Exam 3: Applied PsychologyChild Psychology

Name:

What is Child Psychology?

Child Psychology looks at the development of thinking and behaviour. Specifically, in children and young people. Researchers in this area may study individual children’s behaviour, environmental factors and the impact both of these have on individual’s development.

In this component, we will look at six topics:

TOPIC ONE: Intelligence TOPIC TWO: Pre-adult brain

TOPIC THREE: Perceptual development

TOPIC FOUR: Cognitive development and education

TOPIC FIVE: Development of attachment

TOPIC SIX: Impact of advertising on children

TOPIC ONE: Intelligence

Background: What Psychologists mean by intelligence and what biological factors could affect intelligence

Part one of background: What is intelligence?

Intelligence is a psychological construct with the implied meaning of the ability to acquire information, think and reason.

However, as intelligence can refer to things such as creative skills, logical reasoning, originality or the ability to make critical judgement, there lacks a universal definition.

Intelligence is represented by whatever particular intelligence tests are actually testing (Boring, 1923). For instance, most modern IQ tests include logical reasoning exercises. An individual who scores highly on this type of test is considered intelligent; but only if you define being intelligent as being highly skilled at solving analogies!

Think back to core studies… what does Gould say about the use of IQ tests?

Theory 1: Spearman (1927)

In the early 20th century, Spearman studied the relationships between cognitive factors in school children. He tested large numbers of school children, correlated all of their scores and subjected them to a statistical technique known as data analysis.

Spearman proposed that intelligence could be understood by one single factor; the ‘g’ factor (general intelligence). The ‘g’ factor is an innate ability. He suggests that the ‘g’ factor is responsible for success across a range of mental tasks for each individual and is likely to account for 50% of variance across mental tasks.

In an example: you are good at maths and your friend is not. Spearman would suggest half of the variance of your skills (and your friends lack of skills) could be explained by the ‘g’ factor. The remainder would be attributed to other influences such as your desire to get a top grade or because you have a more supportive teacher.

Theory 2: Carroll (1993)

The single-factor theory (above) was further developed into a model known as the three-stratum model. The model consists of a three-level hierarchy of intelligence: Stratum 1 included around 70 narrow abilities. Stratum 2 gathered these into several broad ability factors (which were over arched by the single ‘g’ factor).

The man who created Spearman’s rank correlation

coefficient

Stratum 1

Stratum 2

Stratum 3

Part two of background: What biological factors can affect intelligence

ONE: Gender differences

The relationship between gender and intelligence has been investigated by many researchers.

In one major review of a range of intelligence measures, Halpern (1997) found evidence to indicate particular differences in cognitive abilities between males and females. For instance, women obtained higher than average scores in tests that involve tasks requiring verbal fluency and areas of knowledge such as foreign language. By contrast, he established men performed better in tasks that involve mental rotation and scientific reasoning.

Haier et al. (2005) suggests a biological explanation for these differences.

Van Goozen et al. (1995) suggest…

Men have more grey matter in the frontal and parietal lobe. These are associated with motor skills and high level reasoning

Women had more grey matter in frontal lobe and Broca’s areas. These are associated with speech and writing

Male and females have similar IQ’s as the tests measure a mixture of skills

Differences are due to the sensitivity to hormones.The study looked at individuals transitioning from female to male. During the transition, individuals were given testosterone prior to their sex change. Van Goozen found a significant increase in visual special ability combined with lowered scores on tasks involving verbal fluency.Van Goozen also found the reverse with male to female individuals. Overall, suggesting that hormones play a very important role in cognitive abilities and ‘intelligence’.

TWO: Genetic factors

Particular genes and gene combinations are passed from parent to offspring. This allows children to inherit characteristics or traits from their parents. Researchers are interested in understanding the ‘heritability’ of traits such as intelligence. This means, they want to know the extent to which different genes (nature) and differences in environmental factors (nurture) contribute to observed variations in intelligence.

The use of twin or adoptive study methods allow researchers to see the extent to which heredity influences cognitive abilities:

Scarr & Weinberg (1978)

Compared intellect of adopted and biological children with their parents

Found a biological link between biologically related individuals, when compared to adoptive individuals.

Emphasising genetics, over environment

Plomin & Defries (1998)

Compared identical and non-identical twins on spatial and verbal skills

Found a similarity between identical twins was significantly greater than non-identical twins

Emphasising genetics, over environment.

Scarr (1997) Indicated that even when raised apart, identical twins shared higher

concordance rates (ie. they had more similar results) than non-identical twins who were reared together.

Emphasising genetics, over environment.

Desrivieres et al. (2014)

Studied DNA analysis, MRI scans and intelligence testing on a large sample of teens

Identified a neuroplastin gene Found that individuals who carried a variation of the neuroplastin

gene had thinner layers of grey matter in their left cerebral hemisphere and performed less well on tests for intellectual ability

Emphasising genetics, over environment.

Issues with using twin studies is…

The interaction between the environment and genes is not considered; failing to consider certain environments may ‘activate’ a particular gene

Twin studies ignore that parents pass on not only genetics but environment too. For example; two healthy fit adults play lots of sports and eat a healthy diet. They have children who are genetically predisposed towards good health, however due to lifestyle, it is difficult to establish contribution of nature or nurture.

Finally, assortative mating. This is the idea that individuals are likely to mate with those who have similar traits to them. This is a non-random reproductive pattern.

o This can occur through phenotypic assortment (where individuals choose someone because they have a specific trait – intelligence, for example). This can be a conscious choice.

o One other way in which this may occur is through social homogamy. This is where individuals who have similar traits (for example, intelligence) are more likely to be clustered together in the same environment and are then more likely to have children together. This may not be a conscious choice.

THREE: Nutrition and pregnancy Schoenthaler (1991) found that children who lacked nutritious diet in the first place were able to improve their IQ scores by taking daily vitamin and mineral supplements. However, these children only improved in non-verbal tests, and did not improve in verbal tests.

Goldschmidt (2008) found that heavy cannabis use (one or more cigarettes a day) during the first 3 months of pregnancy was linked to lower verbal reasoning when the child was measured at 6 years old. Heavy use during the second 3 months had effects on memory skills, and heavy use in the last 3 months was associated with low scores on IQ tests.

Glover (2009) studied 250 women during pregnancy and got them to complete anxiety questionnaires and they took blood samples to measure cortisol (stress hormone). The children exposed to high levels of cortisol tended to have lower IQ, especially on verbal and linguistic tests.

Research: Van Leeuwen et al (2008) A twin-family study of general IQ

Before we get started, you must be clear on the following key terms:

Genetic transmission: transfer of genetic information from genes to another generation.

Cultural transmission: is the way a group of people within a society or culture tend to learn and pass on information.

Assortative mating: individuals with similar genes or observable characteristics mate with one another more frequently than those who do

not

Gene–environment (GE) interaction: the theory that certain environments ‘activate’ a particular gene

Gene-environment (GE) correlation: parents transmit their genes and their environment to their children. For example, parents may be

predisposed to good health and fitness, but also share this lifestyle to their children. Therefore, it makes it difficult to establish the contribution of

nature or nurture.

Heritability: the extent to a parents genes are responsible for a phenotype

Phenotypic assortment: assortative mating occurs because individuals choose one another because they have similar intelligence levels.

Social homogamy: people with similar intelligence levels are clustered together in the same environment they are more likely to end up having

children together.

Aim

1. The researchers wanted to separate shared genetics from shared environmental effects on intelligence. (They wanted to find out; is intelligence nature or nurture). They aimed to measure the relative influence of assortative mating, cultural transmission, and GE interaction and GE correlation.

2. The researchers also wanted to investigate why spouses have similar intelligences scores to one and other

Method

The sample were drawn from the Netherland Twin registry.

Participants:

All sets of twins were about to turn 9 years old

All twins had an additional child aged between 9-14 years

214 families of twins were asked to take part

112 families agreed to take part

Of 112 families who agreed to take part, 103 had full siblings willing to take part.

Mean age of twins was 9.1 years old and 11.9 for twins

All individuals with psychiatric issues, major medical issues, Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), physical or sensory disabilities were excluded.

Explain why this is positive

Explain why this is negative

Breakdown of the sample used

Twin type Monozygotic (identical) Dizygotic (non-identical)

Male 23 23Female 25 21Opposite sex / 20

Design and procedure

All participants gave consent. What is the issue with this?

Children were given a present for taking part. What is the issue with this?

The cost of travel was compensated for. What is the issue with this?

In order to authenticate if the participants were identical or non-identical twins, DNA tests were required. However, for some, only a questionnaire was needed. What is the issue with this?

Testing:

Children completed a Ravens SPM in a separate room by themselves at their own pace. This test included 60 problems with 5 sets of 12 questions covering all cognitive abilities.

Adults completed the Ravens APM.

The experimenters used two theoretical models to see what could explain the spousal resemblance (1) phenotypic assortment (2) social homogamy.

Select which experimental design was used: Independent measures design Repeated measures design Matched pairs design

Select which design was used: Laboratory Self-report Observation

Results

No statistical finding to suggest sex differences across all groups

Cultural transmission (the way a group of people within a society or culture tend to learn and pass on information.) had no significant effect. This diminishes the environmental stance on intelligence. (Link to conclusion 1)

Spousal correlation was high. This means that parents often had similar levels of intelligence. This means assertive mating is better explained through phenotypic assortment (individuals choose one another because they have similar intelligence levels), rather than social homogony (people with similar intelligence levels are clustered together in the same environment they are more likely to end up having children together.). In other words, individuals select mates due to similar traits, than due to similar environments. (Link to conclusion 2)

Environmental factors are important with children who have a genetic predisposition for low IQ groups. This suggesting that Gene–environment (GE) interaction: the theory that certain environments ‘activate’ a particular gene. This means that individuals with certain genotype (low IQ) are more sensitive to environmental influences upon their intelligence. (Link to conclusion 3)

Conclusions

1. Cultural transmission does not have a significant influence on variance in IQ.

2. Phenotypic assortment better explains spousal resemblance than social homogamy.

3. The main influence on IQ level is genetic factors. However, genes do interact with environmental factors to influence intelligence in significant ways.

Application: At least one method of assessing intelligence

In this topic, we have seen a mixture of factors determine the intelligence of a given individual. As previously discussed, intelligence is represented by whatever particular intelligence tests are actually testing. In this section, we will consider one commonly used, modern IQ test. We will also look at how effective the test is at assessing intelligence.

Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM)What is it?This IQ test is one of the most popular non-verbal tests of intelligence in current use. In 1936, John Raven introduced the test, which he claims would be easier to administer and interpret, compared to other existing IQ tests which were very long and difficult to deliver.

