Edexcel GCSE Psychology

Paper 1 Revision Guide

NAME: _______________________________________________________

GCSE PAPER 1:
1 hour 45 minutes – 98 marks – worth 55% of the GCSE

Topic 1: Development
Topic 2: Memory
Topic 3: Psychological problems
NAME: __________________________________________________
Topic 4: The brain and neuropsychology
Topic 5: Social influence

This paper will also draw upon your research methods knowledge – see Paper 2 revision guide
 GCSE Psychology Textbook

Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Psychology

Brain, Smith and Cave (2017)
Available from:
[Link]
GCSE-Psychology-Student-
Book/dp/1292182776

Exam Dates:

Write your GCSE Psychology exam dates here:

Useful Revision Websites:

• [Link]
[Link] (Edexcel website for the specification, exam papers etc)

• [Link] (Articles about recent research in Psychology and everyday

applications of Psychological concepts)

2
 TOPIC 1: DEVELOPMENT

Pages: Rate your confidence for this topic: J K L

1.1 Development
Understand early brain development, including the development of :
(a)Forebrain
(b)Midbrain
(c)Hindbrain
(d)Cerebellum
(e) Medulla
Understand the role of education and intelligence, including Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development, and the four stages of cognitive development, including strengths and
weaknesses of the theory:
(a)Sensorimotor
(b)Pre-operational
(c)Concrete operational
(d)Formal operational
(e)Schemata/schemas
(f)Assimilation
(g)Accommodation
(h)Equilibrium
Understand the effects of learning on development using Carol Dweck’s mindset theory,
including strengths and weaknesses of the theory:
(a)Fixed mindset
(b)Growth mindset
(c)Ability and effort
Understand the effects of learning on development using Daniel Willingham’s learning theory,
including strengths and weaknesses of the theory:
(a)Factual knowledge precedes skill
(b)The importance of practice and effort
(c)Strategies to support cognitive development
(d)Strategies to support physical development
(e)Strategies to support social development
1.2 Studies
Understand the aims, procedures and findings (results and conclusions), strengths and
weaknesses of:
(a)Piaget and Inhelder (1956) Three mountains task
(b)Gunderson et al (2013) Parent Praise to 1 to 3 year olds Predicts
Children’s Motivational Frameworks 5 years Later
1.3 Issues and debates
Understand morality issues in psychology and the individual, including:
(a)The terms ‘morality’ and ‘morals’
(b)Pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional stages of morality
(c)The use of content, theories and research drawn from cognitive
development to explain development of morality
3
 DEVELOPMENT: How did you develop? (textbook pg. 2-27)

This topic is about how children develop cognitively, rather than physically. Cognitive
means thinking; involving learning, problem-solving, perceiving, memory, reasoning and
language. Cognitive development therefore means the development of thinking and
learning and is closely linked to the development of the brain.

Link to A Level: In A Level Psychology we study cognitive development again – but this will focus on
memory, rather than learning and intelligence.

Topic 1 Overview:

Early brain
development

Piaget's
Issue: theory of
Morality cognitive
development

Development
Dweck's
Gunderson's
theory of
study
mindset

Willingham's
Piaget and
theory of
Inhelder's
knowledge
study
and skills

4
 Early Brain Development (textbook pg. 4)
“Understand early brain development, including: forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, cerebellum, medulla”

Key terms named in the specification – these can be asked about in the exam. You need to
be able to define these terms for 2 marks. Remember to give examples where possible.
Forebrain Midbrain Hindbrain Cerebellum Medulla

The brain is an organ made up of nerves that processes information and controls
behaviour. Our brains develop when we are a foetus in the womb.

Early brain development in the foetus

When the foetus is 5 weeks When the foetus is 20
old, the forebrain and When the foetus is 6 weeks old, the
When the foetus is weeks old, the cerebellum
3-4 weeks old, the hindbrain each split into medulla develops in
two. The forebrain splits develops. The cerebellum the hindbrain. The
brain can be seen to controls physical skills
be in three main into anterior and posterior medulla controls
halves. The hindbrain splits (motor movement) and is involuntary responses
sections: forebrain, involved in fear responses
midbrain and through the middle. The and connects the rest
midbrain does not divide. and processing sense of the brain to the
hindbrain. information. spinal cord.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
weeks after conception

FOREBRAIN MIDBRAIN HINDBRAIN CEREBELLUM MEDULLA

The front outer The small The lowest part The structure at The part of the
layer of the centre section of the brain, the base of the brain that
brain, of the brain including the brain that connects the
containing the cerebellum and controls spinal cord to
hemispheres medulla movement and the rest of the
and central balance, brain. It
brain structures alongside fear controls
and sense involuntary
information processes like
breathing,
sneezing, heart
rate and blood
pressure

The brain doubles in size during your first year of life. By the age of 3, your brain is 80% of
its full size. In the first 3 years of your life, the brain creates 700-1000 new neural
connections every second!

