Child Development and Pedagogy PYQs

There are many learning theories in psychology that are related to different schools of psychology such as cognitive, humanistic, behavioristic, etc.

• These theories are propounded by eminent psychologists to provide a framework to understand different aspects of human behavior.
• Wolfgang Kohler, a German psychologist, is associated with the 'Theory of Learning', which he called the ‘Theory of Insightful learning’.
• In his theory, he has proposed the term ‘Insight’ that doesn't take place with trial & error, rather than it is a sudden reorganization of experience.

As per ‘Theory of Insightful learning’:

• The solution to a problem arrives ‘all of a sudden’ flash of insight when a person is struggling.
• Insight enhances an individual's ability to perceive and understand something or someone instinctively.
• Insight doesn't rely on behavior or observation, it is the sudden realization of a problem's solution using intuition.

Kohler demonstrated the following experiment based on insight:

• He kept chimpanzees in a closed room where food was kept out of their reach, and items like boxes, stick was there.
• The chimpanzee would roam inside the room to reach the food.
• They would ‘suddenly’ stand on a box and use the stick to bring food close to them.
• It should be noted that it was not the result of trial and error instead, the chimpanzee suddenly came up with the idea to use boxes and stick.

Hence, it could be concluded that Kohler is associated with the 'Theory of learning'.

Instinct Theory of motivation was propounded by William McDougall. According to this theory, instinct drives all behaviors and McDougall saw instinct as purposive and goal-directed.

In this theory, McDougall suggested that:

• All organisms are born with natural biological tendencies that assist them to survive.
• Every person has instincts in a greater or lesser degree that are prime determinants of behavior.
• Eg: Infants have an inborn rooting reflex that helps them in seeking out a nipple and obtaining nourishment.

Key Points

There are fourteen major types of instincts seen in individuals. The instincts are:

1. Escape
2. Combat
3. Repulsion
4. Parental Instinct
5. Appeal
6. Sex
7. Curiosity
8. Submission
9. Self-Assertion
10. Gregariousness or Herd Instinct
11. Food Seeking
12. Acquisition
13. Constructiveness
14. Laughter.

Important Points 

• The Instinct Theory of Motivation views biological or genetic programming as the cause of motivation. This theory says that the root of all motivations is the motivation to survive.
• As we act or behave with this kind of motivation, all our actions are therefore considered as instincts.
• Learning or Conditioning does not affect the motivation to behave in a certain way.
• A common example used to explain the Instinct Theory is that a human mother will attempt to provide comfort to a baby who has been crying all night and will not sleep until she sees that the baby is calm and asleep. According to Instinct theory, human mothers behave in this way because they were biologically programmed to do so; it is a mother’s instinct to provide comfort to her child.
• The motivation in instinctive theory is intrinsic motivation as a person is motivated by internal needs such as hunger, thirst, etc.

Hence, we can conclude that according to McDougal, the number of basic tendencies is fourteen.

The teaching method is a way to put theory in practice with the help of principles, pedagogy, and management strategies. It helps the teachers to plan and present the lesson coherently.

Key Points 

The brainstorming method is developed by Alex F. Osborn. It is the oldest and best-known technique for stimulating creative thinking. It is the most fruitful exercise to solve complex and critical problems.

• In Brainstorming, many creative minds work together and apply their diverse thinking patterns to achieve the same learning goals. Ideas are generated spontaneously by the learners.
• It is a teaching-learning process in which the student is the active role player. The teacher gives one problem or topic to the entire class and allots time.
• Within the given time, the student must create ideas. The role of the teacher in this method is just to consider all the ideas and arise conclusions based on the healthy discussion.

Important Points  Characteristics of Brainstorming Process:

• Quantity is more important than quality as in each time span, how many questions are prepared by the child based on the topic is considered.
• Associating different ideas to come up with a new one as in this process thought arising in the mind of the learner is noted down for further discussion and use.
• Generation of unusual ideas as it just demands the active participation of the child in the learning process by making them think and note the ideas in his own style.

