GCSE Psychology Development 80 page activity booklet OCR New Spec 9-1

Activity booklet for the Psychological Problems topic within the new OCR GCSE Specification.
Activities cover the following topics:

• Stages of development; pre-natal; childhood; adolescence; and adulthood
• The development of brain structures and functions; the nervous system; neurons; synapses; and their interaction in development of the brain
• IQ tests as a measure of intelligence.
  *** Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development***
• The four invariant stages of development: sensori-motor; pre-operational; concrete-operational; formal operational
• assimilation and accommodation
• the concepts of object permanence; animism; and egocentrism
• the processes of decentration; reversibility; and conservation
• criticisms of the theory including the reductionism/holism debate
• Cognitive Development Research Study – Piaget (1952): Study into the conservation of number

***Learning theories of development: ***

• Dweck’s ideas on fixed and growth mindsets
• Dweck’s ideas on praise for effort
• Willingham’s ideas on the myth of learning styles
• Willingham’s ideas on the importance of meaning for learning
• criticisms of learning theories including the nature/nurture debate.
• Learning Research Study – Blackwell et al. (2007): study into fixed and growth mindsets.

Application The changing role of education

• The changing role of education
• How Piaget’s ideas have been applied to education through the use of key stages, readiness, active learning and the concept of intelligence
• How learning theories apply to the development of education and intelligence through growth mindsets and teaching through meaning not learning styles.

Some activities make use of the OCR GCSE (9-1) Psychology Student Text Book by Billingham and Kitching which teachers may find useful.

There is a 15 lesson Powerpoint that I have made for teachers which goes alongside this work booklet which you can purchase separately.