Developmental trajectory Flashcards
Why is it important to study the predictor/outcome relations before interventions?
Need to understand the predictor as we need to see if it actually has an affect on development
What was the aim of Dadvant et al’s (2015) study? What was the predictor variable and what was measured?
To see the effects of exposure to green spaces on cognitive development, specifically working memory
Predictor: Exposure to green spaces
Measure: n-back task
What kind of study design is mostly used for studying working memory?
Cross-sectional
What is a strength and limitations of cross-sectional design?
Strength: more afforable
Limitation: Can’t make a strong inference
don’t allow for any inferences about stability
HOWEVER it gives a first look at change
What did Murphy et al (1999) study? What kind of design was it?
Consistency and change of children’s emotionality and regulation
Murphy et al (1999): How did they measure emotionality and regulation? What was the age range? What was the result?
How: Parent-report
Age: 5-7
Result: Emotionality = intense emotions decrease
regulation = regulatory capacity increases
How did Murphy et al (1999) go further with their analysis of developmental trends? What was the result?
Looked at emotional and regulatory trends
Found some gender differences for attention-seeking (boys QUAD) and impulsivity (Girls LINEAR)
In Lopez-Vicente et al (2016), what analysis did they do to account for variance? What did it tell us about the shape of change?
Multi-level modelling
For numbers, there is shown to be an increase and then levelling off
For words there is a linear continuous increase
What can shapes of change indicate in development?
Continuity and discontinuity
What is continuity in development?
Dev changes occur gradually and performance draws on similar processes
What is discontinuity in development
dev changes occur in large shifts and performance draws on different processes eg stage theories
What is the disadvantage of looking at time 1 vs time 2?
Limiting and have to interpret what happens inbetween
What study showed time 1 vs time 2
Carlson et al (2004) on Theory of Mind and Executive Functioning
What are the key points about studying change?
Change is mostly age-related
Cross-sectional data allows some identification of patterns
But Longitudinal data allows analysis of individual differences
Time sampling influences the shape of change
Allow us to infer how experience and factors shape development
change does not always imply discontinuity
What measure of temperament did Rothbart et al (2001) use to study stability
Children’s Behaviour Questionnaire
What ages does the Children’s Behaviour Questionnaire measure? What were the three broad dimensions identified? Who carried out the measure?
- 3-7 years old
- Extraversion/Surgency
Negative Affectivity
Effortful control - Both mothers and fathers
What is more important to look at rather than the absolute level result across time?
Rank order
What is multinomial modelling approach?
model dev trajectories of individuals as a function of age and membership in latent groups
What did Hay & Forrest demonstrate about rank order and stability of self-control
Largest groups were the most stable
Those that were high in self-control would stay high
Identified rare patterns such as a high to decreasing group
What did Fernald et al (2013) study for change and stability? what did the study show?
Socio-economic status and vocabulary for infants aged 18 and 24 months
Those that were in a higher SES had a steeper slope (therefore bigger increase in vocabulary)
What are the key points about studying stability
Study how individual differences remain constant over time
Does not always imply continuity
requires detailed picture of individual diff across time
ID in one trait may predict another
Supports inferences and underlying processes
What is an important challenge in the study of change and stability?
Measurement equivalence
What does change and stability focus on both between and within individuals?
Variability
What does change and stability focus on rather than time 1 vs time 2?
Trajectory, including shifts from stability to instability
What are periods of stability in performance?
A benchmark rather than endpoint
What are the 5 main methodological approaches associated with change and stability/developmental trajectories
Cross-sectional design
Longitudinal
Correlational
Analysis of variance
Modelling
What type of hypotheses do researchers use cross-sectional designs for?
age and experience related changes
Why would researchers use correlational analysis for change and stability?
identify coherent patterns of differences between people in longitudinal studies
What does Analysis of Variance do?
Can identify change across age in longitudinal studies;
Considers the variance an individual contributes to the data at Tn to stay the same
Focus is on the average change across age
What does multi-level modelling do?
Allows researchers to consider the differences between individuals as well as changes across time
When should you use longitudinal data?
Identifying stability
What is cross-sectional data useful for?
shaping design choices for longitudinal studies
What did Hendry et al (2022) study between infancy and toddlerhood?
Inhibitory Control (global, competitive and behavioural)
How did Hendry et al (2022) measure Inhibitory Control? What was the result of their study?
Global inhibition = toy prohibition task and touchscreen prohibition task
Competitive inhibition = A-not-B task, ECITT
Behavioural inhibition = Touch screen approach task
Result; Progression for behavioural inhibition was clear from ages 10 to 16 months
HOWEVER
no evidence of longitudinal stability in individual differences in either prohibition tasks
What were the limitations of Hendry et al’s (2022) study? How can it be improved?
Additional time points to give a clearer trajectory
Behavioural inhibition questionnaires alongside task-converging methods
Randomise ordering of tasks
What developmental trajectory did Hunt et al (2022) investigate?
Inhibitory Control and its association with symptoms of ADHD/ASD in young males with fragile X syndrome
What inhibitory control measures this Hunt et al (2022) use?
Rothbart Scales of Temperament - [Early] Childhood behaviour questionnaire
What was the result from Hunt et al’s (2022) study?
Compared to neurotypical group, IC decreased at each time point for the Fragile X group
Linear relationship between IC and age
Differences in IC abilities exhibited at 24-36 months then widened across childhood
How could Hunt et al (2022) improve their study?
Look at the subtypes of IC
have ADHD assessed by clinician
Lab tasks to measure IC
Questionnaires done by secondary informant eg teacher
What did Hosch et al (2022) study?
Development of self-regulation using 17 measures such as performance-based, questionnaires and raters
Why did Hosch et al (2022) use 17 different measures for self-regulation?
To account for heterotypic continuity
I.e the behavioural manifestations of self-regulation change over time so one type of measurement won’t be appropriate in a longitudinal design
What kind of design did Hosch et al (2022) use
Accelerated longitudinal design
What kind of tasks did the children undergo during the lab visits in Hosch et al’s (2022) study?
Computerised tasks, go-no-go tasks, parent-child interaction tasks, self-reg tasks, assessments of achievement
What was the result of Hosch et al’s (2022) study?
Shape of change ; positive quadratic slope (Showed rapid growth from ages 3-6 then levelled off )
Evidence of heterotypic continuity
Girls had higher self-reg at 3 to boys but boys caught up by age 7
What were the limitations to Hosch et al’s (2022) study?
Observational - can’t make causal inferences
Self-regulation is defined as a reflective(combination of several factors that are correlated together and thought to relate to self-regulation collectively) rather than a formative (several factors that may not correlate together but relate to self-regulation)
