Child Development and Pedagogy PYQs

E. L. Thorndike, an American psychologist, is known as the founder of modern educational psychology.

Key Points

• He propounded 'Trial and Error Theory' which represents that learning is the result of associations forming between stimulus and responses.
• "Mistakes teaches individual" statement is based on 'Trial and Error Theory'.

Thorndike's Experiment

• Thorndike formulated his theory, base on his experiments conducted on his cat in the puzzle box.
• The door of the box could be opened by pulling the strings inside the box. A fish was kept outside.
• The cat was tried to come out of the box by squeezing, jumping, biting, etc.
• As the experiment was repeated several times the wrong movements decreased and in the end, the cat was able to open the door in a single trail.

Important Points 

Based on Trial and Error Learning Theory, Thorndike gave three primary laws of Learning:

• Law of readiness: It refers to the degree of eagerness and inquisitiveness to learn something new.
• Law of exercise: It is based on practice and drill to learn something for a long period.
• Law of effect: It is based on motivation and reinforcement to make the learning experience pleasant for learners.

Hence, it becomes clear that the principle of trial and error was propounded by Thorndike.

Additional Information

• 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.
• According to Lee Ross, "Plateaus of learning is a characteristic feature of the learning process indicating a period where no improvement in performance is made".

The word ‘personality’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘persona’ which means a mask worn by an actor while performing a character on the stage. Therefore personality is taken to mean the characteristic pattern or style of behavior of the person revealed from his external appearance.

Key Points

• Gordon Willard Allport was an American psychologist.
• Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on the study of personality and is often referred to as one of the founding figures of personality psychology.
• “Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those, Psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environments" was said by Allport.

Hence, it could be concluded that the above-mentioned definition was given by G. W. Allport.

Additional Information

• According to Sigmund Freud, human personality is complex and has more than a single component.
• According to M. L. Munn, Personality may be defined as the most characteristic integration of an individual's structures, modes of behaviour, interest, attitudes, capacities, abilities and aptitudes.
• According to J. E. Dashiell, Personality is the sum total of behaviour trends manifested in social adjustments."

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.
• The ‘Insight Theory of Learning’ or ‘Gestalt Theory of Learning’ is promoted by Wolfgang Kohler, a Gestalt theorist.
• 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.

Important Points

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 'Gestalt Theory of Learning'.

Additional Information

Language is a symbolic, rule-governed system, shared by a group of people to express their thoughts and feelings. These rules are the set of conventions that organize their proper use and dictate how words relate to one another.

• Some of these rules that govern a language include phonology, syntax, morphology, semantic, etc.

Key Points

• Phonology is the component of language referring to rules governing the structure and sequence of the speed of sounds.
• Phonology is the branch of linguistics dealing with the way speech, sounds behave in a particular language.
• For example, patterns of sounds, in terms of a sequence of sounds that are permissible in a specific language.
• When we describe the sound we use, with reference to these criteria we are concerning ourselves with matters of phonetics.

Hence, it could be concluded that Phonology is the component of language referring to rules governing the structure and sequence of the speed of sounds.

Additional Information

Memory refers to the process of storing the outcomes of learning in the form of information that can be retrieved when required.

• It refers to the set of processes involved in storing information. This specific process is termed retention.
• Memory can be defined as a perceptually active mental system that receives, encodes, modifies, and retrieves information.

Key PointsAccording to Woodworth, “Memory is mental power which consists in learning, retaining and remembering what has previously been learnt”. According to him, dimensions of memory include:

• Retention: This is the ability to store information and remember. The process of retaining appears to be passive but is not wholly so.
• Recall: We learn in order to recall when we need. Failure to recall learned material would mean that our learning process has not been useful and effective.
• Recognition: Recognition is another factor in the process of memory. Recognition is awareness of previous experience. Its evaluate a person's existing skill sets, knowledge and experience.

Thus, it is concluded that according to Woodworth, Reasoning is not a dimension of memory.

Hint

• Reasoning: Reasoning is one of the key aspects of thinking and is studied under cognitive development. It is a process that involves inference.
• Reasoning is used in logical thinking and problem-solving. It is goal-directed, and the conclusions or judgments are drawn from a set of facts.
• In reasoning, information from the environment and the stored information in the mind are used following certain rules.

Personality is all that a person is. It is the totality of one’s behaviour towards one’s own self as well as others. It includes everything about the person, his/her physical, emotional, social, mental, and spiritual make-up. 

