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College of Humanities and Education
School Of Education
Lautoka
FINAL EXAMINATION PAPER, TRIMESTER-1, 2014
EDU500: Growth and Development of a Child and an Adolescent Learner
Allocated Time: 3 hours
Reading Time: 10 minutes
Total Marks: 100
INSTRUCTIONS
1.
2.
The paper consists of three sections. All sections are compulsory.
If you use extra sheets of paper, be sure to write your Student ID NO. on the top right hand corner of each foolscap used and hand it in
with the ANSWER BOOKLET at the end of the examination.
3.
Write your ID number on every sheet of paper used.
SECTION
QUESTION TYPE
INSTRUCTIONS
MARKS
A
Concept Definitions: 3marks each
Define any ten concepts
30
B
Short Questions: 5 mark each.
All questions are compulsory
50
C
Paragraph/ Essay Type Questions: 10 marks each
Answer any two questions
20
TOTAL= 100
SECTION A
CONCEPT DEFINITION
30 MARKS
Define any 10 concepts with the use of examples. Each definition is worth
3 marks.
Answer:
Qualitative Change: Qualitative Change – change in the kind, structure or organization. Such as
nature of intelligence, the way mind works. From non verbal infant to a child who understands
and speaks. Qualitative differences focus on changes in the way children think, behave, and
perceive the world differently as they mature. An example of qualitative differences would be a
child that at a young age has difficulty understanding the perspectives of others (otherwise
known as egocentrism). Children's perceptions in thinking change as they get older and evolve
into the ability to see things from others' perspectives. This change in perception represents a
qualitative difference.
Quantitative Change: Quantitative Change – change in the number or amount of something
such as height & weight or increase in the number of words, phrases or sentences. Quantitative
differences in child development refer to the changes children encounter as they acquire more
knowledge and grow physically larger and stronger. An example of quantitative differences
would be a child who, after two years, has grown two inches and gained 10 pounds. Growth in
height and weight indicates a quantitative difference.
Classical Conditioning: Classical conditioning is a type of learning that had a major influence on
the school of thought in psychology known as behaviorism. Discovered by Russian physiologist
Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations
between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.
Behaviorism is based on the assumption that learning occurs through interactions with the
environment. Two other assumptions of this theory are that the environment shapes behavior
and that taking internal mental states such as thoughts, feelings, and emotions into
consideration is useless in explaining behavior. It's important to note that classical conditioning
involves placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring reflex. In Pavlov's classic
experiment with dogs, the neutral signal was the sound of a tone and the naturally occurring
reflex was salivating in response to food.
Operant Conditioning: Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental
conditioning) is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for
behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a
consequence for that behavior. Operant conditioning was coined by behaviorist B.F. Skinner,
which is why you may occasionally hear it referred to as Skinnerian conditioning. As a
behaviorist, Skinner believed that internal thoughts and motivations could not be used to
explain behavior. Instead, he suggested, we should look only at the external, observable causes
of human behavior.
Skinner used the term operant to refer to any "active behavior that operates upon the
environment to generate consequences" (1953). In other words, Skinner's theory explained
how we acquire the range of learned behaviors we exhibit each and every day.
Prenatal Influences: These refer to a wide range of factors which can affect fetal development.
They include: the mother’s age, diet, and the state of mental and physical health of the mother
as well as such external factors as drugs and environmental toxins. Prenatal influences mean
those temporary operations of the mind or physical conditions of the parents previous to birth,
which stamp their impress upon the new life.
Body size, body proportions, appearance, brain development, motor
development, perception capacities, physical health. The physical domain always refers to
physiological changes that happen in the body, such as puberty. This includes sensory-motor
and nervous system development. For example, how we see or taste is part of the physical
domain, as is being able to refine fine motor skills like grasping a raisin.
Physical domain:
Cognitive Domain: Thought processes and intellectual abilities including attention, memory,
problem solving, imagination, creativity, academic and everyday knowledge, metacognition,
and language. The cognitive domain involves knowledge and the development of intellectual
skills (Bloom, 1956). This includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedural patterns,
and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills.
Cephalocaudal Principle: The cephalocaudal principle refers to the general
pattern of development seen in the earliest years of postnatal development
specifically ranging from infancy into toddlerhood. The cephalocaudal
principle applies to both physical and functional development. Regarding the
prior (i.e., physical development), physical growth in size, weight, and
feature differentiation follows this pattern of development .The result of this
is best seen in a comparison of the physical features of an infant compared
to a toddler. In the case of the latter, the head is generally
disproportionately large in comparison to the rest of the body. The
Cephalocadal development means that it has a longitudinal axis, i.e., the
human development is from head to foot. This implies that control of the
body as well as improvement in the structure itself develops first in the head
and progresses later to parts further from head. Another example of this
aspect of development is that a child can lift his head by his neck before he
can do so by lifting his chest.
