The brain stem is shaped like a widening stalk and connects the spinal cord to the brain. It controls basic autonomic functions such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and sleeping. At the sixth week of pregnancy, the baby’s heart is beating regularly and blood pumps through the main vessels. What was the study’s aim?: The study was conducted to see if children are able to see things from another person’s perspective at an earlier stage than Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggested. Some research studies have shown that IQ between identical twins is very similar which implies nature plays a significant role in intelligence. Other research studies have found personality is also shaped by nature; one study compared the behaviours of identical twins who were raised apart.

McGarrigle and Donaldson’s Naughty Teddy study was important as it demonstrated that children younger than the age of seven (7) could conserve which contradicted Piaget’s theory. There were limitations however as over 30% of children still failed to conserve when Naughty Teddy made the changes. Subsequent replication of the study has also found similar findings although the results were not as high as McGarrigle and Donaldson’s original findings. This guide basically gives you a dedicated step-by-step overview on how the subject can be approached and broken down complimented by the content we have created on in our books and online content. Is psychology a hard GCSE? Identical twins may be treated similarly by people such as parents or peers and therefore their behavioural similarities may be due to nurture (and being treated the same) rather than their genes.Jean Piaget believed that a child’s intelligence developed from them discovering things for themselves and they needed to explore objects and situations to learn about them. Piaget also believed that children needed to be ready to learn and that they could only gain new concepts and understanding if they were at the right stage of their development as predicted by his stage theory of cognitive development.

Our brain and its capabilities have allowed us to learn complicated languages, communicate complex messages to one another, discover the sciences and even reach other worlds through the development of advanced technology.Willingham disagreed with this and believed that learning styles do not exist in the ways suggested. As part of his learning theory, he pointed out that there was no experimental support for their existence or effectiveness. Other research studies have also shown that teaching in a students preferred learning style has no effect on their exam results. Animal studies also have their limitations as we have to be careful when we draw conclusions on human development based on the findings of animal-based studies. This is because what applies to animals may not necessarily generalise to humans because human development is very complex and could be different.

With all the uncertainly that the new GCSE specifications are bringing, this book will be a very useful tool in any GCSE Psychology teacher's toolkit. It directly follows the new AQA specification in a logical and well thought-out format. The clear layout and format will be a hit with both students and teachers alike. It really is a dual purpose textbook, a starting point for teachers preparing materials for their lessons and a student resource book too. Animal studies have been used to demonstrate how nurture is important for early brain development. One study compared two groups of rats with one group having toys to stimulate them while the other did not. The results found that the rats that lived with the stimulating toys developed bigger brains and showed better problem-solving skills compared to rats living on their own without stimulation. This shows how nurture can affect brain development.Identical twins may have twins that appear to have similar characteristics and it can be easily thought to be down to nature but this may not be the case. Dave Berry is an experienced psychology teacher and examiner. He regularly leads face-to-face and online training courses for a major awarding body. Dave teaches psychology at Bolton School, Lancashire. Despite these criticisms, Piaget’s theory has enjoyed a lot of mainstream support. His experiments were easy to replicate and his research had a major impact on early years education where his ideas are still used to this day.