What's covered
Key facts
At birth the brain is about 25% of the size of an adult brain.
Carol Dweck proposed the Mindset Theory of learning.
Accommodation means changing an existing schema to fit new information.
From birth to age three the brain forms around 700–1000 new neural connections every second.
Dweck argues children should be praised for effort rather than for ability.
Assimilation means fitting new information into an existing schema without changing it.
The brain doubles in size in the first year and reaches about 80% of adult size by age three.
A fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence and ability are fixed and cannot be changed by effort.
The concrete operational stage runs from about 7 to 11 years.
Brain development is sensitive to environment, including nutrition, stress and harmful substances.
Sample questions
A taste of the 50 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What is the brain's approximate size at birth compared to an adult brain?
- ✓About 25%
- •About 50%
- •About 80%
- •Fully adult-sized
What is a growth mindset?
- ✓The belief that ability can grow through effort and practice
- •The belief that effort makes no difference to ability
- •The belief that intelligence is fixed and cannot be changed
- •The belief that only talented people can succeed at school
Which is the correct order of Piaget's four stages of cognitive development?
- •Formal operational, concrete operational, preoperational, sensorimotor
- •Preoperational, sensorimotor, formal operational, concrete operational
- •Sensorimotor, concrete operational, preoperational, formal operational
- ✓Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
Which structure forms first when the neural plate folds over during brain development?
- •The cerebellum
- •The cortex
- ✓The neural tube
- •The thalamus
According to Dweck, people with a fixed mindset tend to do what when faced with a challenge?
- •Enjoy the difficulty
- ✓Give up quickly
- •Persevere for longer
- •Try several new strategies
At roughly what age does Piaget's formal operational stage begin?
- ✓About 12 years
- •About 16 years
- •About 2 years
- •About 7 years
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