Language development: Language development is a process starting early in human life. Infants
start without language, yet by 4 months of age, babies can discriminate speech sounds and
engage in babbling. Some research has shown that the earliest learning begins in utero when
the fetus starts to recognize the sounds and speech patterns of its mother's voice. Language
development begins before birth. Towards the end of pregnancy, a fetus begins to hear sounds
and speech coming from outside the mother's body. Infants are acutely attuned to the human
voice and prefer it to other sounds. In particular they prefer the higher pitch characteristic of
female voices. They also are very attentive to the human face, especially when the face is
talking. Although crying is a child's primary means of communication at birth, language
immediately begins to develop via repetition and imitation.
Emotions: Emotions seem to rule our daily lives. We make decisions based on whether we are
happy, angry, sad, bored, or frustrated. We choose activities and hobbies based on the
emotions they incite.
"An emotion is a complex psychological state that involves three distinct components: a
subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioral or expressive response."
(Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2007)
In addition to understanding exactly what emotions are, researchers have also tried to identify
and classify the different types of emotions. (Goleman 1995) suggested that there are six basic
emotions that are universal throughout human cultures: fear, disgust, anger, surprise,
happiness, and sadness.
Self concept: Self concept refers to the picture we have of ourselves. Self-esteem/self concept is
the value we place upon those qualities, skills and attributes – how positive we feel about those
characteristics.
"A self-concept is a collection of beliefs about one's own nature, unique
qualities, and typical behavior. Your self-concept is your mental picture of
yourself. It is a collection of self-perceptions. For example, a self-concept
might include such beliefs as 'I am easygoing' or 'I am pretty' or 'I am
hardworking.'"
Attachment: Attachment is an enduring emotional connection. A close emotional bond that is
“person-specific” and is enduring across time and space.
Infant’s show their attachment through proximity-seeking behaviors, meaning infants (and
adults) like to be near those we are attached.
Actions such as approaching, following, and climbing into the lap demonstrate the need to be
physically close. As well as contact-maintaining behaviors such as clinging, resisting being put
down all are evidence of attachment.
Development: The term DEVELOPMENT in its most general psychological sense refers to certain
changes that occur in human beings between conception and death. The term is not applied to all
changes, but rather to those that appear in orderly way and remain for a reasonably long period
of time.
Development describes the growth of humans throughout the lifespan, from conception to
death. The scientific study of human development seeks to understand and explain how and why
people change throughout life. This includes all aspects of human growth, including physical,
emotional, intellectual, social, perceptual, and personality development.
Fetal- alcohol syndrome: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome cluster of abnormalities that appears in
offspring of mothers who drink alcohol heavily during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is
a condition that results from alcohol exposure during pregnancy. Problems that may be caused
by fetal alcohol syndrome include physical deformities, mental retardation, learning disorders,
vision difficulties and behavioral problems.The problems caused by fetal alcohol syndrome vary
from child to child, but defects caused by fetal alcohol syndrome are irreversible.
There is no amount of alcohol that's known to be safe to consume during pregnancy. If you drink
during pregnancy, you place your baby at risk of fetal alcohol syndrome. If you suspect your child
has fetal alcohol syndrome, talk to your doctor as soon as possible. Early diagnosis may reduce
the risk of problems, including learning difficulties and substance abuse.
Psychology: Psychology is an academic and scientific study of mental processes and behavior.
Psychologists study such concepts as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior,
interpersonal relationships, and the individual and collective unconscious. Psychology also refers
to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity including issues related
to daily life—e.g. family, education, and work—and the treatment of mental health problems.
Psychology includes many sub-fields of study and application concerned with such areas as
human development, sports, health, industry, media and law. Psychology is the science of the
intellects, characters and behavior of animals including man. Human education is concerned with
certain changes in the intellects, characters and behavior of men, its problems being roughly
included under these four topics: Aims, materials, means and methods.
SECTION B
SHORT QUESTIONS
50 Marks
There are ten questions in this section. All questions are compulsory and carry 5 marks
each.
Question -1 Write your understanding about Bandera’s Social Learning theory and how it relates to
child development give examples to support your discussion.