The test measures ‘fluid intelligence’. Fluid intelligence is the ability to think and reason. The test requires the participant to work out an answer based on only the information given. The test presents an incomplete, novel pictorial stimuli which those completing the test have to make meaningful. This means, participants have to select the missing ‘piece’ of the ‘puzzle’ to complete the pattern.

Nowadays, the test comes in three different versions – two of which were used in the key study by van Leeuwen et al. (2008).

Version 1: Colour progressive matrices (CPM) Age 4-7 Mental/physical difficulties 36 items (three sets of 12) Mostly colourful

Version 2: Standard progressive matrices (SPM) Age 7-18 60 items (five sets of 12) Black and white

Version 3: Advanced progressive matrices (APM) Age 18+ 48 items (Set 1 included 12 items which can be used to practice,

and set 2 includes 36 items)

The nature of the test items means that all versions of the test are comparable, meaning that test scores from the SPM undertaken by children can meaningfully be compared to those of adults who have completed the APM.

What is the application of the test?Who is the test best suited to?

Children or individuals with language or perceptual differences (as the items do not rely on language). Instructions can be given verbally instead, so young participants do not have to be able to read or write.

Individuals with autistic spectrum disorders prefer the RPM as they are non-verbal

Where are the RPM used nowadays? Research purposes Clinical, educational and occupational mostly

The military – entrants routinely undertake these as it is relative of cultural neutrality. This allows comparisons to be made across cognitive ability in these populations over time and between countries

How does RPM compare to ‘the Flynn effect’‘The Flynn effect’ is a frequently observed trend in IQ scores. James Flynn compared data from 14 nations, which revealed an overall increase in IQ scores. He found from 1952 to 1982 the mean IQ score increased from 100 to 121. One explanation for the intergenerational increase in IQ scores is the improved access to education and literacy rates across the later half of the 20th century. However, Flynn indicated the largest increase in IQ scores occurred on culturally-reduced tests and tests of fluid intelligence (RPM). Because these tests are based on individuals ability to think and reason (not knowledge), improved access to education and literacy cannot be used to explain this increase. Instead, Flynn suggests an increase in problem solving abilities has sparked the increase in IQ scores. He concluded that IQ tests (such as RPM) do not offer a direct measure of the ‘g’ factor (general intelligence). This would explain why, even though the tests give an indication of intelligence, they do not produce stable results across generations.If schools placed greater emphasis on teaching patterns and mental rotation of shapes this would develop the skills in all children. The most intelligent children would be more likely to develop the skills at a more advanced level as it is linked with intelligence. Hence the scores on the tests involving mental rotation would improve overtime as a result of educational focus, whilst still giving an indication of who the brightest children are. Flynn noted the problem with IQ tests is not that they fail to directly measure intelligence itself, but that they correlate too weakly with intelligence to offer a convincing measure of IQ.

EvaluationIs the topic socially sensitive?The study of intelligence is controversial because it raises many socially sensitive issues.When considering factors that influence the development of intelligence we looked at sex differences. This suggested that men and women are naturally more gifted at different kinds of cognitive activities. This can be prescriptive and limit the equality of opportunities.In addition, twin-studies supported the role of genetic factors in intelligence. This deterministic idea could introduce a hierarchy in society where those who are intelligent only mate with those who are intelligent, to ensure more intelligent offspring. This could create stigma or segregation to those who are less intelligent. Finally, findings from cross cultural research identifies differences between nations, which can be highly politically sensitive.

MethodologyThe Van Leeuwen study involved widely used standardised measurement tools and models which have shown to have high levels of validity and reliability. However, questions remain about the validity of IQ tests such as the RPM owing to the intergenerational IQ increase in scores (the Flynn effect).

Debates - How does the topic link to the following debates?Usefulness of research

YES Van Leeuwen’s study offers one of the only ways to measure the

relative contributions of environment and genetics to the heritability of IQ.

IQ tests and different models of intelligence are concepts that remain relevant in the fields of education and mental health.

Could encourage usage in schools to measure intelligence, rather than curriculum exams or tests to judge academic ability.

NO Those who are affected by stigma or bias as a result of the socially

sensitive research

Nature vs nurtureNature

Van Leeuwen supports existing evidence of the heritability of intelligence.

Twin, adoptive and family studies also suggest genetic factors do account for a large proportion of variance in IQ scores.

Nurture Yerkes review Flynn (1987) suggested intelligence scores improved over time due

to environmental influence, even when tests measure fluid intelligence.

Freewill vs determinismFreewill

Phenotypic assortment (whereby partners choose one another because they have similar IQ’s) implies that we have the freedom to choose our mates

Determinism IQ is hereditary (as seen through range of research in this topic)

Reductionism vs holismReductionism

Genetic explanations for intelligence RPM focuses on a narrow range of educative abilities

Holism Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligences embraces a holistic view

of intelligence as a number of different qualities within an individual. Van Leeuwen’s study found evidence to support nature and nurture

Individual vs situational explanation

Individual Theories assume intelligence is a stable personality trait which

remains consistent across the lifespan. In other words, someone who is intelligent as a child is likely to be intelligent as an adult.

Van Leeuwen’s study supports individual side, more than situational

Psychology as a scienceYES

Psychometric testing is the main method used to assess intelligence. These aim to objectively measure theoretical concepts. By design these are standardised and repeatable. These produce quantitative data, allowing statistical analysis.

IQ tests collect empirical data through standard procedures. Efforts to remove the influence of intelligence can be considered

scientific as they use objective, valid measurements such as DNA to isolate genes and confirm relatedness within studies.

NO However, some studies (like Van Leeuwen’s study which relies on

self-report) IQ tests do not accurately measure ‘intelligence’, as there is no

agreed definition of intelligence. Critics argue that this renders the process of measurement unscientific and self-defeating.

Exam questions

A) Assess the role of biological factors in intelligence [15 marks]

B) Explain how the research by Van Leeuwen et al. (2008) could be used to understand similarities and differences in the intelligence of twins [10]

C) Thelma is worried about her son. He seems very bright in some ways; he is generally making excellent progress at school. However, in three subjects his report was terrible and Thelma is wondering whether an intelligence test would help her to understand why. Discuss how an intelligence test might be conducted and what the results might, or might not, tell Thelma about her son. [10]

TOPIC TWO: Pre-adult brain

question(s)

In childhood, where do synaptic connections occur in the brain?

What do these connections signal the development of?

What is synaptic pruning?

What attributes are the pre-frontal cortex associated with?

Background: Brain development and the impact of this on risk taking behaviour

The human brain grows at an amazing rate. Much of this development occurs in the first three months of life, during which time a new-borns brain grows at an average rate of 1% per day! It was once believed that virtually all important brain changes had occurred by the time a child reached the age of 3. However, thanks to modern neuroimaging techniques (MRI scanning), we now know that significant changes to the brain continue right through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. Part one of background: Brain developmentEarly brain developmentAt the time of birth, much of the spinal cord and brain stem are well developed. However, upper regions such as the limbic system and cerebral cortex are fairly immature. Within the first few years, a number of synaptic connections are made in the cerebral cortex, signalling the development of conscious actions, memories, thoughts and emotions. Adolescent brain developmentA dramatic change in synaptic production occurs in adolescence. Grey matter (which contains synaptic connections) reaches peak volume and begins to decrease in density across several cortical regions. This process is called ‘synaptic prunning’. This is where the connections which are not used enough are eliminated. In effect, this allows the brain to become more efficient in its use of energy by removing weaker, less essential synaptic connections in favour of strengthening those that are required. The prefrontal cortex is one of the last areas of the brain to undergo this key process of maturation. This process continues to develop throughout adolescence as individuals gradually get better at abstract reasoning and anticipating outcomes.

Part two of background: The impact of brain development on risk taking

Freewill vs determinism

Individual vs situational

Reductionism vs holism

The hormonal changes which occur during puberty, alongside the way in which adolescents brain develops, can have a significant impact on their decision-making and behaviour. This process is combined with major environmental changes:

Moving schools/going to college or university Sitting exams Increased responsibility such as part time jobs or caring for younger

siblings Greater independence in socialising and leisure activities

In many ways, adolescents are expected to behave in a grown-up way and make responsible adult choices, yet their brains are still functioning quite differently from those of their elders.Adolescents are more prone to risk-taking and impulsivity than any other age group. Examples of this include more frequent drug use, injuries/accidents and unprotected sexual activity. One reason for this is to do with the order in which various regions of the brain mature. The limbic system (which is involved in the processing of social and emotional information) develops earlier than the prefrontal cortex. For a period it dominates the executive controls of the prefrontal cortex, making risky decisions more common and more likely to occur under higher levels of social influence. For example, this means that adolescents might make poorer, riskier decisions about getting into fights than adults would.

From the following debates, could any of these factors influence risk-taking behaviour? If so, explain how.

Nature vs Nurture

Key Research: Barkley-Levenson and Galvan (2014) Neural representation of expected value in adolescent brain

Aim: Investigate whether adolescents attach more

value to rewards than adults do Seek to identify neural development of

expected value (EV) in the brain of adolescents

Sample:Group 1:

19 adult participants Aged between 25 and30 Mean age of 27.9 Gender breakdown 8 males and 11 females All individuals were healthy and right handed

Group 2: 22 adolescent participants Aged between 13 and 17 Mean age of 15.6 Gender breakdown 11 males and 11 females All individuals were healthy and right handed

Participants were recruited through a poster and internet advertisements. State the sampling technique used.

Design and procedureWhat type of experimental method was used? Why was this used?

IV= DV=

Key term:

Expected value (EV) is the sum of all of the possible outcomes of a particular choice multiplied by

their probabilities.

A person uses this to judge whether the risks involved in a

certain course of action are worth taking in order to gain a reward

Experimenters collected information on participants source and amount of income per month.What are the strengths of this?

What are the weaknesses of this?

The gambling task Each participant was given 20 US dollars to use as ‘playing’ money

during the fMRI task. Evaluate this:

They were informed there was an opportunity to win up to $20 more, however there was a possibility they would lose it during the gambling

Participants had to decide for each trial whether they would be willing to gamble

Participants were told one of the trials they accepted would be selected and played at the end of the scan for real money. Evaluate this:

The participants were also told the amount after the gamble would be added or subtracted from their overall payment of $20.

This was done to encourage participants to risk-take as they would normally

In actuality, all participants were assigned a payment of between $5 and $10, to ensure no participants had to return money

Participants were taught how to use the computerised gambling programme prior to testing

In the task, participants were presented with a series of gambles across 144 trials.

On screen, they saw a ‘spinner’ with a 50% probability of gaining the amount shown on one side, and a 50% probability of loosing the amount shown on the other side.

The amounts were given in whole dollars ranging from losses of -$5 to -$20, and gains from +$5 to +$20.