5
 Make sure you could label the forebrain,
midbrain, hindbrain, cerebellum and
medulla in a picture of the brain

Early Brain Development Key Term Glossary

Foetus The term given for a baby when it is still in the womb, before birth
Brain The organ in your head made up of nerves that processes information
and controls behaviour
Forebrain The anterior (front) part of the brain, including the two hemispheres
and central brain structures
Midbrain The middle section of the brain, forming part of the central nervous
system
Hindbrain The lower part of the brain that includes the cerebellum, pons and
medulla
Anterior Positioned towards the front
Posterior Positioned towards the back
Cerebellum An area of the brain near to the brainstem that controls physical skills,
motor movements (muscle activity), and is involved in responses such as
fear and processing sense information (develops by 6 weeks)
Medulla An area of the brain that connects the upper brain to the spinal cord – it
oblongata controls involuntary responses such as sneezing and breathing,
alongside heart rate and blood pressure (develops by 20 weeks)
Involuntary An automatic reflex response to a stimulus that doesn’t require a
responses thought or conscious choice – e.g. sneezing
Neural Links formed by messages passing from one nerve cell (neuron) to
connections another

Need more help? Want to stretch your understanding? Need a video example?
Download the app “3D brain” on your iPad or smartphone.

[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
of-the-brain/
[Link]
(the three parts of the brain)

6
 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (textbook pg.5-9)
“Understand the role of education and intelligence, including Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development,
and the four stages of cognitive development, including strengths and weaknesses of the theory”

Key terms named in the specification – these can be asked about in the exam. You need to
be able to define these terms in detail. Remember to give examples where possible.
Sensorimotor stage Pre-operational Concrete Formal operational
stage operational stage stage
Schemata/schemas Assimilation Accommodation Equilibrium

Piaget claims that cognitive development occurs through four

distinct sequential stages in childhood: sensorimotor, pre-
operational, concrete operational and formal operational.

Each stage lasts quite a long time, and once the child changes in their
thinking ability, they progress on to the next stage. Piaget believes
that all children develop through these stages, in the same fixed order
and at roughly the same time. Some children will develop through the
stages at slower rates due to developmental conditions.

The first stage is based upon how infants use their senses and movements.
The other three stages are based upon mental operations. Operations are how we reason
and think about things, such as sorting building blocks into size order.

Pre- Concrete Formal

Sensorimotor
operational operational operational
stage 0-2
stage 2-7 stage 7-12 stage 12+

Symbolic function
stage 2-4
Intuitive thought stage
4-7

7
 Sensorimotor stage: 0-2 years

How do children think? Infants use

their five senses and movements
(motor skills) to understand the
world.

What concepts are seen in this stage?

Object permanence

Infants use their five senses and movements to understand the world. At first, all infants
live “in the present” and don’t understand the concept of time or space. They learn by
linking what they see, hear, smell, touch or taste to the objects they are using. E.g. they
learn by sucking and grasping objects.

Babies first move with automatic reflexes – they don’t have to think about the movements,
they happen automatically – they are involuntary movements. These include sucking
(sucking anything that touches their lips), grasping (wrapping their fingers around anything
that touches their hand) and stepping (putting one foot in front of the other). Over time,
they begin to control their movements themselves.

At 6 months, they develop object permanence – this means they understand that objects
exist even if they are out of sight. E.g. if you cover a toy with a blanket, a young baby under
6 months will appear to forget about the toy, but an older infant will continue to reach for
the toy or may even move the blanket out of the way – they know that even though they
can’t see it, the toy is still there – they understand object permanence.

Why might a baby start to cry when their parent leaves the room? They do not yet have
object permanence. A young baby doesn’t understand that the parent still exists even if out
of sight, and doesn’t understand that the parent will return.

Why do babies love playing peekaboo? When the adult covers their face, the baby doesn’t
understand that the adult is still there (as they cannot see them). This is why babies are so
surprised when the adult uncovers their face!

Research opportunity: If you have a baby in your family, show them a toy. You could then
either cover the toy with a blanket, or turn off the light so that the infant can no longer see
the toy. If the infant continues to reach for the toy, they understand that it still exists, even
though they cannot see it. The infant is showing evidence of understanding object
permanence. Or, try playing peekaboo with them!

8
 Pre-operational stage 2-7

How do children think? Children use symbols to

represent objects, but can only see the world from
their own perspective.

What skills are seen in this stage? Symbolic play,

egocentrism, animism, centration

1. The symbolic function stage 2-4 years

In this stage, children start to imitate (copy) others and they can use objects as symbols.
Symbolic play involves using one object to represent another – e.g. a child using a
cardboard box to represent a spaceship. Children think in pictures and use symbols. They
begin to use words as symbols for objects, triggering language development. For example,
they may use the word “biscuit” as symbol for wanting to eat a biscuit. Children can only
see the world through their own perspective and can’t see other people’s points of views
(egocentrism). For example, a child will think that
everyone loves the same things they love – so if they
love ice cream, they assume everyone else loves ice
cream too. Children can also demonstrate animism,
where children believe objects can behave as if they
are alive. For example, they may enjoy films such as
Toy Story, in which objects “come alive” and they may
show animism in their play, such as teddy bear’s
picnic.