Answer: General principles of social learning: People can learn by observing the behavior of
others and the outcomes of those behaviors. In his famous "Bobo doll" studies, Bandura
demonstrated that children learn and imitate behaviors they have observed in other people.
The children in Bandura's studies observed an adult acting violently towards a Bobo doll. When
the children were later allowed to play in a room with the doll, they began to imitate the
aggressive actions they had previously observed (Van Wagner).
Learning can occur without a change in behavior. Behaviorists say that learning has to be
represented by a permanent change in behavior, in contrast social learning theorists say that
because people can learn through observation alone, their learning may not necessarily be
shown in their performance. Learning may or may not result in a behavior change. Cognition
plays a role in learning. Over the last 30 years social learning theory has become increasingly
cognitive in its interpretation of human learning. Awareness and expectations of future
reinforcements or punishments can have a major effect on the behaviors that people exhibit .
Social learning theory can be considered a bridge or a transition between behaviorist learning
theories and cognitive learning theories.
Question-2, Discuss theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with the help of diagrams.
Answer: The Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs five-stage model below (structure and terminology -
not the precise pyramid diagram itself) is clearly and directly attributable to Maslow; later
versions of the theory with added motivational stages are not so clearly attributable to Maslow.
These extended models have instead been inferred by others from Maslow's work. Specifically
Maslow refers to the needs Cognitive, Aesthetic and Transcendence (subsequently shown as
distinct needs levels in some interpretations of his theory) as additional aspects of motivation,
but not as distinct levels in the Hierarchy of Needs.
Question-3, How Cognitive Development occurs in early Childhood and its importance.
Answer: Cognitive Development is gradual, orderly, changes by which mental process become
more complex and sophisticated.
The essential development of cognition is the establishment of new schemes.
Assimilation and accommodation are both processing of the ways of cognitive development.
The equilibration is the symbol of a new stage of the cognitive development.
The Importance of Early Childhood Cognitive Development:
Early childhood generally refers to the period from birth through age 5. A child’s cognitive
development during early childhood, which includes building skills such as pre-reading,
language, vocabulary, and numeracy, begins from the moment a child is born. Developmental
scientists have found that the brain acquires a tremendous amount of information about
language in the first year of life even before infants can speak. By the time babies utter or
understand their first words, they know which particular sounds their language uses, what
sounds can be combined to create words, and the tempo and rhythm of words and phrases.
There is a strong connection between the development a child undergoes early in life and the
level of success that the child will experience later in life. For example, infants who are better at
distinguishing the building blocks of speech at 6 months are better at other more complex
language skills at 2 and 3 years of age and better at acquiring the skills for learning to read at 4
and 5 years of age. Not surprisingly, a child’s knowledge of the alphabet in kindergarten is one
of the most significant predictors of what that child’s tenth grade reading ability will be.
Question-4, Write about Piaget’s four stages of Cognitive development.
Answer:
Question-5, Analyze Vygotsky Key ideas of (Socio-cultural theory) and how it contributes to child
development.
Answer: The socio- cultural theory: Did NOT focus on the individual child but on the child as a
product of social interaction, especially with adults (parents, teachers).
Focus on DYADIC INTERACTIONS (e.g., child being taught by a parent how to perform some
culturally specific action), rather than child by himself.
Social world mediates children's cognitive development. Cognitive development occurs as
child's thinking is molded by society in the form of parents, teachers, and peers. This leads to
peer tutoring as a strategy in classrooms.
People's thinking differs dramatically between cultures because different cultures stress
different things.
Principles and Concepts: Children construct their knowledge. Knowledge is not transferred
passively, but is personally constructed.
The learning is mediated. Cognitive development is not a direct result of activity, but it is
indirect; other people must interact with the learner, use mediatory tools to facilitate the
learning process, and then cognitive development may occur.
Language plays a central role in mental development. The most significant sociocultural tool is
language, as it is used to teach tool use and is vital in the process of developing higher
psychological functions.
Learning appears twice. First on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first between
people (interpsychology), and then inside the child (intrapsychology).
Development cannot be separated from its social context.
The context needed for learning is that where the learners can interact with each other
and use the new tools. This means that the learning environment must be authentic, that is, it
must contain the type of people who would use these types of tools such as concepts,
language, symbols in a natural way.
Question-6, Distinguish between these two terms “assimilation and accommodation” and state their
importance?