Below is an example of the three trials from the gambling task.

The experimenters collected both neural and behavioural data.1. In what way was neural activation recorded? Observed and recorded using an MRI scanner

2. Why were the researchers interested in the ventral striatum(VS)? The VS is an area of the forebrain associated with valuation and

reward. What core study also looked at this?

3. How were behavioural responses were measured? Behavioural responses such as acceptance and rejection of each trial

were recorded when the participant pressed computer keys

Results:Neural activation

+$6 - $18

+ $10 - $10

+ $17 - $5

fMRI showed more activation of the VS in adolescents as the EV increasedState the correlation found:

This area of the brain was much more active than it was in adults.

This was the case even when groups of participants were matched on income and overall acceptability of gambles

This suggests that adolescents do not have a special preference for money, as alternative explanations suggest.

Instead, it suggests a biological reason for risky behaviour in youths.

Behavioural differences In the trials where no risk was involved (E.g. gain only or loss only),

both groups made similar judgements

However, for both groups, as the EV increased so too did the likelihood of accepting the gamble

A high EV had a greater influence on the responses of adolescents, when compared to adults

This suggests that the adolescents were more focused on the high amount of money they could win, and less concerned with the relatively small amount they could lose.

Like adults, adolescents virtually never accepted gambles with EV (e.g. more to lose, less to win). This suggests adolescents were equally capable of avoiding disadvantageous choices as adults

ConclusionThe researchers concluded that…

1. Adolescents place greater value rewards than adults do

2. Neural representations of values in adolescents are linked to increased risk taking behaviour

Important: There is nothing defective with adolescent’s ability to reason about outcomes. But rather, adolescents chose to take more risk when the chance of reward is greater.

Application: At least one strategy to reduce the risk of taking behaviours using knowledge of brain development

The key research by Barkley-Levenson & Galvan (2014) has shown that adolescents and adults are both able to reason about risks in similar ways. As adolescents chose to take more risks, this makes them more vulnerable to harm. For many years, heightened risk-taking behaviours were thought to be due to the information adolescents use when making decisions. And so, a range of interventions were introduced to reduce risk-taking behaviour in adolescents. These were designed to alter knowledge, attitudes and beliefs. This includes; educating adolescents about the risks of substance use, reckless driving and unprotected sex. While these programmes improved knowledge about these activities, it was not effective in changing the behaviour. This may be because adolescents lack the cognitive control to resist sensation-seeking, no matter how much information they are given about the high-risk activities.

Intervention: Graduated driver licensing schemesWhy has this scheme been introduced?

o Drivers aged 16-19 in the UK are more than twice as likely to die in a car crash as drivers aged 40-49

o 1 in 4 18-24 year olds are involved in a car crash within the first two years of passing their driving test

What is this scheme based on?o This scheme is based on the idea that adolescents brains are more

sensitive to social and emotional information, and so interventions which restrict the influence of these factors on decision-making may be more effective than educational programmes

o Dangerous driving and alcohol consumption in teens typically occurs in groups.

o Having peers present can make the rewarding aspect of risky situations more appealing, increasing VS activation

o By limiting these opportunities for risk-taking or by changing the socio-emotional context of the behaviour, this can reduce the negative outcomes

What are graduated driver licensing schemes? GDL schemes are probationary periods for new drivers. These probationary periods contain a number of restrictions designed to:

o Improve road safetyo Limit the number of passengerso Limit the age of passengerso Reduce alcohol consumptiono Reduce night time driving

Whilst GDL schemes do not exist in the UK, many countries to have them.

Country 1: California, USAMinimum age to pass test: 16 years oldProbationary period: 12 monthsRestrictions include:

No passengers under the age of 20 Night time driving restricted between 10pm and 5am

Country 2: New South Wales, Australia Minimum age to pass test: 17 years oldProbationary period: 3 years Restrictions include:

Maximum speed 56 mph Zero blood alcohol permitted Night time driving restriction limits one passenger under the age of

21 and no driving between 11pm and 5am

Country 3: Hong Kong, ChinaMinimum age to pass test: 18 years old Probationary period: 12 month periodRestrictions include:

Max speed 44 mph May not drive in outside lane on motor way Motorcyclists may not carry passengers

Is this scheme effective? GDL is consistently found to be effective at reducing collisions in

countries where it has been implemented

There are real potential public health benefits for new drivers

The effectiveness of individual GDL schemes depends on number of restrictions and how strictly they are enforced

GDL can save 4, 471 casualties and £224 million annually

Another intervention could be the use of a black box.

What is a black box? Be clear on the restrictions a black box has

How could this be beneficial for reducing risk taking in youths?

EvaluationThere are several difficulties with investigating brain development and risk-taking behaviour.

The key research study Barkley-Levenson & Galvan (2014) was ethically sound. The use of

fMRI however may have caused discomfort and feelings of claustrophobia. One way to research risk-taking without fMRI’s would revolve around self-report. Adolescents may over or under report their risk taking based on the context asked. This is an example of social desirability.

The study of risk-taking and the task involved could increase the future likelihood of participants’ engaging in gambling, particularly as they were rewarded with real money at the end.

Why did the researchers control for handedness? What impact might it have had on the study if both left and right handed people took part?

Other methodological issues with the study include:

o Small sample size – difficult to generaliseo Sampling method – o Experimental design - o Young adolescents (8-12 years old)o Laboratory environment and computerised task to measure

risk taking – lacks mundane realism and ecological validity

Parental consent required must be obtained. This was obtained in key research study. For future studies, this can cause difficulty

How does the topic link to the following debates?Usefulness of research

Research into neurological change is useful in helping us to understand the typical patterns of development and to identify relevant behavioural correlations. The Barkley-Levenson & Galvan (2014) study provides an excellent explanation for risk-taking behaviour. It also explains why attempts to educate young people are less successful at promoting behavioural change than those such as GDL, which target social and emotional context.

Nature vs NurtureThe debate over the roles of nature and nurture in brain development has evolved hugely in recent years. It is now recognised that while some patterns of neurological changes are innate process, stimulation from the environment plays an important role in shaping development.For example: synaptic pruning which is a universal, age-related process (nature) which is also influenced by the environment (nurture).The Barkley-Levenson & Galvan (2014) study revealed a difference in neural activation and gambling behaviour between teens and adults. They found teens were highly sensitive to rewards when compared to adults. This suggests that changes in sensitivity to reward are likely to be part of a natural process of neural development. However, the study did not explore the reasons behind the onset of neurological change; nurture factors might still partly explain this. GDL and its effectiveness suggests the importance of the environment as an influential factor (nurture), alongside the biological forces (nature).

Freewill vs DeterminismRisk-taking involves reasoning and decision-making by the individual, this suggesting that we have free will.The key research study suggests the teens risk taking behaviour was determined by biological forces. In addition to this, a range of environmental factors could determine an individuals likelihood. For example…

Psychology as a ScienceResearch into brain-development and risk-taking tends to rely on laboratory based procedures, using objectivity and scientific measurements through brain scanning techniques and computer stimulations.

The Barkley-Levenson & Galvan (2014) study was controlled enough to ensure that the differences in gambling behaviour and neural activation was linked to nothing else. The scans or simulations also produce empirical data, through standardised, highly replicable procedures such as a gambling task.

It is difficult to scientifically suggest GDL is effective. As this strategy occurs within a real-world context, which is extremely varied. It is difficult to ‘prove’ the GDL would change adolescents level of risk-taking behaviour. Recent statistics which suggest road casualties have reduced since the implementation of GDL strategies suggest they are effective.

Answer the following exam questions:

Use the study by Barkley-Leveson and Galvan (2014) to explain how neuroscience can help us to understand differences between adolescent and adult brains [10 marks]

Assess the reliability of research into brain development and risk-taking [15 marks]

Dr Shah’s Research team studies risky behaviour in adolescents. She has a young research student called Dan who is designing a new project. He has to choose a topic other than gambling. Choose any risk-taking behaviour other than gambling and discuss how Dan might plan and conduct a new piece of research and what he might find [10 marks]

Quick question What is the difference between the terms ‘sensation’ and ‘perception’? You should provide an example to support your explanation.

TOPIC THREE: Perceptual developmentBackground: Perceptual development in children and how this can be studied in babies and animals

Part one of background: Perceptual development in childrenThrough the process of sensation, we experience the world; being exposed to a stimuli such as light, sound, smell, taste and touch through corresponding sensory organs. Perception is different to sensation. Perception is the process by which our minds organise, process and make sense of sensory data. Our perceptual systems keep us informed of what is happening in our environment and help us respond accordingly.

In humans, most perceptual capacities emerge during the first year of life. The development of perception is directed by an interaction between an infant’s sensory experiences and its biological programming. The rate at which perception develops is of real interest to psychologists wanting to understand the interplay between brain development, perceptual processing and healthy functioning. At birth, our auditory (hearing), olfaction (smell), and tactile (touch) systems are already developed at the time of birth. The visual system is somewhat organised but still relatively immature and continues to develop over the first few weeks and months.In many ways, vision is the most important sense as it provides us with the most detailed information about what is happening in our environment.

A number of sensory abilities develop over the first year of life. These include:

1. Acuity – this is the sharpness of your vision. This is poor in new-borns. An infant can see at 6 meters, whereas an adult can see at 100-125 meters.

2. Binocular vision – this is the ability to perceive depth. New-borns have poor muscle definition and cannot align the movement of both eyes, so struggle with depth perception.

3. Colour – very young babies have been found to prefer bold colours or high contrasting colours, such as black and white. This is not to suggest that new-borns cannot perceive colour, which was once thought. Rather it means their ability to perceive and prefer develops later.

Outlined above are the sensory abilities. As we have already discussed, perception is more than just sensation. Two key perception abilities are as follows:

1. Facial recognition – early research suggests babies have an innate ability to recognises races. Later research confirms babies have a preference for typical faces over scrambles faces. For example, babies would prefer the top two images, rather than the bottom two images.

2. Depth perception – this is the ability to perceive the world in 3D. Research shows motion and size/shape discrimination is possible in new-borns. It is suggested that this emerges around 3 months old.

Part two of background: How perceptual development can be studied in babies and animalsWhat issues are there with studying perception in infants?

The use of new-borns or young babies – issues with consent, issues with their right to withdraw

Difficult to accurately access and measure someone else’s perception. Using adult participants, this would rely on self-report. This is something that is not possible using infants. Thus any information gathered is purely assumptions.

Psychologists have developed two ways to investigate the development of perception in infants. These are…Habituation – this is the idea that infants will get used to (and bored of) looking at familiar stimuli, but will show interest in a novel stimuli. This allows researchers to investigate whether infants can discriminate between two different stimuli. For example, a red object is repeatedly shown to an infant until their heart rate or visual fixation drops to a stable level (habituation). A green object is then introduced to the visual field and any difference in the response would suggest that the infant can discriminate between the red object and the green object.