Hence, it could be concluded that the Brainstorming model of teaching is used to improve creativity.

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist has propounded the 'Theory of Classical Conditioning' which emphasizes that learning as a habit formation is based on the principle of association and substitution.

Key Points 

• Dog was involved in Pavlov’s experiment of classical conditioning. During his experiment, Pavlov noticed that dog started secreting saliva as soon as the dog saw the empty plate in which food was served. Saliva secretion is a reflexive response to food or something in the mouth.

Let's have a look at Pavlov’s experiment:

• Pavlov was studying the gastric secretion of the dogs by placing meat powder in their mouth and measuring the saliva.
• A bell was sounded and immediately thereafter food (meat powder) was served to the dog. The dog was allowed to eat it.
• For the next few days, every time the meat powder was presented, it was preceded by the sound of a bell
• After a number of such trials, a test trial was introduced in which everything was the same as the previous trials except that no food followed the sounding of the bell.
• The dog still salivated to the sound of the bell, expecting the presentation of the meat powder as the sound of the bell had come to be connected with it.
• This association between the bell and food resulted in the acquisition of a new response by the dog, i.e. salivation to the sound of the bell. This has been termed as conditioning.
• All dogs salivate when they are presented with food. Food is thus an Unconditioned Stimulus (US) and salivation, which follows it, is an Unconditioned Response (UR).
• After conditioning, salivation started to occur in the presence of the sound of the bell. The bell becomes a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) and saliva secretion a Conditioned Response (CR). This kind of conditioning is called classical conditioning.

Hence, it could be concluded that in learning, Pavlov’s conditioning theory, he experimented on Dog.

Hint

• Cat was involved in Thorndike’s experiment of Trial & Error.
• Rat was involved in Skinner’s experiment of operant conditioning.
• Monkey/Chimpanzee was involved in Kohler’s experiment of Insightful Learning.

Creativity is the phenomenon whereby imaginative and original ideas are turned into reality.

• Creativity is a cognitive ability to produce something original by offering a fresh perspective.
• It is related to divergent thinking which refers to a way of solving problems by more than one approach.

Key Points

Components of Creativity: 

Guilford (1986) considered creative thinking as involving divergent thinking, which consists of four elements such as fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. 

Let's Understand in Brief:

 

Hence, we conclude that "Originality, Flexibility, and Flow are the components of creativity".

Hint

• Personality is the totality of one’s behavior towards one’s own self as well as others. It spreads over the subconscious and unconscious behavior of the person.
• Motivation refers to the process that guides an individual to achieve a goal. There are two main types of motivation which include extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
• Intelligence refers to the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge. It is the ability to solve problems, learn from experiences, and apply knowledge to deal with new situations.

Behaviorism or the behaviorist approach lays stress on the role of environmental stimuli in determining the way we act. Learning, i.e., changes in behavior because of experiences (excluding changes due to fatigue, injury, or drug effects) is at the center of this approach.

Key Points

• McDougall described Instincts as goal-directed natural behavioral patterns that usually occur in response to certain stimuli. These behaviors are inborn and don’t require learning.
• He states that "An instinct determines it's possessor to perceive and to pay attention to objects of a certain class, to experience emotional excitement of a particular quality upon perceiving such an object and to act in regard to it in a particular manner or at least to experience an impulse to action".
• He described fourteen types of instincts and combat is one of them. Combat is the tendency to fight. This is developed in children at the age of eight or nine, but it is common to all living and conscious creatures.
• This instinct comes into operation as the natural result of a creature’s perception of some threat or harm to itself from any external agency.

Additional Information

All fourteen types of instincts proposed by McDougall:

1. Escape
2. Combat
3. Repulsion
4. Parental Instinct
5. Appeal
6. Sex
7. Curiosity
8. Submission
9. Self-Assertion
10. Gregariousness or Herd Instinct
11. Food Seeking
12. Acquisition
13. Constructiveness
14. Laughter

Thus, it is concluded that Combat is Instinct.