2. The intuitive thought stage 4-7 years

Children begin to reason, they ask lots of questions and

want to find out new things. If something is complex, they
can only consider/focus on one aspect of it at a time
(centration) and they are still egocentric. For example, they
will focus on the fact they want to play with a toy, and not
consider the fact that their sibling also wants to play with
the toy and that they might need to share. They cannot yet
understand conservation or reversibility.

Research opportunity: If you have a young child in your family, test whether they are
egocentric or not by recreating the three mountains test – see description of the study by
Piaget and Inhelder for the full procedure.

9
 Concrete operational stage 7-12 years

How do children think? Children begin to think using strategies and

rules and they learn by using concrete objects.

What skills are seen in this stage? Concrete objects, reversibility,

conservation, decentration, morality

Children begin to apply rules and strategies to help their thinking. They often use concrete
objects to help them learn, e.g. counters and cubes to calculate maths questions. They
struggle with abstract ideas such as morality and ethics, as these cannot be thought about
using objects – they are abstract.

Children now understand reversibility – they know that actions can be reversed. For
example, a child knows that 5 + 1 = 6 and therefore 6 – 1 = 5. They can “reverse” the sum.

They develop an understanding of conservation – this is

understanding that even though things may change in
appearance, they remain the same. For example, if their
parent gets a drastic hair cut, they are still the same
person! This can be tested by the counter test, cracker test
or glass test – see below.

Children now show decentration as they can consider multiple aspects of a situation and
see the world from other people’s perspectives – they are no longer egocentric. For
example, they might now understand that they like ice cream, but their friend does not –
everyone does not share the same opinions. This can be tested by the three mountains test.

Finally, children develop ideas of morality as they understand the concepts of right and
wrong. This goes hand in hand with decentration, as they begin to debate different
opinions of controversial topics. This can be tested by the story of “Heinz the thief” (you
can find this by doing a quick Google search).

Research opportunity: If you have a child in your family in the pre- or concrete-operational
stages of development, you can test whether or not they understand conservation yet. Take
two identical glasses of drink and pour the content of one into a different glass (that is taller
and thinner or shorter and wider). Ask them if there is the same amount in each glass. You
can also do this with coins or counters, show them two rows of items – one clustered
together and one spread out and ask them if the rows have the same amount in. Finally, you
could be very mean and give the child two half crackers and yourself two whole crackers
and ask them whether or not this is fair!

10
 Formal operational stage 12+ years

How do children think? Children have control

over their thoughts and can think about
complex situations using abstract thought.

What skills are seen in this stage? Complex

thoughts, abstract thinking, sequencing,
consequences

The child now has control over their thoughts and can think about more than two things at
the same time, for example multiple ways to describe a person such as age, height, gender
etc. They understand that different people have different attitudes and opinions, for
example, they follow one religion but others may follow a different religion.

Children can think using abstract thought – they no longer need concrete objects to learn.
For example, children can learn about poverty and consider what it might be like to live in
poverty without having to experience this themselves. They can calculate mathematical
sums in their head without needing to use counters or blocks.

They can think about the impact that time has, e.g. how they might age in the future and
how things can change over time. They can understand that events have sequences, e.g.
school then college then work.

Children begin to understand that actions have consequences, e.g. drink driving can cause
accidents.

Need more help? Want to stretch your understanding? Need a video example?
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link] (overview of the 4 stages)
[Link] (reflexes)
[Link] (object permanence)
[Link] (object permanence)
[Link] (object permanence)
[Link] (egocentrism – three mountains test)
[Link] (conservation)

11
 Piaget and Education

Piaget’s theory has been applied to support children’s cognitive development. By

understanding the cognitive stage a child is at, parents and teachers can provide them with
appropriate activities to help them reach milestones in the next stage. For example, in
nursery school children use their senses to learn and do lots of practical activities such as
playing with sand and water. In secondary school, children study multiple subjects and are
encouraged to draw links between subjects using abstract thought.

To support sensori-motor development To support pre operational development

Children are encouraged to use their 5 Children need to do things themselves
senses to learn and are given lots of sensory rather than watch others, so they should be
input as stimulation, e.g. building blocks, encouraged to explore new things and
nursery rhymes etc. Different colours, conduct their own “experiments” with
textures, sounds and tastes can be provided reality.
for the child to explore. In this stage,
children are building their schemas with Objects can be provided to help learning,
each new experience. such drawings and diagrams as children
can’t use abstract thought.

To support concrete operational To support formal operational

development development
Children can be encouraged to consider Children can be asked to discuss abstract
other people’s viewpoints and other concepts and ideas. They can explore
aspects of situations, to develop different attitudes towards things and they
decentration and avoid egocentrism. can be given complex cognitive tasks that
require mental reasoning.

