Candidate Number
C8100
THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
BSc Final Year Examination 2014
Topics in Cognitive Development
SAMPLE PAPER
DO NOT TURN OVER UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO
BY THE CHIEF INVIGILATOR
Answer TWO questions
(Questions are weighted equally)
Time allowed: 2 hours
Candidates are advised to pay careful attention to the wording of each question.
No credit will be given for introducing irrelevant material in
answers.
C8100 Topics in Cognitive Development – SAMPLE PAPER
1)
Discuss some of the mechanisms through which emotions are socialised in children
and the consequences on cognition. What do studies of depressed parents show us
about the consequences of altered parent- child interactions?
2)
How does the relationship between emotions and self-focussed attention affect the
development of children’s self representations and psychological functioning?
3)
‘The risk-taking of adolescents shows that they are irrational decision-makers’. Do
you agree? Discuss the role of emotions in adolescent decision-making. Consider
the role of major developmental changes that occur during this period in your
answer.
4)
What is the relationship between autobiographical memory and the ‘sense of self’?
How do we develop and maintain a ‘sense of self’? Consider factors that might
promote an altered ‘sense of self’ and the functional implications of this.
5)
What is an ‘unconscious emotion’ and how can we measure this? Discuss the
significance of unconscious emotional signals in children’s learning and/or other
cognitive functioning.
6)
Illustrate how affective science advances our understanding and conceptualisation
of development with reference to at least one area of developmental research.
What practical applications or novel implications may this research hold?
End of paper