupils aged 8-13 white american, divided into two groups, pet owners and non pet owners and then matched on marital status, wealth and siblings. Results - 1. Higher self esteem was reported in pet owners than non pet owners. 2. 11 years old with pets had more positive self concept. 3. Higher autonomy was reported by pet owners of all ages. Conclusions -  Pet owning adolescents would report higher levels of autonomy and self esteem than non pet owners. Pets provide unconditional positive regard for pet owners.  Strengths - The results of the experiment were content with the hypothesis. Well known scales were used which is a reliable way of measuri...

Psychology 9-1 GCSE -  1.2.2 - Gunderson et al. (2013) Parent Praise to 1-to 3-Year-Olds Predicts Children's Motivational Frameworks 5 Years Later: Aims -  Researchers wanted to know if children are effected by different types of parent praise given in a natural setting. If parents give girls less process praise and more person praise than boys. Parents use of process or person praise in early childhood influences the childs view later on. Procedures -  29 boys and 24 girls were visited at home every 4 months from when the child was 14 months old. The researchers looked at parents use of praise at home. 5 years later the children's ideas about the behavior was measured and related to the type of praise they had received. Results -  Process praise was 18% of all praise and person praise was 16%. 24% of praise for boys was process praise compared to 10% for girls. The more process praise received in early childhood, the more likely the children...

Psychology 9-1 GCSE -  1.1.3 -  Understand the effects of learning on development using Daniel Willingham's learning theory, including strengths and weaknesses of the theory: a) Factual Knowledge Precedes Skill -  In summary this is saying that factual knowledge of an activity or subject is crucial for becoming skilled in said subject or activity. An example is if someone asked two people to install RAM onto a motherboard, one of these people knows the science of computers and the other does not. Obviously the person with the knowledge of computers will figure it out and complete the task quicker than someone with no prior knowledge of computer layouts. b) The importance of practice and effort -  People say practice means perfect a lot and that's very true. When we practice anything our brains use trial and error to learn from mistakes we make and learn more effective ways of doing something. As well as our brains refining its motor skills, the mor...

Psychology 9-1 GCSE 1.1.3 -  Understand the effects of learning on development using Carol Dweck’s mindset theory, including strengths and weaknesses of the theory: a) Fixed Mindset -  Being set in certain ways of thinking and reacting to things like challenges, failure and criticism. Such as someone having the attitude that they can's solve something instead of persevering to solve it. b) Growth Mindset - Having a mindset that propels them to make effort in order to succeed in the face of failure. If someone with a fixed mindset failed at something they would give up and go find something easier to do whilst someone with a growth mindset would take it as an opportunity to improve themselves. c) Ability and effort -  Your ability is defined by the things you have the power and mental capability to complete. People with a fixed mindset often take ability as something that can not be expanded on or improved, but it can be improved with effort. Effo...

Psychology 9-1 GCSE 1.1.2 -  Understand the role of education and intelligence, including Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, and the four stages of cognitive development, including strengths and weaknesses of the theory: a) Sensorimotor -  This is the first stage of development in Piagets theory. It usually ranges between the ages 0 and 2. In this stage the child develops their sensory and motor skills by interacting with other children and their environment. b) Preoperational -  This is the second stage of development and ranges between ages 2 and 6. Children at this stage become increasingly able to internally represent events. They start to properly talk, engage in symbolic play and manipulate symbols.  c) Concrete Operational -  This is the third stage and ranges from ages 7 to 11. This marks the beginning of logical or operational thought. They start to comprehend and understand relativity. This means they start to work things out ...

Psychology 9-1 GCSE 1.1.1 - Understand early brain development, including the development of: a) Forebrain - Also called the proencephalon, the forebrain is the largest part of the brain. It is divided into two cerebral hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum (white matter). The surfaces of the hemispheres are made up of grey matter called the cerebral cortex. Your cortex has roles in perception, memory and all higher thought processes. Both hemispheres are split into 4 lobes (frontal, perietal, occipital, temporal). In the brain region there are three structures; thalamus, hypothalamus and pituary.  Thalamus is for organizing sensory information.  Hypothalamus is in charge of your endocrine system which transports hormones.  It also controls thermal regulation (your internal temperature).  Pituitary also helps control the endocrine system b) Midbrain - The midbrain serves as a vital connection point between the forebrain and the...