12
 Piaget and Intelligence

Piaget explained the development of intelligence through a process called adaptation,

where children make sense of the world around them. Children form schemas from their
experiences, and often they have to change their schemas or create new ones when they
experience new things. Piaget thought that children gain intelligence by forming new
schemas

Schemas: Children form schemas (“mental frameworks”) based on their experiences. For
example, your schema of a classroom would include expecting to see a whiteboard, desks,
chairs, display boards etc. A child’s schema of a cat might be that it has whiskers, a tail and
four legs.

Assimilation: Sometimes, children can sort new experiences into an existing

schema. For example, seeing a tiger at the zoo and calling it a cat – it too has
whiskers, a tail and four legs. This is fine, as a tiger is a type of cat….

Accommodation: …But sometimes, children need to change an existing

schema because it doesn’t fit a new experience. For example, a child needs
to adapt their cat schema to include the fact that cats are small and not at
the zoo. They need to create a new schema for tigers, that includes being
large and stripy.

Equilibrium: When a child’s schema works well, they are “in a state of mental balance.” For
example, a cat has whiskers, a tail, four legs, pointy ears, they are small, they meow etc. If
their schema is accurate, they can make sense of the world around them.

Evaluation: SODA

S
+ Piaget and Inhelder’s experiment shows that only children over 7 can see the world from
other people’s points of views, like Piaget claims, once they are in the concrete operational
stage. Children aged 4 to 7 (in the pre operational stage) were still egocentric, as Piaget
claims.

O
- The theory ignores the role of socialising and culture on development, and how these
factors could affect cognitive development of children. Piaget thought that all children
develop in the same way, in the same order at the same rate, but this probably isn’t always
true.

D
- Cognitive development could be explained better by using Dweck’s mindset theory or
Willingham’s learning theory. These are both simpler theories that are not as complex as
Piaget’s, which makes them more scientific, as they can be tested a lot easier than Piaget’s
multiple claims.

A
+ The theory is useful for society, as it helps parents and teachers know how to support the
development of children in each stage. See information above about how adults can use
Piaget’s theory to help cognitive development in children.

13
 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Key Term Glossary

Cognitive Thinking, including problem solving, remembering and language

Operations How we reason and think about things
Sensori motor First stage 0-2 – children learn through their five senses and develop
stage object permanence
Pre operational Second stage 2-7 – children are egocentric and explore imaginative
stage play
Concrete Third stage 7-12 – children begin take on the viewpoints of other
operational people and ask questions about the world
stage Two sub-stages: Symbolic stage 2-4, intuitive stage 4-7
Formal Fourth stage 12+ - children use abstract thoughts to make sense of the
operational world and their future
stage
Reflexes Automatic responses that you are born with
Object Understanding that even though something cannot be seen, it still
permanence exists
Symbolic play Using objects to represent other things, e.g. using a banana as a phone
Egocentrism Only seeing the world from your own perspective
Animism Playing with objects as if they are alive, e.g. teddy bear picnic
Centration Only seeing one aspect of a situation
Irreversibility Not understanding that actions can be reversed
Morality Ethical understanding of right and wrong
Reversibility Understanding that actions can be reversed
Conservation Understanding that even through things may look different, they
remain the same (e.g. water poured into a tall thin glass and short wide
glass)
Decentration Being able to understand multiple views of a situation
Abstract Thinking “in your head” rather than using objects
thought
Adaptation Using assimilation and accommodation to make sense of the world and
new experiences
Schema A mental framework for what we expect of something, based on our
experiences
Assimilation Using an existing schema to make sense of a new experience
Accommodation Adapting a schema because a new experience doesn’t match the old
schema
Equilibrium Mental balance – when schemas are accurate and can be used to make
sense of all new experiences

14
 Dweck’s Mindset Theory: The Effects of Learning on Development (textbook pg.10-11)
“Understand the effects of learning on development using Carol Dweck’s mindset theory, including
strengths and weaknesses of the theory”

Key terms named in the specification – these can be asked about in the exam. You need to
be able to define these terms in detail. Remember to give examples where possible.
Fixed mindset Growth mindset Ability and effort

Dweck claims that a child’s mindset can affect their ability to succeed. Those with a
growth mindset are more likely to put in effort to improve.

A mindset is a set of beliefs we have about our ability to succeed. Our mindset impacts how
we respond to situations. People tend to have either a fixed mindset or growth mindset.

FIXED MINDSET GROWTH MINDSET

This is the belief that our abilities are fixed This is the belief that our abilities can
and cannot be changed. improve as a result of effort and practice.

E.g. I am bad at maths – this will never E.g. I’m not good at maths yet, but I can get
change. better.

Praise and Education

Dweck thought it was bad to praise children for their abilities, as they may conclude that
abilities are fixed and then not put effort into things. She believed that a fixed mindset
could lead to depression. Dweck thought it was better to praise children for effort, as it
develops a growth mindset that effort leads to achievement. This can be applied to
parenting and education – parents and teachers should praise children’s efforts rather than
their ability. E.g. praising the effort put into a homework task and giving targets for
improvement, rather than just giving it a grade based on its quality.

