Topic 1: Development - 1.2 Studies — Edexcel GCSE Psychology
Test yourself on Topic 1: Development - 1.2 Studies with PEARSON EDEXCEL GCSE practice questions.
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Topic 1: Development - 1.2 Studies explained
Gunderson et al. (2013) investigated whether parents' praise of toddlers (aged 1 to 3) predicts children's motivational frameworks five years later.
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Researchers observed parent-child interactions at home, categorising praise as process (effort-based) or person (trait-based). Five years later, children's mindsets were assessed. Results showed that a higher proportion of process praise significantly predicted children developing an incremental motivational framework (growth mindset) at ages 7-8. However, person praise did not predict an entity framework. A strength is the high ecological validity of naturalistic home observations, but a weakness is that parents knew they were being observed, potentially leading to social desirability bias.
Your focus
- Describe the aims, procedures, and findings of Gunderson et al. (2013).
- Differentiate between process praise and person praise using examples.
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology used in the study.
Topic 1: Development - 1.2 Studies exam tips
Marking Points
- Identify the aim of Gunderson et al. (2013) as investigating the effect of early parental praise on later motivational frameworks.
- Distinguish between process praise (praising effort or strategy) and person praise (praising inherent traits).
- Recall the methodology, which involved naturalistic observation of parent-child interactions at home when children were 1 to 3 years old, followed by an assessment five years later.
- State the key finding that process praise predicts an incremental motivational framework (growth mindset), whereas person praise does not reliably predict an entity framework.
- Evaluate the study by identifying a strength (e.g., high ecological validity) and a weakness (e.g., potential social desirability bias from parents knowing they were observed).
Examiner Tips
- 💡Ensure you can define both process and person praise and provide a concrete example of each.
- 💡Remember the longitudinal nature of the study, noting the five-year gap between the initial observations and the later mindset assessment.
- 💡Be prepared to evaluate the study's methodology, contrasting the high ecological validity of the home setting with the weakness of potential social desirability bias.
Common Mistakes
- Confusing process and person praise; correction: process praise focuses on effort and strategy, whereas person praise focuses on fixed traits like intelligence.
- Believing the study was conducted in a laboratory; correction: the initial data collection involved naturalistic observations in the participants' homes.
- Assuming person praise strongly predicted a fixed mindset; correction: the study found that person praise did not significantly predict an entity motivational framework.