Hint

• Emotion is defined as a strong mental or instinctive feeling such as love or fear involving many bodily processes, and mental states.
• Thinking is a behavior that is often implicit and hidden and in which symbols (images, ideas, and concepts) are ordinarily employed.
• Imagination is the ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful.

Social development refers to the development of an individual in such a way as s/he becomes a useful member of society. Social development is the process of learning to conform to group standards.

Key Points

Factors Affecting Social development:

Some of the factors which have a bearing on the level of social development are the social-environmental elements:

1. The social development of a child is regulated by the culture and society in which he/she lives. That is why children coming from different cultures, have different styles of social responses.
2. Family: The family is the most important primary agency for the socialization of the child. Consciously or unconsciously, the child imitates the behavior of the parents and other members in the family and thus picks up many good or bad social characteristics.
3. The parent-child relationships, the language used by the parents, the educational level of the parents, and the socio-economic status of the parents, and availability of leisure to spent with the parents, number of members in the family are the other factors influence the social development of the child.
4. Peer Group: The peer group satisfies many needs of child-like acceptance, achievement, affection, approval, belongingness, fame, recognition, etc. A good company of peers especially in the pre-primary classes is of great help in learning good qualities. Through peer group interaction, the child understands how to cooperate, how to lead and follow, to think for a common cause, and adjust to challenging social situations.
5. The school: A lot of school-related factors influence the socialization of the child. The interpersonal relationship in the school, its tradition, values, and ideals maintained by the institution, the curricular and co-curricular activities, the social qualities and behavior of the teachers and school mates, etc. have a great role in the socialization of the child.

Thus it becomes clear that the factors affecting the social development of children are social-environmental elements.

Development refers to the process by which an individual's potentialities unfold and appear as new abilities, qualities, and characteristics. 

Physical development is the process that starts in human infancy and continues into late adolescence concentrating on gross and fine motor skills as well as puberty. 

• It means growing control over muscles and physical coordination.

Law of Rapid growth:

• Physical growth includes the attainment of full height and appropriate weight and an increase in the size of all organs (except lymphatic tissue, which decreases in size). Growth from birth to adolescence happens in two definite phases:
• Phase 1 i.e. from birth to 1-2 years: In this phase, rapid growth takes place, even if the rate of growth diminishes over that period.
• Phase 2 i.e. from about 2 years-puberty): In this phase, growth happens in relatively constant annual increments.
• Puberty is the process of attaining physical maturation from child to adult.

Additional Information

1. Law of difference from mental development: Mental development is an important aspect of growth, embracing various mental abilities. It starts from birth, and as the child develops with time his/her mental reactions also change.
2. ​Law of irregular development: When development occurs unexpectedly and exhibits an unusual pattern of behavior, emotion, or thought, it's called irregular development.
3. Law of relation to imagination and emotional development:

• Imagination: Imagination is an essential component of childhood, helping children learn many important lifelong skills. 
• Fine motor skills come into play with pretend money and coins, play food, dressing dolls with clothes, and playing with small cars or figurines
• Emotional- As the child grows, the emotional responses become less diffuse, less random, and more differentiated, and can be aroused by a wide variety of stimuli. 
• The commonly found emotional patterns in babyhood are anger, fear, curiosity, joy, and affection.

Hence, we can conclude that the Law of rapid growth is primary law of Physical development.

Development is a broad term that includes a series of qualitative and progressive changes.

• These qualitative changes lead to the enhancement of various abilities and enable one to function effectively.
• The changes rely on the quantitative changes brought about by growth.

THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT:

• Theory of continuous growth-
• Development is a continuous process that begins at conception and ends with life.
• The rate of developmental changes and the pace of the process may become slow or might gain momentum at certain times but it never ceases completely provided the environment is conducive for development.
• ​Theory of Interrelation-
• ‘All the domains of development and learning—physical, social and emotional, and cognitive—are important, and they are closely interrelated’.
• Development in one domain is accompanied and greatly influenced by that which occurs in the other domains.
• For example, day-to-day activities of children such as playing, studying, or socializing with peers involve activity in multiple areas or domains.
• Theory of Uniform pattern-
• ​The changes brought about by the process of development follow a sequential order.
• This sequence or order is generally the same for all. In the words of Anita Woolfolk, infants sit before they walk, babble before they talk, and see the world through their own eyes before they can begin to imagine how others see it’.
• A sequence is also observed in the stage-wise progression of development.
• A child undergoing a normal course of growth and development would pass through infancy, middle and late childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and finally to old age.

Additional Information

THEORY OF CONDITIONED REFLEX:

• The term conditioned reflex was coined by, Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. It is used to denote the criterion measure of a behavioral element of learning, that is, a new association between the signal and the consequential event referred to as the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus, respectively.

From the above, we can conclude that the Theory of conditioned reflex is not a Theory of development.

DEVELOPMENT:

• It can be defined as a progressive series of orderly, coherent changes leading towards the goal of maturity
• According to Hurlock, 1964 “Development is not limited to the growing layer. Instead, it consists of a progressive series of changes towards the goal of maturity. Development results in new characteristics and new abilities on the part of the individual”.
• It means qualitative changes that are directed towards maturation.
• Development is considered as a function of or a product of maturation and learning.
• The development follows an observable pattern that can be predicted.

Additional Information

• Arnold Gesell develops the Gesell developmental Schedules to assesses behavior in the areas of adaptive, gross motor, fine motor, language, and personal-social development.
• Douglas and Holland stated that the term environment is used to describe, in the aggregate, all the external forces, influences, and conditions, which affect the life, nature, behavior, and the growth, development, and maturity of living organisms.

Hence, we can conclude that "Development results in new characteristics and new abilities.” This statement is given by Hurlock.

Perception is the process through which we interpret and organize the received information so as to produce our conscious experience of objects and their relationship.

Key Points

• We feel something in sensation when the stimulus is present and when the meaning is added to them it becomes perception.
• In this process, physical energy; such as light, sound waves, heat; emanating from objects is transformed by the concerned sense organs into a code and transferred to and interpreted by the brain.
• The line between the two terms sensation and perception, therefore, is somewhat arbitrary.
• The sensation typically refers to the direct reception and transmission of messages, whereas perception refers to the active process of integrating and organizing these sensations.

Additional Information

• Imagination is a primary creative act, a willed activity of spirit, a self-consciousness, a "self-realizing intuition.
• Thinking is the base of all cognitive activities or processes and is unique to human beings. It involves the manipulation and analysis of information received from the environment.
• Memory refers to the ability or power of the brain that helps an individual in obtaining, transforming, storing,  retrieving, and using information when needed.

Hence, we conclude that giving meaning to sensation on the basis of past experience is called Perception.

Learning By Trial And Error**:** The connections between stimuli and responses are formed through random trial and error.

Key Points

• The law of trial and error was formulated after Thorndike’s experiment on a hungry cat imprisoned in a cage.
• When the cat could press the lever of the cage through several trials, it would get food as the reward.
• Thorndike also emphasized the significance of other factors like the readiness of learners, and goal-oriented learning endeavors, for learning.
• Thorndike also propounded "Trial & Error Theory" has developed three primary laws of learning that leads to development.

These primary laws are:

 

Hence, Thorndike propounded the law of trial and error of learning.

Additional Information

• The Theory of Classical Conditioning was propounded by ‘Ivan Pavlov’.
• 'Wolfgang Kohler', a German psychologist, has proposed the ‘Theory of Insight’. This theory advocates a sudden solution to the problem as insight doesn't rely on behaviour or observation.

