Chapter 1: The scope and methods of developmental psychology

Question 1

maturation

Answer 1

aspects of development that are largely under genetic control, and hence largely uninfluenced by environmental factors

Question 2

“folk” theories of development

Answer 2

ideas held about development that are not based on scientific investigation

Question 3

paradigm

Answer 3

pattern/ sample/ model/ word hypothesis

Question 4

organismic world view

Answer 4

idea that people are inherently active and continually interacting with the environment, and therefore helping to shape their own development; example: Piaget

Question 5

mechanistic world view

Answer 5

idea that a person can be represented like a machine, which is inherently passive until stimulated by the environment

Question 6

behaviourism

Answer 6

theoretical view, associated with J.B. Watson and B.F. Skinner that sees directly observable behaviour as the proper focus of study, and sees the developing child as a passive respondent to conditioning, reinforcement, and punishment

Question 7

cross-sectional design

Answer 7

study where children of different ages are observed at a single point of time

Question 8

longitudinal design

Answer 8

study where more than one observation of the same group of children is made at different points in their development

Question 9

cohort

Answer 9

group of people who were raised in the same environment or who share certain demographic characteristics

Question 10

microgenetic method

Answer 10

method that examines change as it occurs and involves individual children being tested repeatedly, typically over a short period of times that the density of observations is high compared with the typical longitudinal design

Question 11

sequential design

Answer 11

combination of longitudinal and cross-sectional designs that examines the development of individuals from different age cohorts

Question 12

Flynn effect

Answer 12

increase of the average IQ test scores over generations

Question 13

observational studies

Answer 13

studies in which observation is observed and recorded, and the researcher does not attempt to influence the individual’s natural behaviour in any way

Question 14

experimental methods

Answer 14

controlling an individual’s environment in systematic ways in an attempt to identify which variables influence the behaviour of interest

Question 15

psychological tests

Answer 15

instruments for the quantitative assessment of some psychological attributes of a person

Question 16

correlational studies

Answer 16

studies that examine whether two variables vary systematically in relation to each other

Question 17

baby biographies

Answer 17

diaries detailing an infant’s development, usually kept by the infant’s parents/ caregivers

Question 18

time sampling

Answer 18

observational study that records an individual’s behaviour at frequent intervals of time

Question 19

affect

Answer 19

emotional state/ feelings

Question 20

event sampling

Answer 20

observational study which records what happens during particular events

Question 21

clinical method

Answer 21

research method first used by Piaget whereby natural behaviour is observed and then the individual’s environment is changed in order to understand better the behaviour of interest

Question 22

structured observation

Answer 22

observational study in which the independent variable is systematically controlled and varied, and the investigator observes the child’s behaviour; similar to an experimental design but the degree of control is less precise than in a laboratory setting

Question 23

personality trait

Answer 23

facet of a person’s character that is relatively stable; e.g. shyness, extraversion, confidence

Question 24

marker task

Answer 24

method designed to elicit a behaviour with a known neural basis

Question 25

medial temporal area (MT)

Answer 25

specific area of the visual system; the development of this area and its connections with other parts of the visual system is responsible for the onset of smooth pursuit in humans

Question 26

EEG (electroencephalogram)

Answer 26

scalp recording done with electrodes that measure electrical activity produced by neurons

Question 27

ecological validity

Answer 27

results obtained from a study are ecologically valid if they are meaningful in the real world

Question 28

catharsis hypothesis

Answer 28

argument that watching aggressive tendencies in others will reduce your own feelings of aggression

Question 29

social policies

Answer 29

actions/rules/laws aimed at solving social problems or attaining social goals, in particular, intended to improve existing conditions

Question 30

developmental functions

Answer 30

typical trends in development; e.g. getting more intelligent with age

Question 31

continuous function - increasing ability

Answer 31

behaviour that improves with age; e. g. precision with which infants reach for objects increases

Question 32

continuous function - decreasing ability

Answer 32

behaviour that gets worse as we age; e.g. young infants can initially distinguish non-native speech sounds very easily, for many sounds they lose this ability after the first year of life

Question 33

discontinuous (step) function

Answer 33

where development takes place in a series of stages, where each new stage appears to be qualitatively different from the preceding/ following stages

Question 34

theory of mind

Answer 34

understanding that different people may have different emotions, feelings, thoughts, and beliefs from one’s own

Question 35

moral judgement stages

Answer 35

Piaget described two stages in the development of moral reasoning: heteronomous and autonomous. Kohlberg described five stages: punishment and obedience orientation, instrumental morality, interpersonal normative morality, social system morality, and human rights and social welfare morality

Question 36

U-shaped function

Answer 36

behaviour where ability is initially very good, then decreases, and then increases again follows a U-shaped function of development

An inverted U-shaped function follows the opposite trend