Test out your own

mindset here:
[Link]
[Link]/~bshipley/Minds
[Link]

15
 Evaluation: SODA

S
+ Yeager and Dweck: They found that low-achieving students who learnt how to use a growth
mindset ended up doing better at school than those without a growth mindset. They were
also better at dealing with issues such as not fitting in with others.

O
- What about the teaching?: Focusing on the child’s mindset may result in people focusing on
progress and effort and not the actual skill being taught. This could lead to people blaming
the child for not putting in effort, rather than issues with the teaching or concept being
taught.

D
- Willingham’s theory: This is an alternate theory of learning that suggests factual knowledge
precedes skill and this theory focuses on the importance of practice and effort, not mindset.

A
+ Useful: This theory is useful for both parents and teachers – they can be encouraged to
praise a child’s effort and not their ability, to help the child develop a growth mindset.

Dweck’s Mindset Theory Key Term Glossary

Mindset A set of beliefs about our ability to succeed and how we respond to
situations
Ability What someone can do, e.g. ride a bike, count to 10 etc.
Effort When you try to do better at something through determination
Fixed mindset Believing your abilities are fixed and unchangeable
Growth Believing your abilities can be improved by effort and practice
mindset

Need more help? Want to stretch your understanding? Need a video example?
[Link]
[Link]

[Link] (overview of the 2 mindsets)

16
Willingham’s Learning Theory: The Effects of Learning on Development (textbook pg.12-
15)
“Understand the effects of learning on development using Daniel Willingham’s learning theory, including
strengths and weaknesses of the theory”

Key terms named in the specification – these can be asked about in the exam. You need to
be able to define these terms in detail. Remember to give examples where possible.
Factual knowledge Skill Practice Effort
Strategies to support Strategies to support Strategies to support social
cognitive development physical development development

Willingham claims that factual knowledge has to come first before skills can be
developed. He also claims that learning relies on practice and effort.

Factual Knowledge Precedes (comes before) Skill

Knowing facts helps to then learn the skill of problem solving. Factual knowledge has to
come first, before a child can develop skills. If we have knowledge already, this leaves us
with more “mental power” available for skills like problem solving.

e.g. a child needs to know what “beginning” “middle and “end” mean, before they can write
their own story using this structure.
e.g. a child needs to know that brakes stop a bike before they can ride their bike.

1. Factual Knowledge 2. Skills

The Importance of Practice and Effort

Practice and effort helps us to gain new knowledge and develop new skills:

Knowledge Skills
We have to rehearse information lots of Skills: We have to practice skills so that
times to make the information transfer they become “automatic.”
from our short-term memory to our long-
term memory, so that we can later recall e.g. you need to practice riding a bike so
the information. that this skill becomes “automatic”

e.g. you have to re-read your lesson notes to

learn a theory off by heart

17
 Strategies to Support Development
Cognitive Development Physical Development Social development
(thinking and learning) (the body) (interacting with others)
• Use new problems that • Focus on the order of • Encourage children to
are challenging but movements see other people’s
achievable • Practice movements in points of views
• Take into account their that order again and • Model appropriate
cognitive development again social behaviour for
stage so activities are • Use conscious effort – children to copy
suitable for their age increase the difficulty of • Discourage impulsive
• Consider that other the task behaviour that doesn’t
factors affect learning, consider others
like misunderstanding • Encourage practice and
the task self-regulation
• Remember children’s • Delay giving rewards to
abilities can vary from encourage self-control
day to day

Evaluation: SODA

S
+ Repacholi and Gopnik: They found that children need knowledge before they can
understand skills.

O
- We are not all the same: The theory ignores individual differences in learning – some of us
need much more practice before we can master skills or recall knowledge and facts.

D
- Dweck’s mindset theory: This is an alternate theory of learning that suggests having a
growth minsset improves learning, not having factual knowledge before skills.

A
+ Useful: This theory is useful for parents and teachers – they can use the strategies to
support children’s development, and to help them practice their knowledge and skills.

18
 Willingham’s Learning Theory Key Term Glossary

Knowledge Being able to understand and remember facts, e.g. understanding that
red and yellow make orange.
Skills Being able to apply knowledge to doing something, e.g. creating an
orange colour by mixing yellow paint and red paint.
Practice and Repeating a task over and over again, so that you improve. This can
Effort improve knowledge by making facts enter the long-term memory. This
can improve skills by making the skills seem “automatic.”
Cognitive Development of thinking skills such as problem solving.
development
Physical Development of body and movement skills such as running.
development
Social Development of skills about how to get on with and interact with other
development people, e.g. communication.
Motor skills A movement or action that involves muscles and brain processes.
Rehearsal Repeating information to help remember it.
Long-term Memory store that can hold an unlimited amount of information,
memory potentially forever. Information goes here after rehearsal, and is stored
semantically (based on meaning).

Need more help? Want to stretch your understanding?

[Link]

You can apply this theory to your own learning. You need to know the facts about a theory,
before you can show the skill of evaluating the theory’s strengths and weaknesses.