Intelligence refers to a set of different cognitive abilities to think rationally, act purposefully, resolve problems, and deal with the demands of the environment.

• In 1912, William Stern suggested the concept called Intelligent Quotient (IQ). It refers to the score of a standardized test that assesses and measures human intelligence.

Key Points

An individual’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is determined by the formula given below,

\({\bf{Intelligence}};{\bf{Quotient}};\left( {{\bf{IQ}}} \right) = \frac{{{\bf{Mental}};{\bf{Age}};\left( {{\bf{MA}}} \right);}}{{{\bf{Chronological}};{\bf{Age}};\left( {{\bf{CA}}} \right)}} \times 100\)

Where,

• Mental Age is based on intellectual development.
• Chronological Age is the number of years a person has lived.
• When a person’s mental age is equal to his actual age, he is said to have an average IQ.
• If an individual's IQ lies in the 90-109 range, it means his/her IQ is average.

Important Points

Refer to the IQ table for further information:

 

Hence, it could be concluded that I.Q. The level of average intelligence in children will be between 90 - 109.

Intelligence is the ability to undertake activities that are characterized by difficulty, complexity, abstractness, economy, adaptiveness to a goal, social value, and the emergence of originals, and to maintain such activities under conditions that demand a concentration of energy and resistance to emotional forces.

Fluid Mosaic Model of Intelligence: The fluid mosaic model of intelligence was proposed by Raymond B. Cattell.

• Cattell defined fluid intelligence as the ability to perceive relationships independent of previous specific practice or instruction concerning those relationships.
• "Fluid intelligence is the ability to think and reason abstractly and solve problems. This ability is considered independent of learning, experience, and education. Examples of the use of fluid intelligence include solving puzzles and coming up with problem-solving strategies.
• Fluid intelligence is the capacity to reason and solve new problems. There is no influence from any knowledge from past experiences, rather the person innovates new logical methods to resolve the problem.
• Fluid intelligence peaks in adolescence and begins to decline progressively beginning around age 30 or 40.

Hence it is clear that Fluid mosaic model of intelligence was proposed by Cattel.

Educational psychology is the systematic study of the development of the individual within the educational setting. It helps the teacher to foster the harmonious overall development of the student.

Theories of Educational Psychology:

 

Hence, we can conclude that Operant conditioning theory is Propounded by Skinner.

Examinations have always been an important part of the total educational process. Examinations are designed and administered at different stages of education and their results are used for various purposes like improvement in learning, grading and classification of students, selection for admission to higher classes or for scholarship, certification and for providing guidance for future, etc.

Key Points

• Once the teacher or the test constructor is aware of the characteristics that a good test must possess, she/he then proceeds to construct a test, which may be either a unit test or a full-fledged question paper covering all the aspects of the syllabus.
• After deciding on the design of the test, the blueprint is prepared as It is an important component of test construction.
• The blueprint is a three-dimensional chart that shows the placement of each question in respect of the objective and the content area that it tests. It also indicates the marks carried by each question.
• It is useful to prepare a blueprint so that the test maker knows which question will test which objective, which content unit, and how many marks it would carry.
• Without a blueprint, only the weightage is decided for objectives, content areas, and types of questions. The blueprint concretizes the design in operational terms and all the dimensions of a question (i.e. its objective, its form, the content area it would cover, and the marks allotted to it) become clear to the test maker.

Thus, it is concluded that Blueprint is an important component of test construction.

Additional InformationComponents of test construction:

• Prepare a Design
• Preparing a Blue Print
• Prepare questions based on the blueprint
• Assembling the Question Paper
• Preparing the Scoring Key and the Marking Scheme
• Preparing Question-wise Analysis

Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, has made a systematic study of cognitive development in his theory that is categorized in four stages. 

• He observed his children and their process of making sense of the world around them and developed a model of how the mind processes new information encountered.

Key Points

• Piaget’s Pre-operational stage is from 2 - 7 years. In this stage, the child faces problems with the concept of conservation and struggles with the idea of centration and irreversibility.

