AQA A-level Psychology · 4.3.4

Cognition and development

50 exam-style questions with answers for 4.3.4 Cognition and development in AQA A-level Psychology (spec 7182). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget
Explain what Piaget meant by a schema. [2 marks]
Answer:
A mental structure containing all the information about one aspect of the world (1); children are born with a few innate schemas and construct more as they interact with the world (1).
Question 2 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget
Explain the difference between assimilation and accommodation. [2 marks]
Answer:
Assimilation: new information is added to an existing schema without changing it, e.g. a child calling all four-legged animals 'doggy' (1); accommodation: an existing schema is changed, or a new one created, to fit new information, e.g. forming a new schema for cats (1).
Question 3 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget
Explain what is meant by equilibration. [2 marks]
Answer:
When new information does not fit existing schemas, the child experiences disequilibrium, an unpleasant state (1); this motivates them to accommodate the new information, restoring equilibrium (balance) (1).
Question 4 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget's stages
Name Piaget's four stages of intellectual development in order, with approximate ages. [4 marks]
Answer:
Sensorimotor (0–2 years) (1); pre-operational (2–7 years) (1); concrete operational (7–11 years) (1); formal operational (11+ years) (1).
Question 5 · Spec 4.3.4 · Object permanence
What is object permanence, and when does it develop? [2 marks]
Answer:
The understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight (1); Piaget believed it develops at around 8 months, in the sensorimotor stage (1).
Question 6 · Spec 4.3.4 · Conservation
Outline Piaget's conservation of liquid study. [3 marks]
Answer:
Children were shown two identical glasses with equal amounts of water (1); the water from one was poured into a taller, thinner glass in front of them (1); pre-operational children said the taller glass had more water, failing to conserve, as they focused on height (1).
Question 7 · Spec 4.3.4 · Egocentrism
Outline Piaget's three mountains task. [3 marks]
Answer:
Children were shown a model of three mountains with different features, e.g. a cross on one (1); a doll was placed at different positions and the child chose a picture showing the doll's view (1); pre-operational children chose their own view, showing egocentrism (1).
Question 8 · Spec 4.3.4 · Class inclusion
Explain what is meant by class inclusion, giving an example. [2 marks]
Answer:
The understanding that classes of objects have subsets, e.g. dogs are a subset of animals (1); when shown 5 dogs and 2 cats and asked 'Are there more dogs or more animals?', pre-operational children say more dogs (1).
Question 9 · Spec 4.3.4 · Concrete operational stage
Describe the characteristics of the concrete operational stage. [2 marks]
Answer:
Children can conserve and are less egocentric, and can perform mental operations such as reversibility (1); but they can only reason about physical, concrete objects, not abstract ideas (1).
Question 10 · Spec 4.3.4 · Formal operational stage
Describe the characteristics of the formal operational stage. [2 marks]
Answer:
Children can think about abstract problems and use logical reasoning (1); e.g. they can solve syllogisms, focusing on the logic of the argument rather than its content (1).
Question 11 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget evaluation
Explain one limitation of Piaget's research into conservation. [2 marks]
Answer:
McGarrigle and Donaldson (1974) used 'naughty teddy', who 'accidentally' messed up a row of counters (1); 62% of 4–6-year-olds conserved, compared with 16% in the original version, suggesting Piaget underestimated children due to demand characteristics (1).
Question 12 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget evaluation
Explain one limitation of Piaget's research into egocentrism. [2 marks]
Answer:
Hughes (1975) used a 'policeman doll' task with a more familiar context (1); 90% of children aged 3½–5 could hide a boy doll from the policeman, suggesting children are less egocentric than Piaget claimed (1).
Question 13 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget evaluation
Explain one strength of Piaget's theory. [2 marks]
Answer:
It has had practical application in education, e.g. discovery learning, where children learn by actively exploring (1); this is based on Piaget's idea that children build their own understanding through accommodation (1).
Question 14 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget evaluation
Explain why Piaget's research may be criticised on methodological grounds. [2 marks]
Answer:
He used small, unrepresentative samples, including his own children (1); and his clinical interview method may have confused children, e.g. by asking the same question twice (1).
Question 15 · Spec 4.3.4 · Vygotsky
Outline Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development. [3 marks]
Answer:
Cognitive development is a social process: children learn through interaction with more knowledgeable others (MKOs) (1); elementary mental functions are innate, but higher mental functions develop through culture, e.g. language (1); learning first occurs on a social level (inter-mental) and then on an individual level (intra-mental) (1).
Question 16 · Spec 4.3.4 · Zone of proximal development
What is the zone of proximal development (ZPD)? [2 marks]
Answer:
The gap between what a child can do alone and what they can do with help from a more knowledgeable other (1); cognitive development occurs when the child is helped to cross this gap (1).
Question 17 · Spec 4.3.4 · Scaffolding
What is meant by scaffolding? [2 marks]
Answer:
The help given to a child by an MKO to cross the ZPD (1); help is reduced as the child becomes more competent, e.g. from demonstration to a simple prompt (1).