Preferential looking – this refers to the tendency of babies to prefer to look at new things. Two objects can be presented at once, and the researcher can record which, if their, the infant attends most. This allows researchers to identify which stimuli the baby prefers (e.g. the tests of facial recognition).

A number of studies into perception have involved animals. The key research in this topic uses ‘selective rearing’. This involves raising an animal from birth under controlled conditions to observe the outcome.

Which core study do you know of which has used ‘selective rearing’? Explain how.

Key research: Gibson & Walk (1960) ‘The Visual Cliff’

AIM: How humans and other animals perceive height distance What stage human infants and other young animals develop the

ability to perceive height distance METHOD:Sample

There were 36 infants ranging from 6 months to 14 months. The researchers also tested unspecific numbers of young animals

including cats, rats, goats, sheep, turtles and chickens.DESIGN AND PROCEDURE:

Laboratory experiment using a novel set-up called the ‘visual cliff’

The visual cliff was specifically designed to test height distance perception, while also avoiding the danger associated with an actual fall.

It consisted of a board laid across a large sheet of heavy glass that was supported around one foot above the floor

On one side of the board, a sheet of patterned material was placed directly underneath the glass (the ‘shallow’ side)

On the other side, a sheet of the same material was laid on the floor (the ‘cliff’ side)

Although the cliff side was solid to the floor to touch, the visually patterned material was clearly some distance lower. This created an illusion of depth.

Label the picture to illustrate the shallow side and the cliff side

This is a form of distance perception

Human trials

Each child was placed in the centre of the board as they were individually tested. The mother of each child was present in the hopes this would motivate the children to move on the apparatus. The mother called the baby towards her; first from the cliff side, and then from the shallow side. The behaviour of the child was observed and recorded.

Animal trials

The researchers observed and recorded the behaviour of a number of different animals on the visual cliff. This included a number of kittens who had been reared in total darkness for 27 days. Some of the animals came from Cornell Behaviour farm where Gibson (the researcher) worked.

Control trials

The researcher performed a number of alterations to the set-up to check any hidden bias. These include:

Changes to lighting The pattern of the material uses The height distance for each side

The researchers assessed the impact of each change at one time, observing any differences in the behaviour of rats.

Separation of visual cues

In order to investigate the impact of different visual cues, the researchers introduced a variation that included two different materials being placed below each side. The two involved in perceiving depth are:

a) Relative sizeThe more distant an object is, the smaller the image of the object will be.For example, the squares on the patterned background to the shallow side of the cliff were the same size as those on the cliff side. However, they appear smaller to the eye due to relative size.

b) Motion parallaxAs we move, objects there closer move farther across our field of vision than do objects that are in the distance. This can make objects in the distance appear to move slowly. For example, when you are on a bus the markings at the edge of the road may whizz by quickly, whilst the trees in the distance will move slowly in comparison.

In an attempt to reduce relative size and motion parallax, Gibson and Walk placed larger patterns on the low side of the cliff to create a constant density to the pattern.

RESULTS:Human trials

All of the 27 infants who moved off the board crawled out onto the shallow side at least once

Only three babies crept onto the deep side of the cliff Many of the infants crawled away from their mother when she called

them whilst standing on the cliff edge Other babies cried when their mother stood at the cliff side because

they perceived their mothers to be unsafe to reach All of the infants would look at the glass and pat the glass with their

hands. Despite this, many would still refuse to cross it. What does this tell us about the infants depth perception?

Animal trials

Similar findings to humans Notable differences in the age at which depth perception and

mobility developedUsing page 86, select two animals to compare results:

This suggests animals develop depth perception when they are mobile

This may be an adaptive purpose, helping the newly mobile animal to avoid falling

Control trials

The results of the variation found no hidden bias

Separation of visual cues

Studies on rats and chicks reared in both normal and dark conditions showed a strong preference for the shallow side. This suggests motional parallax is an innate cue

Rats showed a significantly higher preference to the shallow side when guided by object size. This suggesting that relative size develops are learned.

Conclusion: 1. Nature and nurture play an influence in the development of depth

perception

2. Binocular cues such as motion parallax are innate, while monocular cues such as size are constancy are learned

3. Humans and other animals have developed some depth perception by the time of the onset of mobility, which is specifically suited to the habitat and behaviour of their species

Watch the following video for consolidation of study:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WanGt1G6ScA

Application: At least one play strategy to develop perception in young children

In this topic we have considered the ‘normal’ development of perception. The development of perception in humans and animals is affected by exposure to different types and levels of stimulation, as well as the individuals capacity to process and make sense of sensory information. In some cases, abnormal perception can be explained by sensory deprivation, such as the dark-reared kittens who lacked normal depth perception (Gibson & Walk, 1960).

Individuals with developmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) or autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) may struggle to receive, process and make sense of information provided by the senses. Not all individuals with ADHD or ASD have sensory processing difficulties. However, some people with ASD can be either:

Hyper-sensitive (over sensitive) to bright lights

Hypo-sensitive (under sensitive) to heat or pressure

Psychologists and therapists working with these children design interventions at early ages to help facilitate their perceptual development through play.One strategy: Sensory integrative therapy (SI therapy).

Background to SI Jean Ayres’ work which rejects the idea that sensory systems

develop independently or that they process sensory inputs in isolation.

Instead, SI suggests out senses are neurologically organised for use and allow us to move, learn and function well in our environment.

When our sensory integration is delayed, emotional and behavioural issues follow

Who is it aimed for? Those who suffer with sensory and perceptual difficulties Aims to improve learning, visual and auditory perception, alongside

advanced motor skills

How will it work? For young individuals, SI will be fun and engaging. The key will be

intrinsic motivations (the children will love the activity and they are their own reward). Examples of play activities and how they involve different senses include:

o Using brushes on skin (touch and hand-eye coordination)o Sitting or rolling on a bouncy ball (vision and balance)o Being squeezed between exercise pads or wearing a weighted

vest (pressure and movement)o Dance to different types of music (sound and movement)

All interventions will be tailored to the person specifically. Feedback from the child is important. However, as the children typically are young or struggle with communication, this may be difficult.

Is SI effective? The effectiveness of measured through the behavioural outcomes,

such as improved tolerance for stimulation, attention building, improvements in perceptual abilities or general functioning.

Fertel-Daly (2001) found the use of a weighted vest for children with developmental disorders resulted in increased attention to tasks and a decrease in self-injury behaviours

Fazlioglu & Baran (2008) found SI programmes positively affected children with ASD

Although research does suggests it is effective, it is a controversial therapy. There lacks a sufficient number of well-designed studies to truly say whether it works or not.

A recent meta-analysis of 25 studies involving SI found that few had clear positive results, and most used small non-randomised samples.

EvaluationMethodological IssuesThe methodology of a study can be standardised and controlled, like Gibson and Walks. The examination of perceptual processes of children and animals must be done so in the absence of communication. This means that there is the risk of exposing the participants to non-verbal cues that could influence the child’s behaviour. For example, the tone of voice or facial expression of the mother as she beckoned her child to crawl over the cliff side might have varied from those put forward when beckoning from the shallow side. These subtle cues could bias the findings.Additionally, the study is mostly based on inferring. This requires researchers to be certain of their assumptions, which allows for researcher bias.

Ethical issues The protection of participants from harm is essential in modern psychological research. Consent – it can be challenging to gain consent for studies of new-borns. Methods can be intrusive and invade the privacy of parents and infants. For example, Gibson and Walk (1960) created conditions that induced distress in babies who felt they could not safely reach their mothers.Protection of participants – Gibson and Walk (1960) have used different species for sensory deprivation and selective rearing experiments. This could potentially cause suffering to the animals and long-term harm if the effects of deprivation were irreversible. Experimenting on animals is the only way to obtain this knowledge, however it can be considered too unethical and results from animals cannot be generalised to that of humans (G+W attempt to do so), making the methods more difficult to justify.

DebatesUsefulness of researchYESResearch into visual perception is very useful as helps create a timeline of ‘normal’ development, allowing comparisons to be made.Findings from research help parents and professionals to identify any abnormalities that may arise. These may especially be important to help treat visual conditions – e.g. glasses, hearing devices. Or to develop compensatory strategies such as learning sign language. SI is useful and can be effective into the improvement of motor function and moderate sensory difficulties. More research is required.

Nature vs NurtureNature

Humans are born well equipped in terms of functioning sensory system

Gibson & Walk (1960) suggest that depth perception is innate.

Nurture Selective rearing research (Sugita 2004) show that although sensory

capability is present, without the right environmental stimuli, abilities such as depth perception cannot develop.

As visual perception changes rapidly after birth, many argue this is down to the environment.

Both Perception involves using these innate functions and using them

accordingly alongside the environmental information.

Freewill vs DeterminismDeterminism

Your perception is developed through your environmental experiences

Reductionism vs HolismReductionism

Gibson & Walk (1960) believed that perception was down to neurobiology

Holism SI is a holistic therapy as it involves an assessment of the whole

person. The therapist considers the child’s abilities and difficulties. The strategies implemented are based on that individual.

Psychology as a scienceYES

Laboratory based studies Use of objective, scientific measurements of heart-rate movements

and eye tracking Fantz (1963) controlled the environment, tested variables such as

scrambled and unscrambled faces. This allowed him to confirm or disprove different hypothesis on infant perception

Gibson & Walk (1960) had high degree of control, used standardised procedures and materials – reliable. Allowed for a cause and effect relationship to be established.

NO Heavily relies on interpretation and assumptions – allows for

researcher bias

FOUR: Cognitive development and educationAnswer the following exam questions:

A Using the research by Gibson & Walk (1960), explain how experimental studies can be used to understand perceptual development [10 marks]

B Assess the role of science in psychology, using Gibson and Walk’s study of perceptual development as an example [15 marks]

C Sally is a nurse at a post-natal clinic specialising in sensory awareness. She advises parents on ways to help their new-born babies to develop. Discuss how Sally’s knowledge of studies of perceptual development in children and animals will influence the suggestions she makes to the parents she meets. [10 marks]

Background: Cognitive development in children and the impact of this on education

It was previously assumed children knew less than adults. Bandura suggests in the Social Learning Theory that children’s knowledge and skills increases over time through observation and imitation.According to Piaget (1896-1980), children do not think about the world in the same way as adults do. He suggests, children are born with basic mental structures upon which all other knowledge and skills are built. Piaget used a range of methods to explore how children’s thinking evolved and becomes more sophisticated over time. He also developed a universal stage theory of development (see below).