19
 Piaget and Inhelder (1956) The Three Mountains Task (textbook pg.16-19)
“Understand the aims, procedures and findings (results and conclusions), strengths and weaknesses of”

Background: According to Piaget’s theory, a child in the pre-operational stage only sees the
world from their own viewpoint and cannot see others’ perspectives – this is called
egocentrism. When a child can decentre, they can see the world from a viewpoint other
than their own and they can consider multiple views of a situation. Piaget and Inhelder
carried out a series of experiments, such as the three mountains task, to investigate when
children are egocentric, and when they can decentre.

A
Piaget and Inhelder aimed to investigate the extent to which children of different ages were able to
take the view of another person (decentre).

P
SAMPLE: A sample of 100 children aged 4-12 was used. The children were from Switzerland.
4 – 6.5 years 6.5 – 8 years 8-9.5 years 9.5-12 years
21 children 30 children 33 children 16 children

EQUIPMENT: A model was used, consisting of three “mountains” of various sizes, each with different
features: one was short, green with a house on top and a path, one was medium height, brown with a
red cross on top and a stream, and one was tall, grey and had snow on top. The model was one metre
square and the mountains ranged from 12 to 30 centimetres high.
Ten pictures of the model were taken from different angles. There were also three coloured
cardboard representations of the mountains (grey, brown and green) and a wooden doll, 3cm tall.

QUESTIONING:
1. The child was shown the mountain model and was asked to use the coloured cardboard to
show how the scene looked from different viewpoints. They were asked to show their own
viewpoint and the viewpoint a doll could “see” (positioned by the researcher around the
model).
2. The child was shown ten pictures of the model and asked to select the picture that
represented what they could see from different positions, and what the doll could see from
different positions.
3. The child was asked to choose a picture then position the doll so the doll could “see” that
viewpoint.

Piaget and Inhelder also gathered qualitative data by observing the children, as well as recording if
they were correct/incorrect in each task (quantitative data).

R
Children aged 4-6.5 (in the pre-operational stage) will choose pictures and place cardboard in the
position that represents their own viewpoint, even if asked to show the doll’s view. These children
cannot place a doll in the correct position when provided with a picture of a viewpoint.

Children aged 7-9 start to understand that others can see the model differently. By 9-12 years old,
children can understand that the doll has a different viewpoint to them and will correctly select
pictures/arrange cards of the doll’s view.

C
Children up to around 7 years (pre-operational stage) are egocentric – they cannot see the mountains
from a viewpoint that is not their own, and they do not realise others hold different viewpoints.

Older children (concrete operational stage) are not egocentric – they can see the mountains from the
doll’s perspective (they can decentre).

20
 The results provide supporting evidence for Piaget’s cognitive development theory – that children in
the pre-operational stage are egocentric, whilst children in the concrete operational stage could co-
ordinate different viewpoints.

G
(+) They used a large sample size of 100 children, improving the generalisability of results to the target
population.

(-) Some age groups, e.g. 9.5-12 had small sample sizes (16 children), limiting the generalisability of
results to the target population.

(-) Participants were all from the same culture (Switzerland) – it may be that egocentrism occurs at
different ages within different cultures, meaning we cannot necessary generalise the findings to
children from different cultures.

R
(+) A standardised procedure was used (e.g. same model with mountains of the same heights
between 12 and 30cm, with the same features e.g. stream, path, red cross, snow) meaning the
procedure can easily be replicated to check the consistency of results, to test for reliability.

(-) When the procedure was replicated by Borke using Grover from Sesame Street in a more age-
appropriate procedure, 3 year olds could give Grover’s viewpoint 79% of the time, and 4 year olds
could do this 93% of the time. This tells us that Piaget and Inhelder’s results lack reliability, as different
researchers find inconsistent results.

A
(+) The results are useful because they provide supporting evidence for Piaget’s cognitive
development theory, that children in the pre-operational stage are egocentric, but that children in the
concrete operational stage can decentre and see the world from others’ viewpoints.

(-) This study found that some children were able to “partly” complete the tasks, and older children in
one stage were able to show skills similar to children in the next stage. This suggests Piaget’s theory of
“stages” is too rigid, and perhaps his theory should be on a continuum rather than four distinct stages.

V
(+) Rich, in depth qualitative data was gathered about the children during the task as they observed
their behaviours and actions.

(+) A laboratory experiment was used, meaning the researchers had full control over extraneous
variables such as the colour of the pictures, meaning they can be sure that the IV (age of child) caused
the changes in the DV (whether they could see other viewpoints). This also means a fair comparison
could be made against the results of each child.

(-) The experimental setting was artificial and lacks ecological validity and the mountains task used
lacks task validity – it is an unusual way to measure viewpoints. This may have been confusing for the
children and may not represent their true ability to decentre [e.g. when replicated using Grover in a
child-friendly procedure, children could show others’ viewpoints much earlier at 3-4 years]…

(+) ….However, the task was appropriate for the children from Switzerland, as they would be familiar
with mountain scenery, evidencing high ecological validity.