Question 18 · Spec 4.3.4 · Scaffolding
Outline Wood et al.'s (1976) five levels of help in scaffolding. [3 marks]
Answer:
Level 5: demonstration, the tutor performs the action (1); levels 4 and 3: preparation for the child, and identifying resources (1); levels 2 and 1: specific verbal instructions, then general prompts (1).
Question 19 · Spec 4.3.4 · Vygotsky evaluation
Explain one strength of Vygotsky's theory. [2 marks]
Answer:
Research supports the ZPD, e.g. Roazzi and Bryant (1998) found children working with an older child were better at estimating sweets than those working alone (1); this shows the role of an MKO in cognitive development (1).
Question 20 · Spec 4.3.4 · Vygotsky evaluation
Explain one limitation of Vygotsky's theory. [2 marks]
Answer:
It may overemphasise social influences and ignore biological factors such as brain maturation (1); and it is vague: it is hard to measure the ZPD precisely, so the theory is difficult to test (1).
Question 21 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget and Vygotsky
Explain one difference between Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories. [2 marks]
Answer:
Piaget saw the child as a 'lone scientist' who learns through independent exploration (1); Vygotsky saw learning as a social process involving help from MKOs (1).
Question 22 · Spec 4.3.4 · Baillargeon
Outline Baillargeon's explanation of early infant abilities. [3 marks]
Answer:
Babies have more knowledge of the physical world than Piaget believed (1); they are born with a physical reasoning system that allows them to understand how objects behave (1); Piaget's tasks underestimated babies because they required motor skills, e.g. searching for an object (1).
Question 23 · Spec 4.3.4 · Violation of expectation
Explain the violation of expectation research method. [3 marks]
Answer:
Babies are shown expected and unexpected events (1); if babies understand the physical world, they will look longer at an unexpected event because they are surprised (1); this allows researchers to infer what babies know without them needing to move (1).
Question 24 · Spec 4.3.4 · Violation of expectation
Outline Baillargeon and Graber's (1987) study of object permanence. [3 marks]
Answer:
Babies aged 5½ months watched a tall or short rabbit pass behind a screen with a window (1); the short rabbit should not appear in the window, but the tall rabbit should (1); babies looked longer when the tall rabbit did not appear in the window, suggesting they understood it still existed behind the screen (1).
Question 25 · Spec 4.3.4 · Baillargeon evaluation
Explain one limitation of the violation of expectation method. [2 marks]
Answer:
Looking longer may not mean surprise; it could show the baby has simply noticed something new or different (1); so the method may lack validity, as we cannot be sure what babies understand (1).
Question 26 · Spec 4.3.4 · Baillargeon evaluation
Explain one strength of Baillargeon's research. [2 marks]
Answer:
It uses a more sensitive measure than Piaget's tasks, as it does not require motor skills (1); so it shows babies have object permanence earlier than Piaget suggested (1).
Question 27 · Spec 4.3.4 · Selman
Outline Selman's levels of perspective-taking. [4 marks]
Answer:
Level 0 (3–6 years): undifferentiated, egocentric perspective-taking (1); level 1 (4–9 years): social-informational, realising others may have different information (1); level 2 (7–12 years): self-reflective, seeing their own behaviour from another's view, and level 3 (10–15 years): mutual/third-party perspective (1); level 4 (14+ years): societal, understanding the influence of society on perspectives (1).
Question 28 · Spec 4.3.4 · Selman
Outline Selman's (1971) research method for studying perspective-taking. [2 marks]
Answer:
Children were told dilemmas, e.g. Holly, who promised her father not to climb trees but sees a kitten stuck in a tree (1); they were asked how each character would feel, and answers were classified into levels (1).
Question 29 · Spec 4.3.4 · Selman
Explain one strength of Selman's theory. [2 marks]
Answer:
Selman (1971) found perspective-taking improved with age in a study of 60 children aged 4–6 (1); and a longitudinal study found the same pattern in 41 boys over 5 years, supporting the developmental sequence (1).
Question 30 · Spec 4.3.4 · Selman
Explain one limitation of Selman's theory. [2 marks]
Answer:
It does not explain how perspective-taking develops, only describing the stages (1); and other factors such as verbal ability may affect performance on the dilemmas, so the theory may be incomplete (1).
Question 31 · Spec 4.3.4 · Theory of mind
What is theory of mind? [2 marks]
Answer:
The understanding that other people have mental states, e.g. beliefs, intentions and emotions, that may differ from our own (1); this allows us to predict and explain others' behaviour (1).
Question 32 · Spec 4.3.4 · Sally-Anne study
Outline the Sally-Anne study. [4 marks]
Answer:
Baron-Cohen et al. (1985) tested children with autism, Down's syndrome and typically developing children (1); Sally puts a marble in her basket and leaves; Anne moves it to her box (1); children were asked where Sally would look for her marble (1); 85% of typical and 86% of Down's syndrome children answered correctly, but only 20% of autistic children (1).
Question 33 · Spec 4.3.4 · Theory of mind
Explain theory of mind as an explanation for autism. [2 marks]
Answer:
Autistic people may have a deficit in theory of mind, struggling to understand others' mental states (1); this could explain difficulties with social interaction and communication (1).