Piaget suggests children’s learning of the world is based on the creation and development of schemata’s. A schema is a mental unit of knowledge about a particular aspect of the world. For example, the schema of a children’s birthday party may include: cake, sweets, balloons, presents and a clown. Loftus & Palmer’s second study relies on schemas. This study asked participants if they saw broken glass. This was based on the assumption that the participant schema’s of a car crash would include broken glass.

Piaget calls the two processes contributing to the development of schemas as:Assimilation is the process by which new information and experience are incorporated into existing schemas. For example, the first time a child sees an image of a penguin, the child may think it is a duck.Accommodation happens when individuals encounter information which requires reconstruction of existing mental structures. For example, a child notices differences in colouring, habitat and behaviour between penguins and ducks and they can refer to the two individually.

The impact cognitive development has on educationPiaget’s work has had radical implications for the field of education. Understanding that children develop cognitive abilities in a particular sequence means acknowledging that certain aspects of the world can only be understood at certain stages; that there are limits to what sort of problems young children can solve. This concept of ‘readiness’ has provided a useful framework for the school curriculum as it means the teaching of concepts can be organised around a developmental sequence. Failure by teachers to recognise cognitive challenges can lead to frustrating classroom experiences where learners lack challenges or face tasks that are too far beyond their abilities. Vygotsky advocated that teachers use paired or group activities to enable children to benefit from more knowledgeable others (MKO). This believes that working with peers on a paired or group task allows us to question, evaluate and generate new ideas. This idea is closely related to ‘scaffolding’ this is a method of instruction where the MKO (e.g. a tutor) will support the learner by structuring a task to make it more achievable given the learners current ability.

Key research: Wood et al. (1976) The role of tutoring in problem-solving

AIM: Explore the process of tutoring. With specific interest in describing the instructional relationships between adult tutors and children in the context of skill acquisition and problem solving.What does this mean?? Reword the above aim.

METHOD: Volunteer sample

Evaluate this:

30 children from same region in the USAEvaluate this:

Middle or lower middle-class familiesEvaluate this:

Even number of boys and girlsEvaluate this:

Equal numbers of 3, 4 and 5-year olds Evaluate this:

DESIGN AND PROCEDURE:The participants (who were accompanied by their parents) were tutored in individual sessions lasting between 20 minutes to one hour.The tutor attempted to teach the children how to build a three-dimensional structure. This required a skill, which was beyond their capabilities.

The tutor was required to instruct verbally but to let the children be as independent as possible in carrying out the task. The task:

The children sat before 21 blocks of various shapes and sizes spread out in a jumble

The child was invited to play with the blocks for 5 minutes in order to get used to them

The tutor then would take two of the smallest blocks and demonstrate how the blocks could be connected (If the child already connected blocks during their free play, the tutor would tell them to ‘make some more like that’).

The tutor then recognised the three potential responses of the child

1. The child ignored the tutor and continued to play

2. The child took the blocks they had just connected and manipulated them

3. The child took new blocks and attempted to make something similar to what had just been made

Scoring The tutor indicated whether the child had received assistance from

the tutor during construction (‘assisted’), or if they constructed them themselves (‘unassisted’).

The experimenters noted when the constructed object did not meet requirement constraints or were mismatched. They also noted if the child rejected them.

Interventions of the tutor were noted in one of three categories; ‘direct assistance’, a ‘verbal error prompt’ e.g. does this ___ look like this ___, and thirdly, a straightforward prompt for the child to attempt more constructs (e.g., can you make more like this?).

RESULTS:Participant age Median number of acts % of acts that were

unassisted constructs3 39 104 41 505 32 75%

Summary of results: The older children selected two matching blocks without the need

for previous trial and error more often than younger children

The 3 year old children took almost as many correct constructions as they put together

Two-thirds of the time, the 3 year olds reconstructed without instruction to do so.

The 3 and 4 year olds had similar likelihoods of reassembling correct constructs and not incorrect ones. This shows that they were as able to recognise correct outcomes.

The greatest difference is seen in the interactions between tutor and different age group. Explain what was found. Including the different roles of the tutor.

The experimenters outline the following process of ‘scaffolding’ in relation to a theory of instruction:

1. Recruitment: Get the learner interested in the task and its requirements

2. Reduction in degrees of freedom: Simplify the task, reducing the number of steps needed for completion

3. Direction of maintenance: Keep the learner on task in spite of the distractions - incentivise

4. Marking critical/features; Mark out relevant features of the task, help identify the difference between what the learner has already achieved and what the correct outcome is

5. Frustration control: employ strategies to make the problem solving less stressful

6. Demonstration: model the correct outcome or idealise the act to be performed

CONCLUSIONS:ONE: Increasing age meant a greater likelihood of task success, and improvement in the achievement of the more complex aspects of the task.

TWO: Although younger children might not be able to complete tasks as well as older children, they are often equally able to recognise when a task has been correctly achieved

THREE: The level and type of support needed by children differed across age groups in line with the tutors changing support wit increased ability, as an example of scaffolding

Application: At least one cognitive strategy to improve revision of learning

Our knowledge of how the mind processes information can be applied in education to improve revision and learning through cognitive strategies. Cognitive strategies include any mental technique for enhancing processes such as memory, concentration or problem solving. Strategies are different from skills; because they require us to make a conscious decision and choices about the most appropriate and effective ways of achieving a particular goal. One example of this strategy is known as a ‘mnemonic’.A mnemonic is the term given to a technique for aiding memory, typically when the information we need to recall is large in amount of unfamiliar.

Visual mnemonic – rely on your visionVisual mnemonics involve visualising a place that you are familiar with (e.g. your home, workplace or a journey you take regularly). Each object or feature in this space then acts as a piece of information you need to memorise. It may help to go in order to ensure all aspects of the information are recalled each time. By identifying a list of concepts you need to memorise and associating them with a location, you should be able to recall the linked information more easily.Acronyms are the most well-known mnemonic. An acronym takes the first letter of each word contained in a phrase or set of information to form a new word. For example, the word ‘scuba’ is actually an acronym for ‘Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus’. Two common acronyms for the compass points North East South West are:1. Naughty Elephants Squirt Water2. Never Eat Shredded Wheat

Auditory mnemonic – rely on soundRhymes may be used as mnemonic devices and often are easier to recall. For example, ‘I before E, except after C’.

Are mnemonics effective?YESThe capacity of our working memory is limited, with most adults typically being able to recall 7 items within their short-term memory. Mnemonics maximise the short-term memory capacity by condensing a number of items into a single word.NO Semantic processing involves elaborate rehearsal of information which leads to deeper encoding of information and better recall. Semantic processing techniques involve essay writing, explaining topics out loud and detailed mind maps. Mnemonics rely on shallow forms of processing -not semantic. Meaning that deep encoding and better recall may be limited. However, if the person creates meaningful associations (e.g. visual mnemonic using their own home), Roediger (1980) suggests high recall of information.The information which can be remembered through mnemonic can be limited. Short word answers are often easier to create into mnemonics. For example, it may be easier to create rhymes for the elements of the periodic table in chemistry rather than recalling textual analysis of a Shakespearean play. Mnemonics may require imagination in order to make a meaningful association to create effective rhymes or poems which for many may be difficult. The effectiveness of mnemonics really is dependent on the information being learned and how skilled the individual is.

Evaluation – methodological issuesThis topic revolves around measuring mental processes.

Wood aimed to measure the child’s cognitive thinking. As the tutor was flexible and responsive to the child’s behaviour this allowed for the researcher to identify the child’s thoughts and learning accurately. However, due to flexibility it makes lowers the reliability of the research, causing further issues of comparison.

Measuring a child’s mental process qualitatively, disallows a comparison to other children. Even if the qualitative data is transformed into qualitative data, this means the data is subjective, disallowing comparison.

The use of children as a participant sample for a range of studies is a poor sample. As children develop each day and so two children aged 3 may be the same age but could be at different developmental points.

Evaluation – ethical issuesThere are many issues when conducting research with young children –

Can they give informed consent? Do they feel as though they have a right to withdraw? Will they understand a debrief? Are they protected?

In Wood’s study, the researcher did not explicitly state how consent was obtained and what measures were put into place to protect the participants well-being. Whilst you may argue this research is unlikely to impose physical or emotional trauma on the child, you cannot 100% guarantee.

DebatesNature vs Nurture Nature

Piaget’s cognitive stage theory argues that the ages at which children achieve certain cognitive abilities are fixed and universal. Emphasising nature

Nurture Piaget’s process of discovery learning relies on suitable conditions in

the environment. Emphasising nurture. Vygotsky argues that sociocultural factors and the influence of

language are tools which are specific to the environment in which a child is raised. He suggests that children’s abilities are down to their environment. He does acknowledge innate mental processes, however says without the environment, children cannot develop further. Emphasising nurture.

Nature + Nurture Evidence from Wood’s study suggests that collaborative learning

processes such as scaffolding rely on nature and nurture. The results of the study show children’s construction abilities improved with age, which suggested an innate element to cognitive development.

Freewill vs DeterminismFreewill

The opportunities discovery learning presents allows freedom for all kinds of learning to occur.

Individuals are not simply products being constructed in a factory of their education. There are many other variables which can influence their cognitive development. As the Wood study shows, interactions between the tutors and the children are individualised and moderated by other factors within the child’s control. These might include their choice of behaviour on the day, for example, how cooperative they were being, how shy they were feeling, how polite they were to the tutor.

Determined Piaget would argue that children are predetermined to develop new

cognitive abilities at fixed stages, in alignment with theory of universal stages.

Psychology as a scienceNO

Methods used to assess cognitive development in children, such as observations and clinical interviews, are considered unscientific. They are open to bias interpretation. For example, Piaget conducted his observations alone, so the data may reflect a subjective interpretation.

Wood’s study can be considered unscientific:o Firstly, it does not seek to establish a cause and effect

relationship between age and cognitive ability. Instead, it describes the nature of the interaction between the child and tutor = unscientific

o The researchers collected some quantitative data which allows them to assert a relationship between age and cognitive ability. However the key results refer to qualitative data and reflect the observers interpretations of social interactions = unscientific

YES Unlike Piaget, Wood’s study had multiple observers and coders

which classified data. This reduces the risk of bias and makes the key research method more scientific.

Usefulness of researchYES

Piaget’s theories of learning have influenced teaching practices worldwide. They have encouraged teachers to engage children actively in their own learning. By introducing the idea that children think differently to adults, he created a focus on the process of thinking, not just the outcome.

These theories also influenced the Plowden Report (1967) which overhauled the existing English primary education system and had express intention of placing the child at the centre of the educational process.