E
As the participants were under 16, Piaget and Inhelder would have received consent from their parents.

The procedure was not harmful or distressing for the children.

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Gunderson et al. (2013) Parent Praise to 1 to 3 Year Olds Predicts Children’s Motivational
Frameworks 5 Years Later (textbook pg.20-23)
“Understand the aims, procedures and findings (results and conclusions), strengths and weaknesses of”

Background: Research has shown that the way parents praise their children impacts the
child’s later ideas about reasons for behaviours/beliefs, e.g. if praising a child on their effort
rather than their ability, this can lead to a framework that working hard can cause success.
Gunderson wanted to see if this was the case in natural settings, as well as in experiments.

Whereas Dweck uses the phrases effort praise and ability praise, Gunderson referred to
similar concepts but used the phrases process praise and person praise instead.

Person/process praise:
Parents can praise children’s personality (person praise) or behaviour (process praise),
amongst other forms of praise. Person praise leads to children having frameworks that they
are born with or without an ability – a fixed mindset. This is known as entity
theory/motivational framework. Process praise leads to children having frameworks that
ability is changeable, and they are more likely to keep trying to do better – a growth
mindset. This is known as incremental theory/motivational framework.

Past research has shown us that boys tend to have incremental motivational frameworks,
suggesting they receive more process praise and see behaviour as changeable, whereas
girls tend to have entity motivational frameworks, suggesting they receive more person
praise and see abilities as fixed. Gunderson was interested in this apparent gender
difference.

These ideas about praise and motivational frameworks were based upon Dweck’s mindset
theory. However, Dweck’s theory was based upon experimental evidence which can lack
ecological validity due to the artificial settings. Therefore, Gunderson wanted to investigate
this in a more natural environment.

A
Gunderson aimed to investigate whether children are affected by different types of parental praise in
a natural situation.
Gunderson aimed to investigate whether parents give girls more person praise and boys more process
praise.
Gunderson aimed to investigate whether parents’ use of process/person praise in early childhood
affects children’s reasoning five years later about causes of behaviour (due to effort or ability).

P
SAMPLE: A sample of 29 boys and 24 girls was used from Chicago, USA, from a variety of cultural
backgrounds.

LONGITUDINAL STUDY: The researchers followed the sample over a long period of time. They looked
at parental praise at home when the child was: 14 months, 26 months and 38 months old. Five years
later, they measured the children’s ideas about causes of behaviour.

22
 OBSERVATIONS: At each visit, parent-child interactions were videotaped in 90 minute sessions, in
the child’s own home. The parents were told to “go about a typical day” in their home. Researchers
analysed their use of process and person praise. The participants were told the study was about
language development, not use of praise, to avoid demand characteristics (changing behaviours).

LATER BELIEFS: When the children were 7-8 years old (5 years after the observations), they were
given two questionnaires about what they thought had led someone to act morally (or not morally)
and what they thought had led to their own intelligence levels. 18 questions were about the children’s
motivational frameworks of intelligence and 6 questions were about what causes “good” or “bad”
behaviour.

R
Of the praise used, 18% was process praise and 16% was person praise. (The other 66% was other
types of praise).

24.4% of praise for boys was process praise whereas 10.3% of praise for girls was process praise,
meaning boys get praised on process more than girls.

The more process praise given in early childhood, the more likely the child was to have an
incremental motivational framework when 7-8.

C
Parents’ use of process praise positively correlates with a child’s later use of an incremental
motivational framework (ability being changeable: growth mindset).

They did NOT find evidence that parents’ use of person praise led to a child’s later use of an entity
motivational framework (ability being fixed: fixed mindset).

G
(-) The sample size of 53 parent-child pairs all from Chicago is quite small, limiting the generalisability
of results to the target population.

(+) Gunderson used a range of children from different ethnicities/backgrounds in the sample,
improving the generalisability of results to the target population.

R
(+) The two questionnaires given to the children about intelligence and moral frameworks was
standardised (e.g. 18 questions about intelligence), which could easily be replicated to see if the
results were consistent over time and therefore reliable.

A
(+) The results indicate that parental use of process praise leads to an incremental motivational
framework. This is useful for society as parents can be encouraged to use this type of praise when
talking to their children.

V
(-) Parents knew they were being observed (overt observation) by videotape, therefore they may have
changed their behaviours. For example, they may have given their child a lot of praise to try to be seen
as a “good parent” – showing social desirability. This means the observational data may lack ecological
validity, it may not represent praise in the children’s everyday lives.

(+) The participants were deceived as the parents were told the study was about language
development, rather than effects of parental praise. This ensured valid behaviour was seen from the
parents and avoided demand characteristics or effects of social desirability.

E
(-) The participants were deceived as the parents were told the study was about language
development, rather than effects of parental praise. However, this was needed to ensure valid
behaviour was seen from the parents and to avoid demand characteristics or effects of social
desirability.