• Projective techniques of personality measurement are the tests which are designed to:
• reveal those central aspects of personality that lie in the unconscious mind of an individual.
• evaluate a person's interests, attitudes, pattern of thought, etc while giving responses to ambiguous test materials.

Key Points

There are different kinds of Projective techniques of personality measurement and 'Thematic Apperception Test' is one of them.

• Henry Murray, an American psychologist, created history by constructing the 'Thematic Appreciation Test'.
• In this test, ambiguous pictures or test materials are given to participants. This test can uncover a person’s true personality, their capacity for emotional control.
• It is designed to reveal and evaluate a person's interests, attitudes, observation power, pattern of thought, etc. while giving responses to ambiguous test materials.

Hence, it could be concluded that the T.A.T. was designed by Murray.

Additional Information

• Rorschach inkblot Test: Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist, devised the Rorschach Inkblot Personality test in 1921. This test is most frequently used for the projective test.
• Allport considered the structure of personality into three parts, viz., (i) definition of personality,(ii) personality traits, and (iii) Proprium.
• Maslow sees human needs in the form of a hierarchy, starting in ascending order from the lowest to the highest needs and concludes that when one set of needs are satisfied then the need for another set arises.

All of us, quite often, face environmental or personal obstacles in life which cause anxiety and lead to stress. Psychologists have given different names to stress such as frustration, conflict, pressure, etc.

 Important Points

• The term frustration refers to the blocking of behavior directed towards a goal. If motives are frustrated or blocked, emotional feelings and behavior often result.
• People who cannot achieve their important goals, feel depressed, fearful, anxious, guilty, or angry. Often they're simply unable to drive ordinary pleasure for living.
• For example, over-restrictive parents would be a source of frustration to an adolescent girl who wanted to give or attend a party, while a lack of water would be a source of frustration to a man lost in the desert. A wide range of obstacles both environmental and internal can lead to frustrations.

Thus, it is concluded that blocking of behavior that is directed towards a goal is Frustration.

Hint

• Emotion is a psychological construct that involves the use of emotional processing and emotional expression in response to a different situation.
• 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.

Development refers to an increase in structure for better and enhanced functioning of organs. It is a product of the interaction of hereditary and environment.

• Heredity refers to the traits that pass down from the parents to their offspring. It is the most important personality determinant that determines how far we can go.
• It is the genetic constitution of an individual which is established during conception. It is the property of organic beings by which offsprings have the nature and characteristics of parents or ancestors.

Key Points

• Heredity plays the most important role in the 'Physical development of the child'.
• The color of eyes, hair, skin, height, etc is determined by heredity.
• All the inborn traits, instincts, potentials and IQ of an individual depend on the heredity.​
• All the potential inputs for growth and development depend on heredity.
• For example: If both the parents of a child are of short height, then the chance for being the short height of the child naturally is nearly 100% sure.

Hence, it could be concluded that heredity influences the color of the eye.

Hint

• Environment: It refers to the circumstances in which an individual lives. Child's immediate environment strongly influenced their personality and intelligence.
• A hormone is a substance that is synthesized in one organ and transported by the circulatory system to act on another tissue.

Basel Age is the mental age level at which all the items on an intelligence test can be creditably passed.

Key Points

• Basal age represents the highest level, on a test standardized in units corresponding to mental age or age-equivalents, below which it can be assumed that all items would be answered correctly.
• If a basal is not obtained, testing moves back to successively lower blocks until a basal is established.
• Ceiling Age: The lowest year level at which the examinee fails all the subtests of the scale.
• Mental Age: Mental age is computed by adding to his basal age, the number of months credit received for passing each subtest up to his ceiling age.
• Mental Age = basal age + credit (until ceiling age).

Thus, it is concluded that "Basal" age is related to Intelligence.

Defence mechanism refers to the unconscious mechanism proposed by 'Sigmund Freud' and his daughter 'Anna Freud' as a strategy to:

• reduce anxiety and unacceptable impulses.
• protect mind from anxious thoughts or feelings.
• manipulate and handle displeasing events or actions.

Key PointsFrom the above-mentioned information, it could be concluded that it is an example of displacement. 

• Displacement is a psychological defense mechanism in which a person redirects a negative emotion from its original source to a less threatening recipient.
• It is a mechanism where emotions are directed away from their source or target, towards something else.
• For example, 
• A child scolded by his teacher may hit his peers.
• A boss gives his employee a hard time at work, the employee goes home and shouts at his wife.

Hence, it could be concluded that if a child when scolded in class by a teacher returns home and shows anger to his/her sister is an example of displacement. 

