Arsi University

Extension Program for PGDT Program

Psychological Foundations of Learning & Development: (PGDT412)

Individual Assignment One and Two

Done by; Bekalu Amsalu

Id no. PGDT0219/15
Dept. mathsPGDT

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 Assignment One
#1. Write the meaning describing each of the following words or concepts due to an experience you have had.
1. Schema
Schemas (or schemata) are units of understanding that can be hierarchically categorized as well as
webbed into complex relationships with one another.
It describes the vital interconnected networks of background knowledge that prove so crucial for our
pupils' learning
2. Organization
Organization means that students are in their proper place at the proper time and know what's expected
of them, and the teacher is ready with effective lessons and means of assessment. If students are not in
class on time due to a lack of an effective tardy policy, their education suffers.
3. Adaption
Adaptation means a change in the teaching process, materials, assignments or pupil products to assist a
pupil to achieve the expected learning outcomes. Expected learning outcome means the learning
outcomes consistent with the curriculum.
4. Assimilation
Assimilation of knowledge occurs when a learner encounters a new idea, and must 'fit' that idea into
what they already know. Think of this as filling existing containers. Accommodation of knowledge is
more substantial, requiring the learner to reshape those containers.
5. Dis-equilibrium
Disequilibrium occurs when a child is unable to use an existing schema to understand new information
to make sense of objects and concepts.
6. Accommodation
may be used to describe an alteration of environment, curriculum format, or equipment that allows an
individual with a disability to gain access to content and/or complete assigned tasks. They allow
students with disabilities to pursue a regular course of study.

7. Equilibrium
Pedagogical Equilibrium is an innovative reconceptualization of teachers' professional knowledge
development. The book draws on interview data and in-depth analysis of situations, which challenge
teachers' sense of pedagogical equilibrium in both primary and secondary school contexts.
8. Ego-centrism

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 Egocentrism in children refers to the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of
view. The egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as they do. In
their world, it's “all about me” most of the time.
9. Object permanence
Object permanence is the ability to understand that people or objects exist, even when they are out of
sight. The development of this understanding typically begins at around 4 months age and is completed
at around 12 months of age.
10. Conservation
Teaching conservation education is not an added extra, or more work. It is about providing your
students with a real-life context on which to base their learning, and an opportunity to apply their
learning to authentic local community opportunities.
11. Reversibility
Reversibility: The child learns that some things that have been changed can be returned to their original
state. Water can be frozen and then thawed to become liquid again.
12. Classification
Classification involves grouping items into one or more categories based on certain distinguishing
characteristics. The categories are thoughtfully labeled so that the labels become descriptors for the
members of the category.
13. Seriation
Seriation is arranging objects in order by size, location or position. Ordering requires the ability to see
differences and compare multiple objects.

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 Assignment Two

I. True false questions

1. The scientific study of human development is the study of how and why people change as they grow older, as
well as how and why they remain the same. Ans: True
2. Understanding development at any age requires a consideration of the interplay of biosocial, cognitive, and
psychosocial domains of development. Ans: True
3. The concept of childhood as we now know it is fairly recent construct. Ans: True
4. People of many ethnic groups share one culture. Ans: True
5. Most developmental psychologists prefer not to use the scientific method in studying human development. Ans:
False
6. For the most accurate results, scientific observation should be performed in a laboratory. Ans: False
7. When two variables are positively correlated, it means that one causes the other. Ans: False
8. Developmental theories generally have few practical applications. Ans: False
9. Proponents of learning theory believe that all behavior arises directly from operate or classical conditioning.
Ans: False
10. Piaget believed that how people think and how they understand the world depends on their age. Ans: True
11. Most psychologist agree that the nature-nurture controversy has been laid to rest. Ans: false
12. Developmental psychologists are increasingly aware of universal processes of development that are found in all
cultures. Ans: True
13. The newest theory of development stresses the ongoing interaction between genes and environmental forces.
Ans: True
14. Few developmental psychologists today believe that humans have instincts or abilities that arise from our
species- biological heritage. Ans: False
15. All developmental theories attempt to explain the broad spectrum of human development. Ans: False
16. Lowly animals, like sea slugs, behave by instinct and are incapable of learning. Ans: False
17. Humans are the only animals that can learn behaviors merely by observing others perform them. Ans: False
18. The study of inner thoughts, feelings, and motives has always occupied a central place in psychology. Ans: False
19. A person can be more readily conditioned to dislike a particular food than to dislike the place where the food was
eaten. Ans: True

