Child Development and Pedagogy PYQs

Most of the learning in human beings takes place not only through observation or imitation but also by solving problems that they come across in their day-to-day life. While solving a problem if an individual reaches the solution all of a sudden, we say that he has learned by insight. 

• In fact, the person reaches the solution by understanding the relationship between different aspects of the problematic situation. In our daily life, we describe the mode of learning by using phrases like seeing the point or getting the idea.

Important Points 

• Wolfgang Kohler, insight learning refers to the sudden realization of a problem’s solution. Kohler proposed that not all kinds of learning depend on trial-error or conditioning, we use our cognitive processes also to learn.
• Gestalt Psychology used the term ‘insight’ to describe the perception of the whole situation by the learner and of his intelligence in responding to the proper relationships.
• Even though this learning takes place implicitly, the change in the behavior is long-lasting. To prove his point, he conducted a series of an experiment on chimpanzees, with which we humans share 99 percent of DNA.

Key PointsOn the basis of his experiments, he described the process of learning in insight as follows:

• The learning perceives the situation in its totality.
• The child analyses the various aspects of the situation and tries to establish a meaningful relationship among them. On the basis of this new perception, the child redefines the situation.
• The process goes on till the child solves the problematic situation all of a sudden. That is what we mean when we say that the child suddenly gets an insight into the solution.

Thus, it is concluded that through his experiment Kohler wanted to prove that learning is the perception of a whole situation.

The five stepped system of lesson planning was started by J. Friedrich Herbert, a German psychologist**.** His five-stage system of lesson planning involves five discrete steps including preparation, presentation, association, generalization, and application.

• This is also known as Herbartian five steps, these steps are used for the students for receiving new knowledge in educational fields.
• J. Friedrich Herbert strongly believed that when a topic properly presented to the students they associate that topic with their existing ideas and learn in a coherent way.

Important Points

Let's understand the five stages advocated by him for lesson planning:

• Preparation: It refers to the process of activating previous knowledge of the learners to receive the new one.
• Presentation: It refers to present the concept using concrete objects for a quality experience
• Association: It refers to the process of comparing new knowledge with the previous knowledge to be familiar with the differences in order to assimilate the new one.
• Generalization: it refers to arrive at general ideas or necessary conclusion by comparing learning materials presented by the teacher.
• Application: It refers to use of acquired knowledge by the learners in real-life for a better understanding and meaningful learning.

According to Herbert, these steps would make the students able to acquire, assimilate, and apply knowledge efficiently.

Hence, it could be concluded that the five stepped system of lesson planning was started by J. Friedrich Herbert.

Psychologically speaking personality is all that a person is. It includes everything about the person, his physical, emotional, social, mental, and spiritual makeup. The term personality signifies something deeper than more appearance or outward behavior. 

Factors Influencing Personality: The following factors influence the development of the personality of an individual. There are various glands in our body. These glands are cell structures. They are important for the individual’s physical and mental health and development. They secrete different substances which are responsible for this development.

Key Points

Cannon described different types of personality based on glands.

There are two types of glands:

1. The Duct Glands
2. The Ductless Glands.

The Duct Glands :

• The duct glands secrete their fluids through ducts and channels.
• These glands help in the digestive process.
• If the digestion is proper, then the individual becomes healthy.

The Ductless Glands:

• The ductless or endocrine glands exercise a great influence on the development of the various parts of the body and their activities' emotional stability and temperament.
• The hormones secreted by these glands play a vital role in the making of personality.
• The three important ductless glands are:

 

Hence, from the above, we can conclude that Cannon described different types of personalities based on glands.

Confusion Points 

• Kretschmer described personality on the basis of different body types.
• Kretschmer was a German psychiatrist who on the basis of his observation of patients classified people into four types. He used the physical constitution and temperament for this purpose The four types he talked about included: (i) Pyknik type (ii)Asthenic type (iii)Athletic type (iv) Dysplastic type.

Creativity is the phenomenon whereby imaginative and original ideas are turned into reality. It relates to divergent thinking that refers to a way of solving problems by more than one approach.