Scaffolding, as introduced by Wood (1967), has been very influential in education – you may recognise ‘contingent scaffolding’. This is when a teacher sets a task then travels round the room to different students asking questions. These provide encouragement and corrections – all tailored to the individuals level of need. Another example of scaffolding can be through interactive learning – the use of a class blog provides students with a depth of help. The student will select how much help they require based on their own abilities.

Answer the following exam question

A) Explain how the research by Wood et al (1976) could be used to improve children’s learning in an educational setting [10 marks]

B) Assess the usefulness of research into cognitive development in children in the context of education [15 marks]

C) Leroy is a new teacher at Park School and has a lunchtime craft group with students aged between 6 and 10 years old. He is aware that the older and younger children might have different needs when learning crafts such as sewing and woodwork. Discuss how Leroy’s understanding of the cognitive development of children will impact on the way he treats the children in his group [10 marks]

TOPIC FIVE: DEVELOPMENT OF ATTACHMENTBackground: The development of attachment and babies, and the impact of failure to develop attachments

Part one of background: The development of attachment & BabiesThis topic looks at the development of attachment in humans and how early attachment experiences can affect us in later life. Before we look at this, what does the term ‘attachment’ mean?

According to psychologists, attachment contain three essential qualities. These are outlined in the middle boxes below. You should match up each quality with the correct explanation and its corresponding image.

While we form numerous attachments throughout our lives, our first attachment is considered to be the most important. Child psychologists have sought to understand the nature of infant’s relationships to their (first) attachment figure, to:1. Identify different styles of attachment2. Consider the purpose and consequence of attachment. You will notice that in early research, the attachment figure studied is usually the mother as she most always was the primary carer (especially in older studies. Think of the stereotypic role of females in the family).Psychologist Lorenz studied ‘imprinting’. Imprinting is when an animal learns to recognise the characteristics of its parent. This occurs during the first few days of life, during a time called the ‘critical period’. He studied imprinting in geese. He famously found that geese will imprint on the first moving stimulus they see shortly after hatching, whether or not it has

Attachment refers to the enduring emotional bond between two people.

Proximity-seeking

Separation anxiety or protest

Happiness at reunion

Displeasure or distress at leaving this person

Experiencing pleasure at being close to the person again

Wanting to be close to the other person

feathers! If you look in the image, you will see the geese follow Lorenz as if he was their mother. Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGyfcBfSj4MAs attachment behaviours such as imprinting can be observed in other species, a psychologist named Bowlby suggests that attachments have an evolutionary purpose. In layman’s terms, forming an attachment will support your survival. For example, babies heavily rely on their care givers for basic needs. In prehistoric times, you could consider babies who formed attachments with carers and maintained proximity as having a lowered risk of being eaten by predators and encountering other dangerous. This is an example of an adaptive behaviour. This allows humans and other animals to become more suited to survival in their environments. What does this mean for humans in today’s society??

Bowlby suggests that human infants possess adaptive mechanisms for eliciting parental responses. He suggests there are several innate behaviours (behaviours you are born knowing) that are key to shaping and controlling parenting responses. These are known as social releasers and each is an example of adaptive functioning.Below you will see each of the behaviours alongside the desired parental response.Infant behaviour

Description Parenting response

Smiling At five weeks, babies begin smiling at visual stimuli. Quickly this is refined to smiling more often at recognisable, familiar faces.

Elicits attention, smiling and interaction strengthens the attachment bond

Crying Infant cries are distressing and difficult to ignore. Babies cry when they are hungry, cold, frightened or in pain and require adult intervention.

Parent leans through negative reinforcement to pick up the child to alleviate crying. This elicits response to meet specific need or to encourage proximity

Sucking This action is required in order to obtain milk, however non-nurturing sucking (such as sucking a dummy) is common and has been shown to pacify or alleviate a baby’s distress

Baby is offered breast milk, bottle of object to suck, requiring proximity from caregiver.

There are a number of attachment types identified by Ainsworth (1978). Ainsworth conducted the key research part of this topic, using a scenario called the ‘Strange Situation’. At this point of the topic, all you need to know is that below describes four types of attachment. Each describes a baby’s response when their mother leaves a room and returns.

Type A – Insecure, anxious/avoidantBehaviour shown in the strange situation test

Baby avoids proximity to mother at reunion Baby not distressed by mothers absence

Type B - SecureBehaviour shown in the strange situation test

Baby actively seeks and maintains maternal proximity Baby may show distress at mothers absence

Type C – Insecure ambivalent/resistantBehaviour shown in the strange situation test

Baby simultaneously seeks and resists maternal contact

Type D – Insecure disorganisedBehaviour shown in the strange situation test

No one clear pattern of behaviour (EG May seek maternal proximity then on other occasions may not)

Inconsistent/bizarre responses to maternal separation and reunion.

Part two of background: The impact of failure to develop attachmentsBowlby introduced the ‘internal working model’ for attachment. He suggests that children form a mental representation of their first attachment relationship, which then forms a model for later relationships. According to the theory, children who form kind, loving bonds with their primary attachment figure will internalise the relationship as a model for future attachments. Likewise, he also suggests children who have been abused or neglected will be more likely to go on to reproduce those patterns of behaviour. In simple terms, this means; if you have a poor first

attachment with your primary attachment figure, all your relationships will be poor. Similarly, if you have a good attachment, all relationships that follow will be good. In the box below, explain the two things which Bowlby suggests will happen if children fail to form an attachment at all during their early

years.Later, Bowlby acknowledged he may have over-stated the consequences of maternal deprivation.Rutter (1981) says…Deprivation is separation from attachment figure after attachment has been formed.Privation is a lack of any attachment bond.Case study of Genie – PrivationIn the 1970’s, a social worker in LA found ‘Genie’. Genie was the name given to a 13 year old girl who had suffered severe deprivation. It was established that she had been confined to a small room for her whole life. She spent most of her days naked and tied to a potty chair. This meant she could only move her hands and her feet. If she made noise, her father would beat her. She was severely ignored by her father, mother and brother. She would be starved for days at a time. The only food she would be given was baby food. When she was found she was 13 years old – she had the body of a 6-year old, she could barely walk and could not speak – instead she barked. Genie was removed from her family’s care. Under new care and years of hard work, Genie was able to learn how to walk and talk. Academically,

Genie could only understand to a certain level. This shows that early attachments are important. Whilst the effects of privation are not irreversible – the effects can limit the progress one can make. Furthermore, Rutter (1981) studied children from Romanian orphanages who were subsequently adopted by families. He found that the majority of adoptees formed attachments to their new caregivers and had no lasting developmental problems. This shows that where children failed to form an attachment within the critical period, they are still able to achieve normal developmental outcomes.

Key Research: Ainsworth & Bell (1970). Attachment, Exploration and Separation: Illustrated by the Behaviour of One-year-olds in a Strange Situation

AIM: To investigate the interaction between… Infant attachment behaviour Response to unfamiliar situation separation from and reunion with maternal attachment figure

SAMPLE: 56 one-year old babies and their mothers

Evaluate this:

All from white, middle class family backgroundsEvaluate this:

Families were contacted for participation through their paediatricians from private practicesEvaluate this:

Of the sample, 23 babies had been observed longitudinally from birth onwards, and were observed in the ‘Strange Situation’ at 51 weeksEvaluate this:

The remaining 33 were observed when 49 weeks oldEvaluate this:

DESIGN: Controlled observation Standard procedure called ‘Strange Situation’ involving 8 different

episodes (stages) which all took place in same order for all participants Evaluate this:

The ‘strange situation’ was designed to encourage the babies to explore their new environment

Care was taken to ensure the environment was not too strange, which would hinder the babies explorationEvaluate this:

Each of the episodes (stages) were carried out in a specific order so that the least ‘disturbing’ events would occur first.

The researchers wanted to avoid heightened attachment behaviour and observe more typical reactions

Watch the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_6rQk7jlrc) and explain the 8 stages below:

In an adjoining room, two observers described the behaviour as they observed, speaking into a tape recorder. The recordings were then transcribed and coded. Evaluate this:

The infants behaviour towards their mother or the stranger was coded on a 7-point scales of intensity for:

1. Proximity and contact seeking behaviours (EG approaching and clambering up, reaching or learning)

2. Contact maintaining behaviours (EG Clinging, holding on, resisting, release or protesting once contact is lost)

3. Proximity and interaction avoiding behaviour (EG ignoring the adult by looking, turning or moving away)

4. Contact and interaction resisting behaviour (EG angry attempts to push away the adult seeking to make contact or squirming to get down once picked up)

5. Search behaviour (EG Following the mother to the door, trying to open or banging on the door, remaining looking towards the door)

Evaluate this coding scheme

RESULTS:The level of exploring behaviour decreased when the stranger entered the room and remained low after the mother left (this suggests the babies behaviour was effected by the stranger and by the absence of their mother. This also suggests that the babies use the mother as a ‘safe base’ to return to – link to conclusion 2). There was no significant crying when the stranger entered in the presence of their mother (this suggests they feel safe around their mother)Crying increased when the mother left and minimised when she returned. The crying did not minimise when the stranger entered. (This suggests the baby was crying because their mother was not there - link to conclusion 1). Search behaviours peaked when the baby was left alone (This suggests children are ‘brave’ in the absence of mother and felt comfortable in room)

Contact maintaining behaviour increased when mother returned to the room. These behaviours were less frequent towards stranger. Contact resisting behaviours were observed in 1/3 of babies in relation to mothers first return, and were shown in ½ at mothers second return. Nearly all babies who scored highly in contact resisting behaviour also scored high on contact maintaining behaviour. This represents the frustration of the baby by the mother leaving and reappearing. The babies wanted to be held but at the same time did not want contact. (Link to conclusion 3)

CONCLUSION:1. In threatening situations, attachment behaviour increases2. The attachment figure is used as a secure based for exploration by

the infant3. There are observable differences in attachment styles; attachment

can look different between pairs.

Application: At least one strategy to develop an attachment friendly environment

In 1951, Bowlby submitted a report to the World Health Organisation (WHO) as part of an international programme concerned with the welfare of homeless children. The report contained data that Bowlby had collected on the effect of maternal deprivation on homeless and disturbed children across Europe and the USA. His research found negative outcomes for children across a range of contexts associated with infant-mother separations.Bowlby was well aware of the importance of proximity and stability in forming secure attachments. In the 1950’s, children were often removed from family homes and sent to live with foster families or in group homes, because they were born to unmarried mothers or lived in impoverished, overcrowded homes. Bowlby argued, with the exception of abuse and neglect, offering aid in the form of financial assistance and support from social services to these families was far preferable to separation.Children’s experiences of hospitalisation In the box below, using the information on page 108 in your textbooks, outline children’s experiences of hospitalisation.

Attachment and Family-Centred CareIn the box below, using the information on page 108 in your textbooks, outline how modern hospital polices have changed dramatically since the work of Bowlby (1951) and Robertson (1952).