Answer: Piaget proposed that the child uses two processes to adapt, ASSIMILATION, wherein
the child processes experiences, accepting and fitting them into different SCHEMES and
ACCOMODATION, wherein the child encounters new information that does not fit into present
schemes and the child changes their scheme to accommodate the new information. Piaget felt
all children go through clear stages of intellectual development in the same order and defined
the major characteristics of his STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Piaget believed that all children passed through a set series of stages during their cognitive
development; like Freud, he was a Stage Theorist
Transformations: Mentally changing the shape or form of a substance; children younger than 6
or 7 cannot do this Assimilation: Application of existing mental patterns to new situations
Accommodation: Existing ideas are changed to accommodate new information or experiences
Through his study of the field of education, Piaget focused on two processes, which he named
assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation describes how humans perceive and adapt to
new information. It is the process of fitting new information into pre-existing cognitive
schemas. Assimilation occurs when humans are faced with new or unfamiliar information and
refer to previously learned information in order to make sense of it. Unlike it, accommodation
is the process of taking new information in one's environment and altering pre-existing
schemas in order to fit in the new information.
Question-7, Discuss Erikson’s stages of Personal and Social Development and its relevance in Fijian
contexts.
Answer: Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, as articulated by Erik Erikson, explain
eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to late
adulthood. In each stage, the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each
stage builds upon the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not
successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.
However, mastery of a stage is not required to advance to the next stage. Erikson's stage theory
characterizes an individual advancing through the eight life stages as a function of negotiating
his or her biological forces and sociocultural forces. Each stage is characterized by a
psychosocial crisis of these two conflicting forces (as shown in the table below). If an individual
does indeed successfully reconcile these forces (favoring the first mentioned attribute in the
crisis), he or she emerges from the stage with the corresponding virtue. For example, if an
infant enters into the toddler stage (autonomy vs. shame & doubt) with more trust than
mistrust, he or she carries the virtue of hope into the remaining life stages
Stage One: Trust Versus Mistrust (Birth-1): Children are completely dependent on others
Trust: Established when babies given adequate warmth, touching, love, and physical care
Mistrust: Caused by inadequate or unpredictable care and by cold, indifferent, and rejecting
parents
Stage Two: Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt (1-3)
Autonomy: Doing things for themselves
Overprotective or ridiculing parents may cause children to doubt abilities and feel shameful
about their actions
Stage Three: Initiative Versus Guilt (3-5)
Initiative: Parents reinforce via giving children freedom to play, use imagination, and ask
questions
Guilt: May occur if parents criticize, prevent play, or discourage a child’s questions
Stage Four: Industry Versus Inferiority (6-12)
Industry: Occurs when child is praised for productive activities
Inferiority: Occurs if child’s efforts are regarded as messy or inadequate
Stage Five (Adolescence): Identity Versus Role Confusion
Identity: For adolescents; problems answering, “Who am I?”
Role Confusion: Occurs when adolescents are unsure of where they are going and who they are
Stage Six (Young adulthood): Intimacy Versus Isolation
Intimacy: Ability to care about others and to share experiences with them
Isolation: Feeling alone and uncared for in life
Stage Seven (Middle adulthood): Generativity Versus Stagnation
Generativity: Interest in guiding the next generation
Stagnation: When one is only concerned with one’s own needs and comforts
Stage Eight (Late adulthood): Integrity Versus Despair
Integrity: Self-respect; developed when people have lived richly and responsibly
Despair: Occurs when previous life events are viewed with regret; experiences heartache and
remorse.
Question-8, Differentiate between Human Growth and Human Development with examples.
Answer:
Question-9,Discuss Normal Childhood Problems and how we can address them.
Answer: Normal Childhood Problems: All children will at some developmental stage display
repetitive behaviours but whether they may be considered as disorders depends on their
frequency and persistence and the effect they have on physical, emotional and social
functioning. These habit behaviours may arise originally from intentional movements which
become repeated and then become incorporated into the child's customary behaviour. Some
habits arise in imitation of adult behaviour. Other habits such as hair pulling or head banging
develop as a means of providing a form of sensory input and comfort when the child is alone.
Sleep disturbances
Specific fears of the dark, dogs, school, or a particular room or person
Most children will be overly timid at times, allowing bullying
Temporary periods of dissatisfaction, when nothing pleases the child
General negativism
Clinging to a parent(s) or caregiver
Reversals or regressions to more infantile behavior occur with almost all children (Chess,
Thomas, & Birch, 1976)
Question-10, Discuss about Conduct Disorders with examples.