Important Points

Refer to the table to be acquainted with several defence mechanisms: 

Motivation is a general term applied to the entire class of drives, desires, needs, wishes, and similar forces.

 Key PointsMotives can be considered the state of having encouragement to do something. 

Types of Motivation:

1. Primary motives are the ones that are unlearned/innate/inborn and are physiological. The most common primary motives are hunger, thirst, sleep. This mainly pertains to motives involved with our need for self-preservation. The primary motivation is known as Inborn Motivation as it is unlearned.
2. Secondary motives develop as human society develops economically and becomes more complex. Examples of secondary motives are the need for power, need of affiliation and status, etc. More known in psychology as “learned” motivation, this type of “drive” differs from one person to another. Secondary motivation is known as Acquired as it is learned.

 

​

Additional Information

• Natural and Artificial, Less important and More important, Motives and Incentives- These are not the classification of motivation.

So, we can conclude that Motives are classified as inborn and acquired.

The concept of 'Transfer of learning' is introduced by 'E.Thorndike' and 'S.Woodworth'.

• Transfer of learning refers to applying acquired abilities or knowledge in a new situation.
• It occurs when the elements are identical in both situations. There are mainly three types of transfer of learning including positive, negative, and zero.

Key Points

Let's Understand it Briefly: 

Hence, it could be concluded that in a process of learning, 'Transfer of learning' can be positive, negative, and zero.

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.

Key Points

• German psychologists Wertheimer, Kohler, Koffka, and Lewin have studied the nature of perception and are the leaders of gestalt psychology. Wertheimer is considered the father of gestalt psychology.
• "Gestalt" is a German noun for which there is no English word equivalent. The nearest English translation of "Gestalt" is "configuration" or more simply "an organized whole". Gestalt psychologists consider the process of learning as a gestalt - an organized whole.
• The ‘Insight Theory of Learning’ or ‘Learning by insight’ is promoted by Wolfgang Kohler, a Gestalt theorist.
• 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.

Important Points 

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 Gestalt school emphasized learning by insight.

Additional Information 

Hermann Ebbinghaus used non-sense syllables as a material of learning.

Important PointsHermann Ebbinghaus (24 January 1850 – 26 February 1909) was a German psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory and is known for his discovery of the forgetting curve and the spacing effect. He was also the first person to describe the learning curve. 

His research on Memory:

• Ebbinghaus was determined to show that higher mental processes could actually be studied using experimentation, which was in opposition to the popularly held thought of the time.
• To control for most potentially confounding variables, Ebbinghaus wanted to use simple acoustic encoding and maintenance rehearsal for which a list of words could have been used.
• As learning would be affected by prior knowledge and understanding, he needed something that could be easily memorized but which had no prior cognitive associations.
• Easily formable associations with regular words would interfere with his results, so he used items that would later be called "nonsense syllables" (also known as the CVC trigram).
• A nonsense syllable is a consonant-vowel-consonant combination, where the consonant does not repeat and the syllable does not have prior meaning. BOL (sounds like "Ball") and DOT (already a word) would then not be allowed.
• However, syllables such as DAX, BOK, and YAT would all be acceptable (though Ebbinghaus left no examples). After eliminating the meaning-laden syllables, Ebbinghaus ended up with 2,300 resultant syllables.

Once he had created his collection of syllables, he would pull out a number of random syllables from a box and then write them down in a notebook. Then, to the regular sound of a metronome, and with the same voice inflection, he would read out the syllables, and attempt to recall them at the end of the procedure. 

Hence, we can conclude that Hermann Ebbinghaus used non-sense syllables as a material of learning.

Additional InformationIn 1885, he published his groundbreaking Über das Gedächtnis ("On Memory", later translated to English as Memory. A Contribution to Experimental Psychology) in which he described experiments he conducted on himself to describe the processes of learning and forgetting.

There are many 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.

Key Points

• E. L. Thorndike, an American psychologist, the propounder of "Trial & Error Theory" has developed three primary laws of learning that leads to development.

These primary laws are: 

 

Hence, it could be concluded that the laws of learning are given by Thorndike.