20. With training, pigeons can be taught to discriminate between Bach’s music and Stravinsky’s. Ans: True

21. Negative reinforcement is another term for punishment. Ans: False

22. Psychologists agree that punishment, regardless of its form, has little effect on behavior. Ans: False

23. Animals learn only when rewards are given. Ans: False

24. Animals can learn to make virtually any response if consistently rewarded for it. Ans: False

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II. Explanation, discussion and description questions
1. Differentiate among growth, maturation, learning and development.
 Growth refers to physical and biological changes.
 Development refers to function and behavioral changes.
 Learning refers to adapting to environmental conditions.
 Maturation refers to a transition into an adult-like state regarding some sort of skill or behavior.
2. Explain the childhood and adolescence of major domains of development (i.e., physical development, cognitive
development, social development, emotional development, moral development), and personality development. As
high school teachers, we need to develop grasp of the salient features of these changes, how they affect students’
learning, and how we can facilitate learning to occur in a better way.
 Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and
wellness.
 Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity.
 Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.
3. Describe Principles of Human Growth and Development: development is continuous, gradual, sequential, varies
person to person, proceeds from general to specific, most traits are correlated in development, product of both
heredity and environment, development is predictable and development is a constant interaction between all
factors of development.
a. Continuous Development involves proactively taking actions to improve personal capability, It involves being
willing to assess one's level of development, expertise and performance relative to one's current job, or as part of
focused career planning.
b. Gradual development occurring, developing, moving, etc., in small stages. a gradual improvement in health.
c. Sequential growth and development mean pattern of development peculiar to it and his pattern in general is the
same for all individuals. The child crawls before he creeps, stands before he walks and babbles before he talks.
d. Development proceeds from the general to specific means development occurs from large muscle movements to
more refined (smaller) muscle movements. For example, in motor development, the infant will be able to grasp
an object with the whole hand before using only the thumb and forefinger.
4. Explain the following of principles of the lifespan perspective: Development is lifelong, multidirectional,
multidimensional, multidisciplinary, metacontextual and characterized by plasticity.
a. Lifelong development means that development is not completed in infancy or childhood or at any specific age; it
encompasses the entire lifespan, from conception to death.
b. Development is multidirectional means, Baltes states that the development of a particular domain does not occur
in a strictly linear fashion but that the development of certain traits can be characterized as having the capacity
for both an increase and decrease in efficacy over the course of an individual's life.
c. Development is multidimensional means it involves the dynamic interaction of factors like physical, emotional,
and psychosocial development. Development is multidirectional and results in gains and losses throughout life.

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d. Development is multidisciplinary means human development is such a vast topic of study that it requires the
theories, research methods, and knowledge base of many academic disciplines.
e. Development is multi contextual, meaning it is influenced by contextual and socio-cultural influences.
f. Developmental plasticity describes the permanent behavioral, anatomical, or physiological changes in the
developmental trajectory adopted by an organism during the life span, influenced by external environmental
factors or other internal physiological factors, and that occurs through gene–environment interactions.
5. Describe the factors that influence human behavior with examples.
 physical factors - age, health, illness, pain, influence of a substance or medication.
 personal and emotional factors - personality, beliefs, expectations, emotions, mental health.
 life experiences - family, culture, friends, life events. what the person needs and wants.
6. Explain why Pavlov’s work remains so important, and describe some applications of his work to human health
and well-being.
 Pavlov taught us that significant psychological phenomena can be studied objectively, and that classical
conditioning is a basic form of learning that applies to all species.
7. Define operant conditioning, and describe how operant behavior is reinforced and shaped.
 Operant behavior is reinforced by reinforcing the preceding response with something desired by the subject such
as praise, attention, food, etc. -Operant behavior is shaped by guiding behavior closer and closer to
approximations of the desired behavior.
8. Discuss the differences between positive and negative reinforcement, positive and negative punishment and
identify the different types of reinforcers. Discuss how punishment and negative reinforcement differ, and explain
how punishment affects behavior.
a. Positive reinforcement is a process that strengthens the likelihood of a particular response by adding a stimulus
after the behavior is performed. Negative reinforcement also strengthens the likelihood of a particular response,
but by removing an undesirable consequence.
b. Positive punishment involves adding an aversive consequence after an undesired behavior is emitted to decrease
future responses. Negative punishment includes taking away a certain reinforcing item after the undesired
behavior happens in order to decrease future responses.
c. Negative reinforcement increases the target behavior by taking away something aversive. Negative punishment
decreases the target behavior by taking away something preferred. In the following example, a student's “target
behavior” is not paying attention to her teacher, or off-task behavior.
d. Reinforcement, even when it is negative, always increases a behavior. In contrast, punishment always decreases a
behavior. In positive punishment, you add an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior. An example of positive
punishment is scolding a student to get the student to stop texting in class.
9. Explain how the different reinforcement schedules affect behavior.
 Reinforcement schedules can be divided into two broad categories: continuous schedules and partial schedules
(also called intermittent schedules). In a continuous schedule every instance of a desired behavior is reinforced,
whereas partial schedules only reinforce the desired behavior occasionally.