Question 34 · Spec 4.3.4 · Theory of mind
Explain one limitation of theory of mind as an explanation for autism. [2 marks]
Answer:
Not all autistic people fail theory of mind tasks, e.g. 20% passed the Sally-Anne test (1); and the theory cannot explain other features, e.g. repetitive behaviours, so it may only be a partial explanation (1).
Question 35 · Spec 4.3.4 · Theory of mind
Explain one methodological issue with false-belief tasks. [2 marks]
Answer:
False-belief tasks may require other cognitive abilities, such as memory and language (1); so children may fail due to these demands rather than a lack of theory of mind (1).
Question 36 · Spec 4.3.4 · Theory of mind
Outline the Smarties task. [2 marks]
Answer:
Children are shown a Smarties tube that actually contains pencils (1); they are asked what another child will think is inside; those with theory of mind say 'Smarties', understanding the other child's false belief (1).
Question 37 · Spec 4.3.4 · Mirror neurons
What is the mirror neuron system? [2 marks]
Answer:
Neurons in the premotor cortex that fire both when we perform an action and when we observe someone else perform it (1); first discovered in macaque monkeys by Rizzolatti et al. (1996) (1).
Question 38 · Spec 4.3.4 · Mirror neurons
Explain the role of the mirror neuron system in social cognition. [3 marks]
Answer:
Mirror neurons allow us to understand the intentions and emotions behind others' actions (1); they may underlie empathy and theory of mind (1); and a deficit in mirror neurons may explain the social difficulties experienced by autistic people (the 'broken mirror' theory) (1).
Question 39 · Spec 4.3.4 · Mirror neurons
Explain one limitation of research into mirror neurons. [2 marks]
Answer:
Most evidence comes from monkeys, and it is difficult to study single neurons in humans (1); so it is unclear whether humans have a mirror neuron system that works in the same way (1).
Question 40 · Spec 4.3.4 · Mirror neurons
Explain one strength of research into mirror neurons. [2 marks]
Answer:
Haker et al. (2012) found brain activity in areas associated with mirror neurons when people observed contagious yawning (1); this supports the idea that mirror neurons are involved in empathy (1).
Question 41 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget
A child calls a cow a 'big dog'. Using Piaget's theory, explain this. [2 marks]
Answer:
The child has assimilated the cow into their existing schema for dogs (four legs, fur) (1); when they are corrected, they will experience disequilibrium and accommodate a new schema for cows (1).
Question 42 · Spec 4.3.4 · Vygotsky
A teacher shows a child how to solve a puzzle, then gives hints, then lets the child try alone. Use Vygotsky's theory to explain this. [3 marks]
Answer:
The teacher is acting as a more knowledgeable other (1); she is scaffolding the child's learning, reducing help as the child becomes more competent (1); this helps the child cross the zone of proximal development (1).
Question 43 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget
What is reversibility? [2 marks]
Answer:
The ability to mentally reverse an operation (1); e.g. understanding that pouring water back into the original glass would give the same amount (1).
Question 44 · Spec 4.3.4 · Piaget
Explain why children in the pre-operational stage fail conservation tasks. [2 marks]
Answer:
They focus on one aspect of the task, e.g. the height of the liquid (centration) (1); and they lack reversibility, so cannot imagine reversing the action (1).
Question 45 · Spec 4.3.4 · Baillargeon
Explain how Baillargeon's research challenges Piaget's theory. [2 marks]
Answer:
Piaget believed object permanence develops at around 8 months (1); Baillargeon found babies as young as 3½ months may understand objects still exist when hidden (1).
Question 46 · Spec 4.3.4 · Theory of mind
Explain how theory of mind develops with age. [2 marks]
Answer:
Children develop first-order theory of mind (understanding what someone else thinks) at around 4 years (1); second-order theory of mind (understanding what someone thinks about someone else's thoughts) develops at around 6–7 years (1).
Question 47 · Spec 4.3.4 · Theory of mind
Explain one strength of theory of mind research. [2 marks]
Answer:
It has practical application, e.g. it has helped explain social difficulties in autism (1); and this has led to interventions, e.g. teaching autistic children to understand mental states (1).
Question 48 · Spec 4.3.4 · Cognition and development
Explain how the development of social cognition relates to egocentrism. [2 marks]
Answer:
Piaget described pre-operational children as egocentric, unable to see another's point of view (1); Selman's levels and theory of mind research show perspective-taking develops gradually through childhood (1).
Question 49 · Spec 4.3.4 · Cognition and development
Explain how Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories have been applied to education. [2 marks]
Answer:
Piaget: discovery learning, where children are given opportunities to explore (1); Vygotsky: group work, peer tutoring and scaffolding by teachers (1).
Question 50 · Spec 4.3.4 · Cognition and development
Explain why research into cognitive development may involve ethical issues. [2 marks]
Answer:
Children cannot give informed consent, so parental consent is needed (1); and children may become distressed during tasks, so they must be protected from harm and allowed to withdraw (1).

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