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 Piaget and Inhelder and Gunderson Studies Key Term Glossary

Quantitative Data that is numerical e.g. total number of correct answers

data
Qualitative Data that is worded and descriptive, not numerical, e.g. observed signs
data of stress and nervousness
Ecological The extent to which a study represents behaviours seen in everyday life
validity (is it realistic?)
Egocentrism Only seeing the world from your own perspective
Centration Only being able to understand one aspect of a situation
Decentration Being able to take multiple aspects of a situation into account;
understanding other viewpoints
Pre Piaget’s second stage of development, from the ages of 2 to 7, in this
operational stage, children are still egocentric
Concrete Piaget’s third stage of development, from the ages of 7 to 12, in this
operational stage, children begin to decentre and consider other viewpoints
Person praise Praise to do with personality, e.g. “you are intelligent”
Process praise Praise to do with the behaviour itself, e.g. “you did well on this test”
Longitudinal A study over a long period of time that studies the same participants
study multiple times to track development or changes
Entity Believing abilities are fixed and unchangeable (like a fixed mindset)
motivational
framework
Incremental Believing abilities are flexible and changeable (like a growth mindset)
motivational
framework

Need more help? Want to stretch your understanding? Need a video example?
[Link]
[Link]
studies/the-three-mountain-task-piaget-and-inhelder-1956/
[Link]
[Link]
[Link] (replication of Piaget and Inhelder’s
procedure)

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 Issues and Debates: The Development of Morality (textbook pg. 24-47)
“Understand morality issues in psychology and the individual, including: (a)The terms ‘morality’ and
‘morals’ (b)Pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional stages of morality (c)The use of content,
theories and research drawn from cognitive development to explain development of morality”

Key terms named in the specification – these can be asked about in the exam. You need to
be able to define these terms in detail. Remember to give examples where possible.
Morals Morality Pre-conventional
Conventional Post-conventional

What are morals?

Morals refer to what is “right” and “wrong” in behaviour. For example, it is right to be kind
to people and it is wrong to steal. However, moral values can differ between individual
people and between different cultures. Morality is understanding the distinction between
good and bad behaviour. Moral development refers to children’s growing understanding of
morality and how they make moral decisions.

The development of morals: Kohlberg

Pre Conventional Morality Conventional Morality Post Conventional Morality

(under 9) (young people and adults) (only 10% of people reach
this level of morality!)
Thinking rules cannot be Seeing yourself as a good Having your own ideas about
changed. member of society. what is good and bad.

Morals are determined by Morality comes from group Understanding there are
whether a behaviour is norms (values from society). universal moral values (for
rewarded or punished. everyone).
Stage 3: People want to be seen
Stage 1: Children obey in order as good as they want to be liked. Stage 5: Understanding people
to avoid punishment. opt in to social contracts like
Stage 4: It is a social duty to democracy which differ between
Stage 2: Children value “what’s obey authority and do as you different cultures.
in it for me?” such as benefits are told.
from behaviour. Stage 6: Understanding there
are universal ethical principles
that everyone must follow.

Kohlberg tested morality by using the story of Heinz, who stole medicine from a chemist to help his ill wife
as he could not afford the medicine. Young children think the behaviour is bad, as stealing is wrong and is
punished. Older children understand his underlying moral values were good, as he was trying to help his
wife.

However, using this story to measure morality is artificial (not like every day morality) so it lacks validity.
Kohlberg also based his theories on studies with males only, therefore gender might impact how moral
values develop.

25
 The development of morals: Piaget

5-10 years old: Heteronomous 10+ : Autonomous

Thinking rules cannot be changed. Understanding intentions: e.g. what was the
reason behind an action. A behaviour can have a
Developing moral values from people around them good intention, even if it leads to a bad
(parents, teachers, etc.) consequence. E.g. stopping to help someone in the
corridor, but getting told off for arriving to lesson
Children focus on the consequence of actions, e.g. late.
punishments.
Rules can be changed, if everyone agrees and it
They obey rules to avoid punishment. benefits people.

Heteronomous – decided by other people Children decide what is right and wrong
themselves.

Autonomous – you decide for yourself

Piaget tested morality through the following scenario “John accidentally broke 15 cups. Henry purposefully
broke 1 cup. Who is naughtier, John or Henry?” - Young children will say John is naughtier as he broke more
cups and the behaviour is worse. Older children will realise Henry is naughtier as his intention (motive) was
negative.

However, using this story to measure morality is artificial (not like every day morality) so it lacks validity.

Morality Key Term Glossary

Morals Standards of right and wrong behaviour

Moral Children’s growing understanding about right and wrong behaviour
development
Morality Understanding the difference between right and wrong behaviour
Heteronomous Decided by other people
Autonomous Decided by yourself
Norms Society’s values – what is normal in your culture
Pre- Moral values develop based on whether a behaviour is rewarded or
conventional punished
Conventional Moral values are based on wanting to be a good person and be liked
Post- Understanding of individual moral values and universal moral values
conventional
Universal Affecting everyone

Need more help? Want to stretch your understanding? Need a video example?
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]

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