The above-mentioned statement is given by 'Crow and Crow' as:

• It is the ability possesses by the people who are creative, persistent, and imaginative.
• 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.
• It is goal-directed thinking which is unusual, novel, and useful and includes brainstorming and out of the box thinking in it

Hence, it could be concluded that the above-mentioned statement is given by 'Crow and Crow'.

 

Additional Information

Characteristics of Creative Children:

• Perceive relation between impossible things.
• Think quickly and solve problems in a novel way.
• Convert imaginative and original ideas into reality.
• Try new things and risk failure in executing innovative ideas.
• Use divergent and out of the box thinking in different situations.

Important Points

Language, which is considered as the most awesome of universal human achievements, develops with extraordinary speed in early childhood**.​ Language development** refers to the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them for the understanding of the others. Language development concerns itself with the length and the patterns of sentence structure, grammatical construction, and syntax.

Key Points

• B.F Skinner believed that children learn language through operant conditioning. Language is learned through imitation and reinforcement.
• Reinforcement is something that enhances the strength of the response and prompts repetitions of the behavior that preceded reinforcement.
• Children receive “rewards” for using language in a functional manner. Skinner also tells that children learn language through imitation of others and prompting.
• According to Skinner, the child learns language by imitating their parents or the persons around them. Children strengthen their responses by the repetitions, corrections, and other reactions that adults provide, thus language is practice-based.

Thus, it is concluded that according to B.F. Skinner's language development in children takes place as an outcome of imitation and reinforcement.

Instincts are goal-directed and innate behavior that is not due to learning or experience.

McDougall tried to explain behavior in terms of a few distinct inherited tendencies which he called instincts.

• For him, instinct and emotion are always unified.
• Emotion is the conscious aspect of an instinctive activity.
• An instinct is an innate disposition that makes the organism sensitive to objects and disposes it to appropriate action.
• 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”.
• Further, he feels that an instinctive action is an outcome of, "A distinctly mental process, one which is incapable of being described in purely mechanical terms because it is a psychophysical process involving psychical as well as physical changes and like every other mental process.
• It stated three aspects, the cognitive, the affective, and the conative aspects; every instance of instinctive behavior involves knowing of something or object, a feeling in regard to it, and a striving toward or away from the object”

Additional Information

• Thorndike divided intelligent activity into three types :
• Social Intelligence or the ability to understand and deal with persons;
• Concrete intelligence or ability to understand and deal with things, as in skilled trades and scientific appliances and
• Abstracts intelligence, or the ability to understand and deal with verbal and mathematical symbols
• According to Woodworth, Both behavior and consciousness were the subject matter of psychology. His 'Dynamic Psychology' (1918) tried to explain behavior by merging theories of motivation, perception, learning, and thinking, also his book 'Psychology' (1921) became a standard textbook.
• Drever emphasized the element of satisfyingness in interest. To him, interest is a feeling of worthwhileness passing into satisfyingness.

Hence, it's clear that McDougall classified instincts into fourteen types

Attention refers to the active processing of specific information present in the environment by an individual.

• ‘Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one subject rather than upon another’ Dumville (1938)
• It allows us to 'tune out' information, sensations, and perceptions that are not relevant at the moment and instead focus energy on the information that is important.
• Attention is the most consequential of all the tasks the human brain performs.
• Perceiving, thinking, learning, deciding, and acting deliberately, all depend on attention.
• Attention is the means by which one actively processes a limited amount of information from the enormous amount of information available through one‟s senses, stored memories, and other cognitive processes.

Additional Information

• Attention refers to the processing or selection of some information at the expense of other information (Pashler, 1998).
• Ross (1951): Attention is the process of getting an object or thought clearly before the mind.
• Morgan & Gilliland (1942): Attention is being keenly alive to some specific factor in our environment.
• McDougall states that emotions are the conscious concomitants of instinctive impulses at work.
• Norman L. Munn (1972) defined personality as the most characteristics, integration of an individual’s, structure, attitudes, capacities, abilities, and aptitudes

From the above, it's clear that the statement “Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one object rather than upon another" is given by Dumville.

