Concept of Development and its Relationship with Learning Questions and Answers

Answer: A

These changes are studied under the psycho-social domain of development.

The psycho-social (socio-emotional) domain covers emotions, self-concept and self-esteem, and relationships with family, peers and friends. Erikson's stages, for example, describe development in this domain.

The physical domain deals with growth of the body and motor skills, the cognitive domain with thinking, memory and problem solving, and the linguistic domain with the development of language.

Answer: C

The exception is that play is just a pleasant way to spend time.

Play is not merely a pastime; it is a major means of development and learning in early childhood. Through play children gain control over their bodies and motor skills, stimulate their senses, and acquire and practise new skills, learning when to use them, along with language, problem solving and social skills.

The other three options are genuine reasons why play matters, so the one that dismisses play as mere amusement is the odd one out.

Answer: B

The concept of childhood is a social construction according to contemporary socio-constructivist theorists.

Historians and sociologists such as Philippe Aries have shown that what childhood means, how long it lasts, what children are expected to do and how they are treated, varies across cultures and historical periods. Childhood is therefore understood as shaped by society, not fixed by biology alone.

Saying it is universally the same ignores this variation. 'Born evil and needing to be civilised' is the old doctrine of original sin, and 'beginning with nothing and shaped entirely by environment' is Locke's blank slate; both are historical views, not the contemporary understanding.

Answer: B

They are part of Physical development.

Physical development covers growth of the body and brain, the development of the senses (sensory capabilities) and of motor skills, both gross (running, jumping) and fine (holding a pencil, buttoning). The question lists exactly these.

Cognitive development is about thinking, memory, reasoning and problem-solving, and social development is about relationships and interaction with others. 'Sensory motor development' is too narrow, since it leaves out growth of the body and brain; it also echoes Piaget's sensorimotor stage, which is a stage of cognitive development in infancy, not a domain of development.

Answer: D

Contemporary theorists see childhood as variable and dynamic.

Present-day views treat childhood as a social construction: what childhood is, how long it lasts and what children are expected to do differ across cultures, classes and historical periods, and children themselves are seen as active agents. So childhood is variable and changing, not a single fixed stage.

The other options are older views. Seeing childhood only as a waiting room for adulthood, or merely a transitional stage, ignores its value in itself. Linking it with divinity, purity and goodness is the romantic view associated with writers such as Rousseau, not the contemporary one.

Answer: B

Reasoning, thinking and problem-solving belong to Cognitive Development.

Cognitive development is the growth of mental processes: perception, attention, memory, language, reasoning, thinking and problem-solving. Piaget's stages are the best-known account of it.

Social development concerns relationships with others, moral development the sense of right and wrong, and motor development the control of body movements.

Answer: D

Development and learning are inter-related and inter-dependent.

Development, the maturation of physical and mental capacities, sets the stage for what a child can learn. Learning in turn drives development: Vygotsky argued that good learning leads development, pulling the child forward within the zone of proximal development. Each depends on and shapes the other.

So it is wrong to say they are unrelated or that learning takes place irrespective of development. There is also no basis for the claim that the rate of learning far exceeds the rate of development; the two cannot be compared in that way.

Answer: C

Socio-emotional development concerns feelings, self-image, confidence and getting along with others. Play gives children the chance to show what they can do and to be recognised for it, which builds confidence and self-esteem, so the third option is the socio-emotional one. Developing memory and the ability to analyse, improving brain cognition and keeping the mind on the task in hand are all about thinking and attention, which belong to cognitive development, so they are the wrong choices.