Additional Information 

Thorndike's Supplementary law (also known as minor laws to education):

• Law of Multiple Responding: It refers to different types of responses often occurs initially to a stimulus, then reaching to the correct response.
• Law of Attitude, Disposition or States: It refers to the condition of a learner that influences learning.
• Law of Partial or Piecemeal Activity of a situation: It refers to the tendency to respond to particular elements or features of a stimulus situation rather than on the whole to improve the result.
• Law of Assimilation of response by Analogy: It is the tendency to respond automatically as responded in the past.
• Law of Associative Shifting: Successfully applying the same response until a new situation comes (For example to apply the same formula in similar questions).
• Law of Primacy: It refers to the idea that the first step matters the most.
• The law of recency: It is the tendency that refers to the idea that the most recent task matters the most
• Law of Intensity of Stimulus: The more strong the stimulus, the better the response.

Hint

• 'Operant conditioning' theory was advocated by Skinner.
• Ivan Pavlov has propounded the 'Theory of Classical Conditioning'.
• Learning by insight theory was propounded by Wolfgang Kohler.

Learning is a comprehensive process that refers to a change in behavior, knowledge, and skills as a result of practice and experience.

• Learning refers to the modification of behavioral patterns as it modifies the behavior and personality of an individual.
• Learning is an internal activity that leads to a change in behavior. It can't be directly observed.

Key Points

Characteristics of learning:​

• Learning is the growth of organisms.
• Learning is purposeful and goal-oriented.
• Learning starts with birth and proceeds up to death.
• Learning is a relatively permanent behavior change.
• Learning is the relationship between stimulus and response.

Hence, from the above-mentioned characteristics of learning it could be concluded that all of the above statements are correct in the context of learning.

Development and growth are a wide, complex, and continuous process of human life.

Key Points

Physical growth and development are called maturation as maturation:

• is a developmental process that refers to the unfolding of an individual's inherent traits or potential.
• is a natural process of becoming emotionally, mentally, and physically mature through an Interplay between heredity and environment.
• is a process of behavioural change that doesn't necessarily happen along with ageing but occurs throughout the lifespan by growing and developing the individuals.

Hence it could be interpreted that physical growth and development is called maturation.

Additional Information

Key PointsThinking, also known as 'cognition', refers to the ability to process information, hold attention, store and retrieve memories and select appropriate responses and actions. Many different aspects of thinking may be involved. 

• Cognitive psychology issues in learning, memory, problem-solving, and categorization. In particular: problem-solving and learning in complex domains, categorization, learning, and use of concepts. Remindings and the use of memory.
• Ross wrote books on The Psychology Of Learning And Motivation.

So, 'Thinking is a mental activity in its cognitive aspect.' -This statement is given by Ross.

Additional Information

• Joy Paul Guilford was an American psychologist best remembered for his psychometric study of human intelligence, including the distinction between convergent and divergent production.
• John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century.

Child psychology is one of the many branches of psychology. This particular branch focuses on the mind and behavior of children from prenatal development through adolescence. Child psychology deals not only with how children grow physically, but with their mental, emotional, and social development as well.

Important Points

• Based on the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, we believe that every child is unique and has his or her temperament and learning style.
• The child brings this uniqueness into each new experience and takes an active role in the process of learning through their engagement in these experiences.
• Children interact with peers, teachers, materials, and the environment and relate each new piece of information to their already existing view of the world.
• Every child has unique character strengths and abilities that allow him or her to express their individuality in a social environment.
• It is what makes them “special”. Children grow at different rates in many different areas.

Based on Child Psychology, Every child is unique.

Additional Information

• Homogeneous most generally means consisting of parts or elements that are all the same. Something homogeneous is uniform in nature or character throughout. Homogeneous can also be used to describe multiple things that are all essentially alike or of the same kind.
• So, children can not be Homogeneous. Because The child brings this uniqueness into each new experience and takes an active role in the process of learning through their engagement in these experiences.

Every child born is a unique individual.

Every child has unique character strengths and abilities that allow them to express their individuality in a social environment.

Therefore, All the children are not homogeneous, even Some children are not homogeneous. So, based on Child Psychology, Every child is unique.

Child psychology is the study of conscious and subconscious developmental stages related to the psychological process of children.

Key Points

• The central focus of Child Psychology is the child as it focuses on catering to the needs of diverse learners.
• The study of child psychology helps the teacher to teach children in the most appropriate manner as it helps to be familiar with children's progressive developmental stages.
• Child Psychology emphasizes that 'Every child is special'. The study of psychology helps:
• to know the child's views about the world.
• to understand how a child's brain functions.
• to know and meet children's diverse needs.
• to be aware of individual differences of children.
• to be familiar with children's progressive developmental stages, etc.
• to observe how a child interacts with their parents, themselves, and the world.

​Thus, from the above-mentioned points, it can be concluded that the central focus of Child Psychology is the child.