Answer: Conduct disorder is a psychological disorder diagnosed in childhood or adolescence that
presents itself through a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights
of others or major age-appropriate norms are violated. These behaviors are often referred to as
"antisocial behaviors." Indeed, the disorder is often seen as the precursor to antisocial
personality disorder, which is not diagnosed until the individual is 18 years old.
The essential feature of Conduct Disorder is a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior by a
child or teenager in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or
rules are violated. These behaviors fall into four main groupings: aggressive conduct that causes
or threatens physical harm to other people or animals, nonaggressive conduct that causes
property loss or damage, deceitfulness or theft, and serious violations of rules time and time
again.
Affected children are aggressive and harm others
Engage in vandalism, lying, or stealing
Persistently violate rules
Usually in trouble at school, at home, and in the community
Generally have low self-esteem
Outlook for successful treatment is poor; parents need to seek professional help for such
children
SECTION C: PARAGRAPH WRITING
20 MARKS
There are three questions in this section. Answer any two questions.
Each question is worth 10 marks.
Question-1, Analyze and discuss about Cognitive Factors in Social Learning support your discussion with
relevant examples.
Answer: Cognitive Factors in Social Learning:
Social learning theory has cognitive factors as well as behaviorist factors (actually operant factors).
1. Learning without performance: Bandura makes a distinction between learning through observation
and the actual imitation of what has been learned.
2. Cognitive processing during learning: Social learning theorists contend that attention is a critical factor
in learning (Abbott).
Expectations: As a result of being reinforced, people form expectations about the consequences that
future behaviors are likely to bring. They expect certain behaviors to bring reinforcements and others to
bring punishment. The learner needs to be aware however, of the response reinforcements and
response punishment. Reinforcement increases a response only when the learner is aware of that
connection.
4. Reciprocal causation: Bandura proposed that behavior can influence both the environment and the
person. In fact each of these three variables, the person, the behavior, and the environment can have
an influence on each other.
5. Modeling: There are different types of models. There is the live model, a verbal instructional model
and the symbolic model.
Question-2, Critically analyze positive and negative emotions and how they affect child development.
Answer: Types of Emotion (Goleman 1995)
Eight categories of primary emotions:
anger (resentment, annoyance, etc)
sadness (grief, despair, etc)
fear (anxiety, fright, etc)
enjoyment (happiness, ecstasy, etc)
love (devotion, kindness, etc)
surprise (shock, wonder, etc)
disgust (contempt, revulsion, etc)
shame (guilt, regret, etc)
Positive Emotions:
Smiles
First month - reflex response
By 6 weeks- the social smile appears
By 7 months- smiles toward people; encourages interaction and bonding
Laughing
By 3 to 4 months - during activities (i.e., playing)
By 1 year - response to unexpected events
By 2 years -response to own behavior or attempting to make others laugh
Negative Emotions:
Generalized distress
Newborns -hunger, pain, overstimulation
Anger and/or sadness
2 months - visible facial expression matches situation
Fear and/or distress
6-7 months to 2 years - stranger wariness
7 to 12 months -fear of novel toys, noises, sudden movements
8 to 15 months -separation anxiety
Development of Complex Emotions:
In addition to the basic emotions, people feel complex emotions such as embarrassment, pride,
guilt and shame.
These are known as “self-conscious emotions” that involve feelings of success when’s standards
are met and feelings of failure when they are not.
Question-3, Discuss in details about Bowlby’s Attachment Theory, give examples to support your views.
Answer: Bowlby’s Attachment Theory: According to Bowlby, the development of attachment
takes place in four phases:
Pre-attachment
Attachment-in-the-Making
Clear-cut (or True) Attachment
Reciprocal Relationships
Pre-attachment: Birth to 6 weeks: The infant produces innate signals (crying, clinging, smiling,
or sucking) that bring others to his/her side and the infant is comforted by these interactions.
The infant’s behaviors and the response they evoke from adults create an interactive system
that is the first step in the formation of attachment.
Attachment-in-the-Making: 6 weeks to 6-8 months: Infants begin to respond preferentially to
familiar people.
Infants are forming expectations about how their caregivers will respond to their needs, and as
a result, develop (or not) a sense of trust in them.
Clear-cut Attachment: 6-8 months to 1.5-2 years: By 7-8 months, infants have singles out the
attachment figure, usually the mother, as a special person. The mother now serves as a secure
base. Infants actively seek contact with their caregivers
They happily greet their mother when she appears
They may exhibit separation anxiety when she leaves
This behavior reflects cognitive growth as well. The infant now has a mental representation of
mother and an understanding that she will be there to meet the infant’s needs.