The term 'Eugenes' in Greek means good in stock; hereditarily endowed with noble qualities. 'Eugenics' is the study of the agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations either physically or mentally.

• The word 'eugenics' was initially proposed and defined by a Victorian scientist, Sir Francis Galton (1822—1911). He is the 'Father of the Eugenics'.
• A cousin of Charles Darwin, he was greatly influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution.
• He defined eugenics to mean 'the science of improving the inherited stock of a population, not only by judicious matings but by all other means' the word eugenics come fi-om the Greek word EU -good, genesis creation or birth.
• It is a polar opposite to the word 'euthanasia' EU - good than those - dead.
• Eugenics might be formulated as 'science applied to the qualitative improvement of the set of human genes to be transmitted to the next generation.
• This definition could be extended to cover methods for regulating population numbers as well as trying to improve the genetic composition of the next generation.

Hence, we can conclude that Francis Galton is the 'father of eugenics'.

Intelligence is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason. From various meanings of intelligence, it could be concluded that intelligence means the ability of an individual to solve the problems that have been received from general learning, experience, schools, and the environment. 

Verbal Intelligence Test

• Verbal tests use written language for their items and therefore, require the examinees to be literate.
• Most of the widely used mental ability tests, to some degree, depend on language and include tasks presented in verbal terms. S-B test, General Mental Ability Test (GMAT), and Army Alpha Test include the tasks testing the vocabulary by identifying the meaning synonym, antonym, completion of the sentences, etc. The tests in which this type of items is included are called the verbal tests

General Mental Ability Test (GMAT) :

• It is defined as the ability to understand and interpret verbal information, the ability to recognize and process numbers and information stated in tabular/ graphical format, ability to think broadside, and construct logical connections between unassociated concepts.
• Dr. S.S. Jalota propounded this test in Hindi to measure intelligence.
• By this test, we can measure the intelligence of a group and classify intelligent, average, and dull categories.

Additional Information

Army Alpha Test:

• First administered to nearly two million new recruits in World War I, and the Otis Group Intelligence Scale were forerunners of many other group tests that are administered economically and quickly to large numbers and were thus effective for use in schools and industry.
• Standardized group tests are administered for college and graduate school entrance, and for a number of civil service positions.

Non-verbal Intelligence Test:

• Tests, which require no reading and writing activity on the part of the subjects, are described as non-verbal tests such as Progressive Matrices, Pinter General Ability Test, Picture drawing test.
• The children's mental ability can be tested by means of pictures.
• This type of test consists of all the items in pictorial form.
• They are valuable for better diagnosis of cases that scoreless on verbal tests.
• It is better to use terms as 'pictorial' or 'no reading rather than Non-verbal.

Picture drawing test:

• ​Through this, we can analyze different areas of a person's subconscious, for instance, fears, dreams, and main personality traits in general.
• However, Projective personality tests, specifically, evaluate how a person responds to particular situations through a drawing.

Hence, it's clear that GMAT was propounded by Dr. S.S Jalota in Hindi.

Intelligence has been defined as the total of everything you know, as the ability to learn or profit from experience, as the ability to solve problems, or as the ability to cope with the demands of the environment.

Key Points The two-factor theory of intelligence: Charles Spearman proposed his theory in the year 1923.

• According to his theory, intelligence consists of two factors: ‘g’ and ‘s’, where ‘g’ stands for generalized factor and ‘s’ stands for the specific factor.
• As per him, the ‘g’ factor is responsible for different tasks which are common for all people while the ‘s’ factor is for abilities like musical, spatial, mechanical, etc.
• S-factor is applicable in specific fields and changeable in nature while G-factor is a universal innate ability to perform all cognitive tasks effectively.

 

Hence, we can conclude that Charles Spearman proposed the two-factor theory of intelligence.

Basic Instinct is an inherited or innate psychological disposition which determines its possessor to perceive or pays attention to, objects of a certain class, to experience an emotional excitement of a particular quantity upon perceiving such objects, and to act in regard to it in a particular manner, or at least, to experience an impulsive to such an action.