Evaluation – methodological issuesThis topic is looks at attachment. Attachment is a concept which may be difficult to accurately measure. Below are the names of the researchers mentioned in this topic. You should identify how each researcher measures attachment, and identify any strengths and weaknesses when it comes to this measure of attachment. This will help you evaluate the validity of each study.Researcher How they

measure attachment

Strengths of using this measurement

Weaknesses of using this measurement

Lorenz

Bowlby

Rutter

Ainsworth

Bowlby

Robertson

Ethnocentrism (cultural bias)

Ainworth’s attachment styles suggest that Type B ‘secure attachments’ are ideal and prevalent.

Cross-cultural meta-analysis suggests that secure attachments are the most common type across a number of nations. Does this suggest Ainsworth’s study has high or low ethnocentrism?

However, this cross-cultural meta-analysis also showed that there were variations in patterns of insecure attachments. Many of these differences can be explained in terms of variations in child-rearing practices. This means Ainsworth’s classification system can be considered to display ethnocentrism as it does not account for all cultural differences.

Ainsworth’s strange situation Controlled observation – What type of validity does the study lack?

However, brief and frequent infant-mother separations and reunions increase ecological validity and mundane realism

Observation is better way to collect information than self-report, as parent may show demand characteristics or socially desirable answers.

All participants were from white, middle-class families – this is not representative of the general population, limiting generalisability

Sampling method – What is bad about this?

Detailed coding scheme with multiple ‘behaviours’ and examples allows for the observers to know exactly what they are looking for.

Two observers. What type of reliability does this mean the study has?

Standardised procedures allowing for repetition. What type of reliability does this mean the study has?

Evaluation – ethical issuesAny research which includes children is likely to raise ethical issues. Explain how the following ethical guidelines may be a problem.

1. Informed consent

2. Right to withdraw

3. Deception

4. Protection of participants – think of how the child must feel when their parent leaves them on multiple occasions? This could lead to a life-long mistrust

Ethical issues are likely to be raised around the use of children in studies. Issues may also arise due to the sensitive nature of the topic.The notion of the ‘critical period’…

May be an issue for those who were in the foster care system or who feel as though they did not have a sufficient attachment as a child. They may feel as though they will never be able to form attachments in the future.

Most research in the critical period focuses on the main attachment figure being the mother – this could offend those whose father is the main attachment figure, or those whose main attachment figure is not a relative. Some individuals may feel as though they, like above, have not had a sufficient attachment as their situation does not exactly reflect that of the research.

Could cause a great deal of pressure on parents, especially the main attachment figure. This individual may feel pressure to remain consistently accessible and highly responsive to their child’s needs, especially in the first few years. This has implications on their likelihood to work. The individuals could experience loss of identity or guilt and anxiety when leaving the child.

DebatesNature vs NurtureNature NurtureAccording to Bowlby, there is an evolutionary reason for attachment – to survive. Social releasers, imprinting and proximity-seeking allow the child to survive which is why the child will carry out these behaviours.

Attachment and relationships are not a simple concept. Both are complex constructs. And so, the strength of an attachment and a relationship is determined by the sensitivity and responsiveness of the caregiver. And so, while there is a strong natural pre-disposition to form an attachment, the quality and developmental outcome relies on the nurturing received.

Freewill vs DeterminismDeterminism FreewillBowlby suggests there is a biological need to attach, which is necessary and inevitable.

Research by Rutter suggested that the formation of attachment has flexibility.

The security of an infants first attachment (through their internal working model) has an influence on their future relationships, alongside cognitive and social outcomes.

A relationship is not something which is just formed. It requires effort. This is the same for parental attachments. If one person within the relationship puts a great deal of effort in, but the other person puts no effort in, a relationship will not form. A relationship must have effort from both sides.

Reductionism vs HolismReductionism HolismInternal working model and maternal deprivation hypothesis place great emphasis on one factor – the mother-child relationship. This ignores the father, carers, siblings, cousins, grandparents and many more. Both ignore that a child could be influenced through multiple people.

The application of the topic was to create attachment friendly environments, rather than separation from family.

This is a holistic approach as it acknowledges the whole person: physiological (ie treating the illness) as well as emotional and social (ie maintaining family

connections).

Psychology as a scienceYes NoUse of observational skills (In Ainsworth’s study) involved watching and recording behaviours, using a coding scheme and multiple observers. This means the behaviour was observed in a reliable way. The procedure itself also was highly controlled with standardised actions and times.

Attachment, by definition, is a bond between two people. This is very difficult to quantify and measure.

Bowlby’s internal working model is highly conceptual which is problematic to scientifically studyAny longitudinal research on attachment is causal – it is too difficult to eliminate extraneous variables to allow for a cause and effect relationship to be identified.

Usefulness of researchYes NoAll of the research in this topic is useful. Bowlby and Ainsworth have been most influential across many years of social policy.

The research within this topic emphasises high levels of parental involvement. The research cannot be considered ‘not useful’, however it can cause a hinderance to society.

Hospital staff report feeling as though the high level of parental involvement limits their ability to treat patients and limits the resources available too. This high level of involvement also puts strain on parents and families too.

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange situation’ is used nowadays in attachment research. There has been modifications for use in studies concerned with infant-father

attachments and sibling attachments. This allows us to further understand the different kinds of infant relationships.

Answer the following exam questions:1. Explain how the research by Ainsworth & Bell (1970) could be used to

identify children with attachment problems [10 marks]

2. Assess ethical problems with the use of children in Ainsworth & Bell’s study of the development of attachment [15 marks]

3. Kate works with infants at a nursery, some of whom find adjusting to the nursery very difficult. Her boss has asked her to provide a leaflet for parents about possible changes the nursery could make to become a more attachment-friendly environment. Discuss a strategy that Kate could suggest that could help to develop an attachment-friendly environment either for use in the child’s home or in the nursery [10 marks]

TOPIC SIX: THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON CHILDRENBackground: The influence of television advertising on children and the stereotyping in such advertisingPart one of background: The influence of television advertising on children

Which core study do you already know of that looks at external influences on children?

It is well known that many children and adolescents (and adults for that matter!) spend considerable amounts of time exposed to sources of media. Having access to countless media outlets increases children’s exposure to:

Positive television content (For example… educational programmes ) Negative content (For example… inappropriately sexualised content or

violence). Since television began, there has been great concern about its influence on children. These concerns are worthy of investigation, in the context of the accelerated commercialisation of the television in the UK over recent years. Explain below what ‘the accelerated commercialisation of the television’ means

Can children be consumers?In previous years, adults were thought of as the target area of consumer. Since the introduction of the television, this has changed slightly. Do you think children can be consumers? Outline your thoughts below

Worldwide, there are a vast number of for-profit channels, including many specifically targeted towards young children that are supported by advertising fees. In the UK, where parents may have a fair amount of disposable income, children are a target audience for products such as toys, holidays, food and beverages all designed to meet their needs and appeal to their wants.

Pine & Nash (2002) found that children who watch more commercial television than non-commercial television tend to request greater numbers of toys from Santa.Research has consistently shown a correlation between a children’s viewing and their learned behaviours and attitudes. Outline the Bandura study below.

Part two of background: Stereotypes in advertising

A stereotype is…

Some theorists argue that advertising engages viewers or consumers in a much larger cultural process than we may at first be aware of. They suggest that advertisers need to create a market for products such as children’s toys. And to do this, advertisers use messages to draw on and perpetuate existing dominating ideas about gender, ethnicity and class. Often these involve the use of stereotypes.What are the stereotypes of…

Girls Boys

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that stereotypes about gender are shared and exaggerated through the advertising of children’s toys.Smith (1994) analysed TV adverts during children’s programmes and concluded adverts with only one gender were gender role stereotypical. For example, typical portrayal of girls includes nurturing and passive behaviours, whereas the portrayal of boys is shown as action-orientated and powerful. The impact this can have is massive. By limiting the gender roles within advertising, this limits children’s ideas about how they play and what they play with. For example, boys may feel as though they cannot play with baby dolls and kitchen sets, and that they must play with action-men. This could limit children’s ideas about the roles they will try out as adults (for their jobs).

Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWu44AqF0iI

Key research: Johnson & Young (2002) Gendered voices in children’s advertising

AIM: To determine whether advertisers scripted television adverts differently for males and females of school age, linking toys to gender stereotypical rolesMETHOD:This sample involves no direct contact with any persons. The ‘sample’ was a range of adverts shown on children’s TV networks in:(a) Regional independent New England (USA) stations (b) TV channel ‘Nickelodeon’ (Sky channel – not cable TV).Evaluate the above sample:

The adverts were video recorded and analysed between autumn of 1996, 1997, and again in 1999. A total of 478 adverts were analysed. All adverts were classified in one of the five categories.Category Example Number of advertsFood and Drink Breakfast cereal 216Toys Dolls 188Educational/public service

Anti-drug campaign 21

Recreation Theme parks 19Video/film proportion Movie advert 20Other/miscellaneous Credit cards 14Total: 478

Evaluate the use of a coding scheme:

DESIGN AND PROCEDURE:Content analysis is the analysis of documents, interviews, audio etc. Discourse analysis is a deeper analysis than content analysis. This involves analysing the vocabulary, tone and the other features of speech to interpret meaning.

This study used both content and discourse analysis. The analysis looked at mostly toy adverts, which were categorised by gender target audience into the following groups:

Adverts targeted to boys in which boys were represented (matched) Adverts targeted to girls in which girls were represented (matched) Adverts targeting both boys and girls either because both genders

were represented or because there was no gender-specific content. (mismatched)

Researchers identified gender in advert voice-overs as well as the presence of gender exaggeration in voices. For example, this could be female voices that were high pitched and excited; or male voices that were deep and powerful-sounding. Most female political figures, like Margaret Thatcher or Theresa May, undergo voice training to make their voices sound deeper, assuming this will make them appear more ‘powerful’ and ‘dominant’.The adverts were analysed in terms of…

Speaking lines of males and females The use of the word ‘power’ in male-oriented adverts The verb elements used.

The verb elements used were broken down into five categories. 1. Action verb elements. These are verbs that relate to physical

movement (EG. Crawl, fly, jump, race)

2. Competition/destruction verb elements. These are action verbs directly related to competition or destruction (EG. Crush, knock out, pounce, slam, stomp).

3. Power/control verb elements. These are verbs referring to target consumers in the advert possessing power over someone or something (EG. Control, defeat, rule, take)

4. Limited-activity verb elements. These are verbs which do not involve explicit action (EG. Beware, know, talk, wait, watch).

5. Feeling and nurturing verb elements. These are a limited activity linked with emotions and caring (EG. Cuddles, loving, taking care of).

