chapter 1: methods Flashcards
maturation + example
aspects of development that are largely under genetic control, uninfluenced by environmental factors (puberty)
folk theories of development
ideas held about development that aren’t based upon scientific investigation
paradigm/model/world hypothesis
a pattern or sample applied to a theoretical or philosophical framewrok
organismic world view
the idea that people are inherently active and continually interacting with the environment - shape their own development
what’s important for organismic world view
when do different stages happen and what represents the differences between stages + are there transitions
mechanistic world view
the idea that a person can be represented as being like a machine - passive until stimulated by the environment
what’s important for the mechanistic world view
environmental factors which determine how organism react to stimulation and what are the changes in behaviour
what are the designs for studying development
cross-sectional, longitudinal, sequential, microgenetic
cross sectional design
a study where children of different ages are observed at a single point in time
what’s the most common method
cross-sectional
downsides of cross-sectional
only describes age differences, no way to derive continuity or discontinuity + we don’t know why differences arise
longitudinal design
a study where more than one observation of the same group of children is made at different points in their development
what do longitudinal studies allow
assessing within person changes and between person changes
developmental functions
plots of group averages as a function of age
what does finding no association in longitudinal studies mean
no measurement equivalence, too much noise in measurements, no stability of the measured construct
strengths of longitudinal
effects can’t be attributed to cohort differences, association between measurements at different ages, individual curves of development
weaknesses of longitudinal
expensive, waiting a long time for results, dropout of subjects, different measurement instruments, possible practice effects, not always possible to generalize to other cohorts
cohort
a group of children raised in the same environment or who share certain demographic characteristics
sequential design
a combination of longitudinal and cross sectional designs that examines the development of individuals from different age cohorts
example of sequential design
adults in different age groups (cross-sectional) were tested twice seven years apart (longitudinal)
micro genetic method
examines change as it occurs and involve individual children being tested repeatedly, typically over a short period of time
example of longitudinal vs micro genetic
height - might seem continual if longitudinal, but isn’t
cohort effects examples
height, attitudes, leisure activities, everyday life, IQ
observational studies
studies in which behavior is observed and recorded, and the researcher doesn’t attempt to influence the individual’s natural behavior
when are observational studies used
when people can’t reliably complete questionnaires or don’t understand questions
what complicates observational studies
selectivity, subjectivity, absence of base rate
molecular vs molar approach
molecular - the more objective and higher the reliability of the assessor, molar - more interpretation
where can observational studies happen
lab, simulated setting, natural environment
types of observational studies
baby biographies, time and event sampling, clinical method
baby biographies
diaries detailing an infant’s development
who made baby biographies and what did they found
Darwin with his eldest son - seeing, hearing, anger, moral sense
weakness of baby biographies
problems of generalization, observations can be unsystematic, retrospective, observers may have strong theoretical biases
strengths of baby biographies
the biographers can give details about subtle changes, observations can lead to the production of theories that can be further tested
time sampling
observational study that records an individual’s behavior at frequent intervals of time
criticism of time sampling
may not get an accurate record of the amount of time spent in different behaviors, behaviors might be missed
event sampling (continuous sampling)
observational study which records what happens during particular events
the clinical method
research method where natural behavior is observed and then the individual’s environment is changed in order to understand better the behavior of interest
who did the clinical method with their children
piaget
experimental methods
control an individual’s environment in systematic ways in attempt to identify which variables influence the behavior of interest
softenon incident
pregnant women in 50s and 60s given medication against sickness - children born with severe malformations in limbs and fertility problems
structured observation
an observational study in which the independent variable is systematically controlled and varied, the investigator observes behavior - less control than experiment
structured observation
an observational study in which the independent variable is systematically controlled and varied, the investigator observes behavior - less control than enviornmentexper
car experiment (pictures)
4 levels of pictures: realistic, black and white, colored line drawing, line drawing
at 9 months children reached, at 15 months nothing and at 19 - pointed
how do experiments try to exclude alternative explanations
matching of groups and partial correlation (partial out the variance that can be observed within correlations that you don’t want - take gender as a control variable)
psychological tests
instruments for the quantitative assessment of some psychological attribute or attributes of a person
what kinds of tests are there
of motor development, personality development, aptitudes, achievement, motivation, self-esteem, reading ability, intelligence
how do tests of infants look like
careful observations
what personality traits are consistent
shy/bold and aggression
personality trait
facet of a person’s character that is relatively stable
where are tests used
clinical and educational assessmnet
measurement equivalence
measurements at different ages allow for the same interpretation
what is a good predictor of IQ
habituation speed
reliability
how many measurement errors (test-retest, internal consistency, interrater reliability)
validity
am I measuring what I want to measure (construct validity, ecological validity, predictive validity)
CORRELATIONAL STUDIES
studies that examine if two variables vary systematically in relation to each other
types of correlational studies
concurrent (studying the relationship between variables that are measured at the same time) and predictive (finding out if people retain their relative standing or rank order relative to others over time)
neurodevelopment studies
understanding brain development and its relation to developments in perceptual, cognitive, social and motor skills
marker test
a method designed to elicit a behavior with a known neural basis - monkeys + babies and MTL
imagining methods
EEG, PET, fMRI
EEG
a scalp recording done with electrodes that measure electrical activity produced by the neurons - good for timing bad for place
ERP
scalp recording in which brain activity is mounted during the presentation of specific perceptual events
PET
an imaging method measuring cortical activity, measures blood flow to tissues in the body - requires injections of radioactive isotope (not used with children)
fMRI
measures blood flow, records through a strong magnetic field which detects differences in concentration throughout the brain
disadvantages of fMRI
expensive, people have to keep very still, magnet is noisy
ecological validity
the results obtained form a study are ecologically valid if they’re meaningful in the real world
social policies
actions, rules, and laws aimed at solving social problems or attaining social goals
developmental functions
typical trends in development - behavior on the y axis and time on the x axis
continuous function (a)
increasing ability - inteligence
continuous function b
decreasing ability - distinguishing non-native speech sounds
discontinuous function
development takes place in series of stage, where each new stage appears to be quantitively different from the previous one - Motor movement, speech, theory of mind?, moral judgement
u shaped functions
behavior very good, decreases and then increases - coordinated step-like movements at birth
inverted u function
very common - improve in the early years, level off, get worse with age - babbling, turning head towards sound
why is it useful to plot more than one developmental function on the same graph
ex: auditory localization vs orientation to schematic faces - competition