Characteristics of Basic Instinct

• The main characteristic of basic instinct is inborn and natural that is found in all living organisms.
• No one can develop in their later stages, it is an inborn talent or ability to feel the things that may be going to happen or not in near future.
• Instinct is a vibe, that can be negative and positive.
• The instincts are dominated by the pleasure principle (the chief characteristic of psychic energy) and are inherited.
• Basic instinct may undergo more or less serious failures to pass through certain stages of development called the fixation of the instinct.
• These instincts drive the satisfaction of which is the prime intention of mental activity are essentially somatic needs.
• These are basically connected with the preservation of self and of species, which may be considered as needs.
• The aim of basic instinct is the preservation of the individual and the species.
• The basic instinct cannot be localized to any region of the mind.

Hence, we can conclude that The main characteristic of basic instinct is that which is found in all organisms and it is inborn and natural.

Fundamental Rights and Education: Fundamental Rights of citizens given in our Constitution have established the spirit of equality and have helped to preserve individual liberty. The following articles in the category of Fundamental Rights have a special bearing on education in India.

• ARTICLE 21A - It grants the Right to Free and Compulsory Education to all the children the aged six to fourteen years in a manner as the State may, by law determine. Inserted by the 86^th Amendment in December 2002, this Article has accorded education the status of right for ensuring quality in educational expansion at the elementary level.

Key Points

• Insertion of Article 21A, making elementary education a fundamental right of all children between the age group of 6-14 years, Article 45 has been amended so as to restrict its scope to pre-primary education up to 6 years of age.

Additional Information

Other Articles:

• ARTICLE 45: Directive Principles of the State Policy in Article 45 under Part IV of the Constitution states that “the State shall endeavor to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years”.
• ARTICLE l5 - This Article guarantees prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth by the State. It also ensures equality in educational opportunities in India.

 Hence, we conclude that Article 21 A  states that "the right to free and compulsory education for children between age group of 6 - 14.

Kretschmer was a German psychiatrist who on the basis of his observation of patients classified people into four types. He used the physical constitution and temperament for this purpose The four types he talked about included:

• Pyknic type
• Asthenic type
• Athletic type
• Dysplastic type

Let us briefly study each of these types:

 

Hence, we conclude that all are the main types through which Kretschmer has classified the persons.

Teacher Eligibility Test (TET): Teacher Eligibility Test known as TET is an Indian entrance examination for teachers. The test is mandatory for getting teaching jobs in government schools from Class I to Class VIII.

• The examination is divided into Paper-I (Primary) and Paper-II (Elementary).
• TET was introduced by the Govt of India to improve standards in teaching. It is conducted by the Central and State governments in India.
• The essential qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in any of the schools referred to in clause (n) of section 2 of the RTE Act are that he/she should pass the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) which will be conducted by the appropriate government by the guidelines framed by the NCTE.
• A candidate has to score over 60% to clear the eligibility test.

Key Points

Purpose of TET

• The main purpose of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) is to assess the candidate's aptitude for the profession.
• Recruiting teachers by evaluating the aspiring candidates’ academic brilliance.
• The main motto is to impart quality teaching.
• Assess the teachers who have adequate teaching competency and a positive attitude towards teaching or not.

Hence, we conclude that the purpose of TET is to measure the aptitude for the profession.

Consolidation Theory of Memory: Memories are solidified in long-term stores over days, weeks, months, and years. This process is referred to as consolidation.

• In this theory, an old concept that refers to how long term memory develops over time after initial acquisition.
• From a cognitive neuroscience perspective, consolidation is conceived of as biological changes that underlie the long-term retention of learned information, and we can ask what brain structures and systems support this process.
• One idea is that consolidation strengthens the associations between multiple stimulus inputs and activations of previously stored information.

Hence we conclude that the Consolidation theory explains the solidified long-term memory.

Sir Cyril Burt, the distinguished psychologist, and educationist can be regarded as the pioneer investigator of the 'Educational quotient of the Backward Child'. His work on the Backward Child' is of prime importance.