Think of the gender stereotypes. For each category, identify what gender you think each links to.

RESULTS:In total, 188 toy adverts were recorded. When combined, adverts for boy-oriented toys outnumbered those oriented towards girls. There were very few gender non-specific adverts.For example, in 1999 70.6% of adverts were boy orientated, and only 23.5% were girl orientated, with only 5.9% of adverts being girl and boy orientated. The naming of toysThe naming of toys reinforced opposing or polarised gender stereotypes.For example, ‘Big Time Action Heroes’ and ‘Tonka Mega Crew’ were boy-orientated toys which emphasised the importance of dominance and size. What influence may this have on boys watching this advert?

What influence may this have on girls watching this advert?

Whereas, ‘Juice ‘n’ Cookies Baby Alive’ and ‘bedtime Bottle baby’ portrayed parenting as a female orientated quality. What influence may this have on girls watching this advert?

What influence may this have on boys watching this advert?

The types of toysThe types of toys were categorised and measured.Boy oriented adverts were dominated by action figures and electronic, handheld games. These toys were action figures with high activity levels.Girl orientated adverts included posable figures such as barbies and animal figures. These toys had limited activity.What gender stereotype does this reinforce about the play activity of boys and girls?

The voice oversAdult-actors provided the voice-over for the majority of adverts:

Boy-orientated adverts were voiced over by a male Boy and girl adverts were voiced over by a male Girl adverts were mostly voiced over by females (88%)

Analysis found that gender exaggeration was present in 87% of gender specific adverts. The exaggeration was not present in the adverts targeting boys and girls.

Outlined below is what the researchers found about the verbs used in the adverts:Action verb elements

Wording between adverts differed – for boy orientated adverts, the words tended to be more violent, powerful actions e.g. ‘throw’ or ‘to remove’. Whereas in girl orientated adverts it was ‘skip’ or ‘twirl’.

What does this suggest about stereotypes in adverts?

Competition/destruction verb elements Use 12 times greater in boy orientated adverts than girl orientated

advertsWhat does this suggest about stereotypes in adverts?

Power/control verb elements. More present in boy orientated adverts, than girl orientated adverts

What does this suggest about stereotypes in adverts?

Limited-activity verb elements. More present in girl orientated adverts

What does this suggest about stereotypes in adverts?

Feeling and nurturing verb elements Present in 66 girl orientated adverts Absent from all boy adverts

What does this suggest about stereotypes in adverts?

CONCLUSION:1. Gender stereotypes underlie television adverts as they portray

males and females through traditional gender stereotypical discourse

2. Reasons for gender-stereotypical portrayal might include reliance on historically successful marketing strategies and/or profitability in creating gender-specific consumer-behaviour (ie creating markets for both male and female products).

Application: At least one strategy to reduce impact of advertising which is aimed at children

As we have seen, television adverts targeted at children can reinforce stereotypes such as traditional gender roles and encourage gender stereotypical play. In 2017, the U.K.’s Advertising Standard and Authority vowed to take a tougher line on gender stereotypes in adverts arguing that they are harmful to society.In recent years, some adverts purposely include stereotypes to push a message about stereotyping. For example:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIxA3o84syY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsP0W7-tEOc

Television adverts have been heavily criticised by organisations such as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for encouraging unhealthy eating habits and obesity in young people. For example, FSA found that promotion of food to children is dominated by savoury snacks and fast food outlets. As a result of an increasing awareness about this, some governments (one of which is in Sweden) have legislated against all advertising aimed at children below a certain age. Others have imposed legal restrictions on the nature, timing and content of advertising aimed at children and rely on self-regulatory bodies, such as the National Advertising Standards in the UK.Media literacyResearch suggests that young children perceive TV adverts in a different way from older children and adults. Pine and Nash (2002) reviewed studies of the effects of adverts on young children and found that children aged 7-9 lack the understanding of persuasive intent, meaning they do not know they are being manipulated or lied to by adults. Furthermore, they are unaware that the purpose of adverts is to sell a product. New educational strategies designed to increase media literacy in children have now emerged in order to address some of these issues.Becoming media literate means developing a critical awareness of mass media and advertising, including the ability to analyse and evaluate different media sources. This means, children can be taught to better understand when they are being manipulated or having information presented to them in a misleading way. The intention of media literacy is that young people might become more sceptical about the messages presented to them by media sources and can make healthier choices.

Media SmartMedia Smart is a literacy programme used in the UK. It is…

A non-profit programme designed for children 6-11 years old Funded by advertising businesses in the UK Supported by the UK government and EU Includes material written and reviewed by experts Main focus is on advertising literacy and provides free education

materials to schools‘Be AdWise’ is offered by Media Smart. The aim of this is to teach young people to think critically about advertising within the context of their daily lives, using real-life examples and brands. The resources are designed to teach children how advertising works and about persuasive methods they might see. This includes celebrity endorsements. In recent months, many celebrities have broken the advertising laws, which now means any product a celebrity has been paid to promote, the celebrity must say it is a paid advertisement. You may see on Instagram celebrities noting #Ad #Gifted. These are so that their viewers know what they are saying may not be genuine.

Watch the video to see why it is so important that these rules are in place: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10575327/lauren-goodger-promote-poison-cyanide/

Evaluation – methodological issuesThis topic looks at the impact of advertising on children and gender stereotypes. It is difficult to approach this area without preconceived ideas on both advertising and gender stereotyped. For example, many researchers may also have formed beliefs about positive and negative effects of different forms of media and advertising. When conducting qualitative research such as discourse analysis, it can be difficult to put these aside and interpret material objectively.Johnson & Young (2002)

Detailed coding scheme – increases validity and reliability Interpretation of whether voice is male or female could be

subjective Interpretation of whether ‘gender exaggeration’ takes place could

be subjective Stereotypes of boys and girls in this study are westernised.

Stereotypes differ across cultures. This means the study has low or high ethnocentrism?

The study has no sample – the use of content and discourse analysis. This minimises any harm which could come to participants. However, the adverts used where based in New England (ignoring any other state or country) and where on ‘Nickelodeon’ (part of a Sky package, for example, meaning a certain type of viewer). What does this mean about the samples representativeness and generalisability?

Evaluation – ethical issuesMedia Smart and Be AdWise is provided to children across the UK. When these are used in schools, informed consent is required. There are further issues about the protection of children when this is used. For example, there could be an influence on young peoples body-image and risk taking behaviour.

DebatesNature vs NurtureNurture

Johnson and Young (2002) look at advertisements which reflect specific masculine and feminine play which define female roles as nurturing and male roles as dominant and aggressive. This study would suggest that the environment (the adverts) are the reason for societal roles. This is an association, not cause and effect.

Media Smart and Be AdWise are specific environmental influences which aim to moderate the impact of advertising messages.

Nature As we learned from Bandura’s study, boys were found to be more

likely to imitate physical aggression than girls. This theory might offer an alternative explanation for the innate toy preferences and subsequent marketing strategies.

Freewill vs DeterminismDeterminism

This topic is based around the idea that the media can influence young peoples perceptions and choices. This implies that we lack free will.

Research suggests that young people lack the capacity to decipher the true intentions of adverts and how they may be targeted as an audience.

Johnson & Young (2002) highlights how persuasive stereotyping is in TV toy adverts, giving a consistent and highly gendered message to children.

Freewill Research into media-literacy shows that school children who

recently completed a media smart programme which aimed to discourage tobacco use and alcohol use had increased critical thinking and media-message deconstruction. This suggests that, with the correct training and skills, people can exercise freewill and be sceptical about messages in advertisements.

Reductionism vs Holism

Reductionism This topic assumes that the most important external influence on

children is advertising. Research found that children who completed media smart programme on alcohol and drug use had lower substance use in the future, than those who did not undergo training. It is naïve and reductionist to assume the training is the only reason for this low occurrence. This topic ignores many external factors which occur throughout ones whole life. E.g. Parental involvement, peer behaviour, school, personal choice etc.

Johnson & Young (2002) main focus of the study was on gender. This is reductionist as it ignores other influential, stereotypical factors such as race. For example, races other than Caucasians were under-represented in adverts. Additionally, the only advert which had an African-American male in it took on a prominent role which had him speaking in ‘rap’ style.

Holism It must be acknowledged that to have a holistic view is very difficult.

Researchers should aim to have a ‘more holistic’ view.

Individual vs SituationalIndividual

The effectiveness of media smart is down to individual differences. Like interventions such as Anger Management, the individual must want to learn and it must apply to the individual (they must be able to understand and relate to real life).

Situational The background information in this topic outlines situational

explanations for why children may be influenced by adverts and the stereotypical messages it may contain.

Research has shown the greater exposure to media adverts, the greater its influence. (Pine & Nash’s 2002 study on children’s Christmas present requests). This positive correlation emphasises importance of situation.

Psychology as a science

Yes A great deal of research takes place in the real world. For example,

Johnson & Young (2002). This means the studies have ecological validity.

The Johnson & Young (2002) study had multiple observers (high inter rater reliability) and a detailed coding scheme (reliability and validity).

No As the research tends to take place in the real world, the

experimenters lack control over variables such as family setting. Some research relies on self-report which allows for demand

characteristics and socially desirable responses. For example, parents may under-report how many hours their child spends watching TV as they may feel judged if they tell the truth. Additionally, they may conceal information which suggests their child likes toys directed towards the opposite gender as they do not wish their child to experience prejudice.

The analysis of gender exaggeration in the Johnson & Young (2002) study involves interpretation which may lead to bias.

Usefulness of researchYes

Johnson & Young (2002) and other similar research studies have highlighted the influence of overt gender stereotypes that occur in children’s advertising. These are useful to be aware of (as an individual but also as a parent, carer, teacher etc).

These pieces of research have changed how adverts are produced – many are created to reduce problems which occur in society (e.g. childhood obesity).

Media Smart commissioned an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of its resources in 2007. Data was collected from online surveys and telephone interviews with teachers. The findings showed the majority of teachers liked the programme and found them to be effective at teaching children about adverts. However, it was noted some teachers lacked confidence and expertise in teaching the materials. This could have great implications.

No Effectiveness of Media Smart and Be AdWise are dependent on

individuals

Is there a valid and reliable way to measure it?

The use of content and discourse analysis?

Answer the following exam questions:A Explain how the research by Johnson and Young (2002) helps us to understand the influence of advertising on children [10 marks]

B Assess problems of sampling bias in the study of the influence of television advertising on children [15 marks]

C Carly runs a preschool nursery and although some parents are happy that the children are allowed to watch appropriate tv shows during the day, others have raised concerns about whether the children should be allowed to watch the advertisements between programmes. Discuss the evidence that television advertising may influence the children in the nursery [10 marks]