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10. Describe the controversy over Skinner’s and Pavlopian’s views of human behavior, and identify some ways to
apply operant and classical conditioning principles at school, in sports, at work, and at home.
 Many psychologists criticized Skinner for underestimating the importance of cognition and biological constraints
on learning. They also engaged in a vigorous intellectual debate with him over the nature of human freedom and
the strategies and ethics of managing people
 How might operant conditioning principles be applied at school in sports at work and at home? In sports, coaches
can build players' skills and self-confidence by rewarding small improvements. At work, managers can boost
productivity and morale by rewarding well-defined and achievable behaviors. At home, parents can reward
behaviors they consider desirable, but not those that are undesirable.
11. Compare and contrast the differences and similarities between classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
 Classical conditioning involves associating an involuntary response and a stimulus, while operant conditioning is
about associating a voluntary behavior and a consequence. In operant conditioning, the learner is also rewarded
with incentives,
 while classical conditioning involves no such enticements. The main difference between classical and operant
conditioning is that classical conditioning associate’s involuntary behavior with a stimulus while operant
conditioning associates’ voluntary action with a consequence.
12. Explain how cognitive processes affect classical and operant conditioning.
 In the case of classical conditioning, the cognitive process involved is association, or having two things linked in
the mind. This cognition often occurs subconsciously. In contrast, operant conditioning involves changing
behavior based on rewards and punishments.
13. Describe the process of observational learning, and explain how some scientists believe it is enabled by mirror
neurons.
 Observational learning is the process of learning by watching the behaviors of others. The targeted behavior is
watched, memorized, and then mimicked. Also known as shaping and modeling, observational learning is most
common in children as they imitate behaviors of adults.
14. Explain Gestalt Main Principles/Laws: proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, goodness of figures and
figure/ground relationships
 Gestalt principles or laws are rules that describe how the human eye perceives visual elements. These principles
aim to show how complex scenes can be reduced to more simple shapes. They also aim to explain how the eyes
perceive the shapes as a single, united form rather than the separate simpler elements involved.
 Law of proximity describes how the human eye perceives connections between visual elements. Elements that are
close to each other are perceived to be related when compared with elements that are separate from each other.
 Law of similarity states that we perceive elements as a group if they're similar in shape, size, color, or other
characteristics.
 Principle of Continuity states that we are more likely to see continuous and smooth flowing lines rather than
broken or jagged ones. This is because once our eyes begin to follow something, they will continue to travel in
that direction until it encounters another item or object.

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 Principle of closure states that people will fill in blanks to perceive a complete object whenever an external
stimulus partially matches that object. Even when we're missing information, we tend to make sense of our
environment by filling in the gaps to see a complete object
15. Describe the basic concept of guidance and counselling in schools.
 It is a process by which concerted attention is given by both counsellor and counselee to the problems and
concerns of the students in a setting of privacy, mutual acceptance and confidentiality. As a process, it utilizes
appropriate tools and procedures which contribute to the fruitfulness of the experience.
16. Identify the importance of guidance and counseling to teachers and students
 To develop in students an awareness of opportunities in the society through relevant and useful information.
 To help students develop the skills of self-study, self-analysis and self-understanding.
 To help students in making appropriate and satisfactory personal and educational choices.
17. State the different types of guidance. Explain the need of educational guidance.
 There are three types of guidance—educational, vocational and personal guidance.
 Educational Guidance helps them understand their own rights and helps them to understand how education help
them to know their ability, know their surroundings, and how create themselves to an effective citizen. That
means, educational guidance helps them to understand importance of education in their life.
18. What is vocational guidance? Explain its aims & objectives.
 Vocational Guidance means assistance given to an individual in solving problems related to vocational planning
and to occupational choice and profess with due regard for the individual's characteristics and their relation to
occupational opportunities.
 Aims and objectives of Vocational Guidance Unit:
 To suggest measures with a view to enhancing the employability of an individual or groups of individuals;
 To offer assistance to an individual or groups of individuals in preparing to choose, change and adjust to
occupational life;
 To promote self-employment.
19. What is personal guidance? Explain its need & importance.
 Personal Guidance refers to that type of guidance where a person or individual overcome their problem on their
own. Also, it is the assistance that is provided to an individual to solve their social, mental, morals, health, and
ethical problems.
 Needs and importance of personal guidance is to develop all personal and social qualities that would enable the
individuals in solving personal problems and seeking better adjustments.