• In- his book 'The Backward Child,' Burt reported his study. In the beginning, before reporting his work, he thought it useful to clarify and distinguish the term 'backward' from some other related terms like 'dull' and 'retarded'.
• Burt was the first who given the term 'Educationally quotient for backward children'.
• Burt's view regarding the term 'backward' refers to the Educational Age in relation to the Chronological Age.
• Children having an Educational Quotient of 85 or less could be regarded as Educationally Backward, according to his criterion.
• He states: "Educationally backward in the technical sense all those who in the middle of their school career would be unable to do the work of the class next below that which is normal for their age".

Hence, we conclude that Cyril Burt has given the concept of educational quotient for backward children.

Tests are devices to gather information through some specified tasks presented to individuals. We come across various types of tests in education e.g. oral, written and practical; group or individual; performance, etc. Sometimes 'examination' is also used to mean a device or a test. 

Key Points

Characteristics of Good Test: A good test should enable us to the achievement or ability accurately and economically. Here we take a good test - validity, reliability, and usability.

• Validity: A test is said to be valid if it measures what it is supposed to measure. Cronbach defines validity as "the extent to which a test measures what it to measure".
• Reliability: A test is reliable if it gives consistent results of measurement on its administration on different occasions. Pupils should score similar scores if the test is repeated. Its administration maybe after some gap of time and the condition is that pupils do not receive any further training of related test content.
• Usability: Usability refers to practicability - ease, and economy in terms of energy, time, and money. Usability means a test should be: easy to construct; easy in administrating; easy in scoring; easy in interpreting; and economic in terms of money and time.
• Objectivity: When a student's score on a test is based only on the student's answers and not on the personal biases of the scorer (or teacher), then the scoring is considered to be objective. This depends on the procedure of the scoring (and the type of item to be scored).

Hence, we conclude that aptitude is not a characteristic of a good test, it is a part of the personality.

Key Points

There are several theories of intelligence:

• Unifactor Theory :
• It was given by French psychologist Alfred Binet.
• Binet is famous for developing first intelligence test and concept of mental age.
• The theory emphasizes that we all have general factor of intelligence to apply in all task.
• According to this theory, if a person is proficient in one area, he should be proficient in other areas as well.
• Two factor theory:
• Spearman proposed this theory in 1923.
• According to this theory, intelligence consists of two factor 'g' and 's', where 'g' stands for the generalized factor and 's' stands for the specific factor.
• As per him, the 'g' factor is responsible for different tasks which are common for all people while 's' factor is for abilities like musical, spatial, mechanical etc.
• Multifactor Theory:
• Multi-factor theory neglects the existence of 'g' factor and state that intelligence is not an expression of innumerable highly specific factor, nor is it the expression primarily of a general factor that pervades all mental activities.

Hence, we conclude that the Theory of regression is not the theory of intelligence. It is a part of statistical analysis.

The correct answer is Salivary Gland.

Key Points

Gland: A Gland is an organ which releases substances that perform a specific functions in the body. Gland are of two types:

• Exocrine Gland are the gland that secrete their product into a duct. Salivary gland secretes the saliva into the salivary duct.
• Endocrine Gland are the gland that  secrete their product directly into the blood. There are no duct in endocrine glands. Hyphothalamus gland, Pituitary gland, Adrenal Gland, Thyroid Gland etc.

Thus, Salivary Gland is not a ductless gland.

"Jean Piaget", a Swiss psychologist, is famous for his work on child development. He made a systematic study of cognitive development in his theory that is categorized in four stages.

Key Points

• According to Piaget, the second stage of cognitive development is the 'pre-operations stage' which lasts around 2 to 6 or 7 years of age.
• In this stage, the child faces problems with the concept of conservation and struggles with the idea of centration and irreversibility.

Characteristics of the Preoperational Period:

• Egocentrism takes place.
• Begin to think symbolically.
• Develops the skills of language acquisition.
• Begin to use words and pictures to represent objects.
• Learns to compare objects through external characteristics.

Hence, it could be concluded that according to Piaget, the second stage of cognitive development is the pre-operational stage.

 Additional Information

Refer to the image for conceptual understanding of the characteristics of other stages of Piaget's theory: