Chapter 1; Development Flashcards
Development
The changes and continuities that occur within the individual between conception & death.
Includes maturation and learning
Maturation
The biologically timed unfolding of changes within the individual according to that individual’s genetic plan
Nature
Learning
Relatively permanent changes in our thoughts, behaviours, and feelings as a result of out experiences
Nurture
Interactionist perspective
The view that maturation and learning interact during development
They cause each other
ex. can’t learn to walk till you have leg muscles
When are the biggest / most dramatic changes
In early life
Habituation
Decreased response to a stimulus following repeated presentation
Dishabituation
Increased responsiveness to a new stimulus that is DIFFERENT than the habituated one
4 methods to study development
- Habituation procedure
- Event-related potentials (ERP)
- High-amplitude sucking method
- Preferential looking method
Habituation procedure
Can the infant tell the stimulus has changed
Event-related potentials (ERP)
How does the brain react to a stimulus
Measure brain’s electrical activity evoked by presentation of stimuli
Measured by electrode cap
High-amplitude sucking method
How much they like a stimulus
Sucking rate; faster = they like the stimulus
Preferential looking method
Which stimuli they like more
In a room with two stimuli, whichever they look at more = they prefer
Competence - performance distinction
An individual may fail a task not because they lack those cognitive abilities, but because they are unable to demonstrate them
ex. preverbal so can’t say preference
Developmental studies
Look at how certain abilities change over a lifetime
Longitudinal study design
A developmental research design in which the same individuals are studied repeatedly over some subset of their lifespan
Pros of longitudinal study design
- accurate + direct comparisons over time
- within-participants design
- find patterns common to all people
Cons of longitudinal study design
- time consuming + costly
- selective attrition: some people are more likely to drop out of a study than others (lifestyle/death), making samples non-representative of the original population
- practice effects: change in participants’ responses due to repeated testing
Cross-sectional study design
A developmental research design in which individuals from different age groups are studied at the same point in time