 

The Four Stages of Cognitive Development:

 

Hence, it could be concluded that Pre-operational stage is the stage of development proposed by Piaget.

Additional Information

• Wolfgang Kohler, a German psychologist, is associated with the ‘Theory of Insightful learning’. In his theory, he has proposed the term ‘Insight’ that doesn't take place with trial & error, rather than it is a sudden reorganization of experience.
• Operant conditioning was first investigated by B.F. Skinner. Skinner studied the occurrence of voluntary responses when an organism operates in the environment. He called them operants.
• Bruner has proposed Theory of instruction. The theory implies the idea that anything can be taught to any child when they reach the appropriate stage of cognitive maturity.

Testing is becoming more and more important with each growing area of psychology. Personality testing is an essential prerequisite for identifying the various constituents of personality. Testing in personality provides measures of emotional and motivational traits of personality.

• Personality inventory is a printed form that consists of a set of statements or questions applying to human behavior. The list of questions is a standard one and requires specific answers such as “yes”, “no” and “cannot decide”. As the questions demand close-ended answers, these assessments are quite objective in nature.

Key Points

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test is the most common personality inventory. It tests specifically, the abnormal behavior patterns in personality MMPI consists of 567 statements such as “I believe I am being plotted against”.
• The answers to the statements must be in “true”, “false”, or “cannot say”. It has 10 clinical scales and eight validity scales besides various subscales. Each scale tests a particular kind of behavior.
• Ranging from mild to more serious disorders such as schizophrenia and depression, are assessed using this inventory. Validity scales ascertain whether the person taking the inventory is responding honestly or not.
• For example, if one of the statements is “I am contented with whatever I have” and a person responds “true” to that statement, gets into suspicion that the person is lying. If several of validity scale questions are answered in this manner, it clearly depicts that the person is not being honest.

Thus, it is concluded that M.M.P.I is a test used to measure personality.

The correct answer is Motivation.

Key Points

• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour, knowledge, or skills resulting from experience and practice.
• Motivation is the most essential factor for learning because it energizes, directs, and sustains an individual's efforts toward achieving learning goals.
• A motivated learner shows greater attention, persistence, participation, and willingness to overcome difficulties, leading to more effective learning.
• Without motivation, learners are less likely to engage meaningfully in the learning process, even if other conditions are favourable.
• Hence, the correct answer is Motivation.

Additional Information

• Guidance:
• Helps learners understand concepts and solve problems but is not the primary prerequisite for learning.
• Maturation:
• Refers to the natural physical and mental growth of an individual, which provides readiness for learning but does not by itself ensure learning.
• Interest:
• Interest enhances learning by increasing engagement, but it is generally considered a component or outcome of motivation rather than the most fundamental requirement.

Development refers to an increase in structure for better and enhanced functioning of organs.

• The development of human beings is divided into different stages such as Infancy, Childhood (Early & Late Childhood), Adolescence, and Adulthood.

Key Points

• Infancy refers to the first two years of a child's development in which the child grows rapidly after birth.
• It is a crucial period of development in which the child learns to sit, crawl, stand, etc.

Important Points 

Development in Infancy:

• Language Development: Infants start without language. Yet by four months of age, babies can read lips and discriminate speech sounds. The language that infants speak is called babbling.
• Emotional Development: Infants start without emotions. yet by 2 to 3 months of age, they begin to show smiles and later express their feelings such as anger, fear, etc.
• Social Development: Infants are born social learners. They form healthy attachments with their caregivers and enjoy being around other children of their age.
• Physical Development: The first year of an infant is characterized by rapid physical growth. A normal baby doubles its birth weight in six months and triples it in a year.
• Cognitive Development: In infancy, children develop many elements of abilities to think and to understand the world around them. Infants have remarkably competent organisms, even on the first day of life.

Hence, it could be concluded that the period of infancyhood is from birth to 2 years.