Key term
AQA A-Level Psychology 7182
Social Influence
Memory
Attachment
Topic overviewCaregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchronySchaffer's stages of attachmentMultiple attachments and the role of the fatherAnimal studies of attachmentExplanations of attachmentAinsworth's Strange Situation and types of attachmentBowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisationInfluence of early attachment on relationshipsCultural variations in attachment
Approaches in Psychology
Biopsychology
Topic overviewDivisions of the nervous systemStructure and function of neurons and synaptic transmissionThe endocrine systemThe fight or flight responseWays of studying the brainLocalisation of function and hemispheric lateralisationPlasticity and functional recovery of the brain after traumaBiological rhythms: circadian, infradian and ultradian
Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
Research Methods
Scientific Processes
Topic overviewAims and hypothesesSamplingPilot studiesExperimental designsObservational designQuestionnaire construction and design of interviewsVariablesControlDemand characteristics and investigator effectsEthicsPeer reviewImplications of psychological research for the economyReliabilityValidityFeatures of scienceReporting psychological investigations
Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Topic overviewQuantitative and qualitative data; the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data collection techniquesPrimary and secondary data, including meta-analysisDescriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and measures of dispersionPresentation and display of quantitative data: graphs, tables, scattergrams, bar chartsDistributions: normal and skewed distributionsIntroduction to statistical testing; the sign test
Data Handling and Analysis
Inferential Testing
Issues and Debates in Psychology
RelationshipsOption 1
GenderOption 1
Cognition and DevelopmentOption 1
SchizophreniaOption 2
Eating BehaviourOption 2
StressOption 2
AggressionOption 3
Forensic PsychologyOption 3
AddictionOption 3
Explanations for Nicotine AddictionOption 3
Cognition and Development
- 4 subtopics
- 20 things to know
- Paper 3
- Paper 3, one topic chosen from the first option block
What Cognition and Development covers
Cognition and Development is an optional topic for Paper 3. It covers Piaget's and Vygotsky's accounts of how thinking develops, Baillargeon's evidence that infants know more than Piaget allowed, and the development of social cognition including theory of mind.
The 4 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Vygotsky's theory of cognitive developmentThe zone of proximal development, scaffolding and how it is withdrawn over time, and the role Vygotsky gave language in the development of thought.Open →
- Piaget's theory of cognitive developmentAssimilation and accommodation, the four stages of development in order, and the tasks Piaget used to identify egocentrism and conservation.Open →
- Baillargeon's explanation of early infant abilitiesInfant core knowledge, the violation of expectation method, the drawbridge study, and how Baillargeon's age for object permanence compares with Piaget's.Open →
- The development of social cognitionSelman's levels of perspective-taking, theory of mind and the Sally-Anne task, and what that research suggested about autism.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Process
What is scaffolding, and how does it change over time?
Process
What role does language play in Vygotsky's account of thinking?
Evaluation
Give one strength and one limitation of Vygotsky's theory.
Process
How do children adapt their existing knowledge, according to Piaget?
Process
Name Piaget's four stages of cognitive development in order.
Study
What did Piaget's three mountains task show about young children?
Key term
What ability marks the shift into the concrete operational stage?
Key term
What key ability develops in Piaget's first stage?
Key term
What core knowledge does Baillargeon say infants are born with?
Process
How does the violation of expectation method test infant knowledge?
Study
Describe Baillargeon's drawbridge study and its finding.
Numbers
Compare the ages Baillargeon and Piaget gave for object permanence.
Evaluation
Evaluate looking time as evidence for innate infant knowledge.
Process
Outline Selman's levels of perspective-taking.
Key term
Define theory of mind.
Study
Describe the Sally-Anne task.
Who and when
Who ran the Sally-Anne study, and what did it show about autism?
Key term
What are mirror neurons and where were they first found?
Evaluation
Evaluate the claim that mirror neurons underpin social cognition.
Take Cognition and Development further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Assimilation vs Accommodation
Assimilation: fitting new information into an existing schema without changing it. Accommodation: altering a schema, or building a new one, so it fits new information.
Object permanence vs Conservation
Object permanence: understanding that things continue to exist when out of sight. Conservation: understanding that quantity is unchanged by a change in appearance.
Zone of proximal development vs Scaffolding
Zone of proximal development: the gap between what a learner manages alone and what help makes possible. Scaffolding: the graded assistance an expert gives and then removes over time.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What did Vygotsky emphasise as the driving force of cognitive development?
Model answer
Social interaction and culture.
- 2
How does Vygotsky's view differ from Piaget's?
Model answer
Vygotsky saw learning as socially and culturally driven, whereas Piaget saw it as an individual process of construction.
- 3
What is the zone of proximal development?
Model answer
The gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can achieve with guidance from a more knowledgeable other.
- 4
Who is a 'more knowledgeable other'?
Model answer
Anyone with greater knowledge or skill, such as a teacher, parent or more able peer.
- 5
What is scaffolding?
Model answer
The support given by a more knowledgeable other that is gradually withdrawn as the learner becomes competent.
- 6
Give an example of a scaffolding strategy.
Model answer
Prompting, giving hints, or demonstrating a task, then reducing the help as the child improves.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Cognition and Development revision questions
- What does Cognition and Development cover in AQA A-Level Psychology?
- 4 subtopics: vygotsky's theory of cognitive development, piaget's theory of cognitive development, baillargeon's explanation of early infant abilities and the development of social cognition. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Cognition and Development organised?
- By the AQA 7182 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Cognition and Development, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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