Developmental trajectory

Question 1

Why is it important to study the predictor/outcome relations before interventions?

Answer 1

Need to understand the predictor as we need to see if it actually has an affect on development

Question 2

What was the aim of Dadvant et al’s (2015) study? What was the predictor variable and what was measured?

Answer 2

To see the effects of exposure to green spaces on cognitive development, specifically working memory
Predictor: Exposure to green spaces
Measure: n-back task

Question 3

What kind of study design is mostly used for studying working memory?

Answer 3

Cross-sectional

Question 4

What is a strength and limitations of cross-sectional design?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What did Murphy et al (1999) study? What kind of design was it?

Answer 5

Consistency and change of children’s emotionality and regulation

Question 6

Murphy et al (1999): How did they measure emotionality and regulation? What was the age range? What was the result?

Answer 6

How: Parent-report
Age: 5-7
Result: Emotionality = intense emotions decrease
regulation = regulatory capacity increases

Question 7

How did Murphy et al (1999) go further with their analysis of developmental trends? What was the result?

Answer 7

Looked at emotional and regulatory trends
Found some gender differences for attention-seeking (boys QUAD) and impulsivity (Girls LINEAR)

Question 8

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?

Answer 8

Multi-level modelling
For numbers, there is shown to be an increase and then levelling off
For words there is a linear continuous increase

Question 9

What can shapes of change indicate in development?

Answer 9

Continuity and discontinuity

Question 10

What is continuity in development?

Answer 10

Dev changes occur gradually and performance draws on similar processes

Question 11

What is discontinuity in development

Answer 11

dev changes occur in large shifts and performance draws on different processes eg stage theories

Question 12

What is the disadvantage of looking at time 1 vs time 2?

Answer 12

Limiting and have to interpret what happens inbetween

Question 13

What study showed time 1 vs time 2

Answer 13

Carlson et al (2004) on Theory of Mind and Executive Functioning

Question 14

What are the key points about studying change?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What measure of temperament did Rothbart et al (2001) use to study stability

Answer 15

Children’s Behaviour Questionnaire

Question 16

What ages does the Children’s Behaviour Questionnaire measure? What were the three broad dimensions identified? Who carried out the measure?

Answer 16

1. 3-7 years old
2. Extraversion/Surgency
   Negative Affectivity
   Effortful control
3. Both mothers and fathers

Question 17

What is more important to look at rather than the absolute level result across time?

Answer 17

Rank order

Question 18

What is multinomial modelling approach?

Answer 18

model dev trajectories of individuals as a function of age and membership in latent groups

Question 19

What did Hay & Forrest demonstrate about rank order and stability of self-control

Answer 19

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

Question 20

What did Fernald et al (2013) study for change and stability? what did the study show?

Answer 20

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)

Question 21

What are the key points about studying stability

Answer 21

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

Question 22

What is an important challenge in the study of change and stability?

Answer 22

Measurement equivalence

Question 23

What does change and stability focus on both between and within individuals?

Answer 23

Variability

Question 24

What does change and stability focus on rather than time 1 vs time 2?

Answer 24

Trajectory, including shifts from stability to instability

Question 25

What are periods of stability in performance?

Answer 25

A benchmark rather than endpoint

Question 26

What are the 5 main methodological approaches associated with change and stability/developmental trajectories

Answer 26

Cross-sectional design
Longitudinal
Correlational
Analysis of variance
Modelling

Question 27

What type of hypotheses do researchers use cross-sectional designs for?

Answer 27

age and experience related changes

Question 28

Why would researchers use correlational analysis for change and stability?

Answer 28

identify coherent patterns of differences between people in longitudinal studies

Question 29

What does Analysis of Variance do?

Answer 29

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

Question 30

What does multi-level modelling do?

Answer 30

Allows researchers to consider the differences between individuals as well as changes across time

Question 31

When should you use longitudinal data?

Answer 31

Identifying stability

Question 32

What is cross-sectional data useful for?

Answer 32

shaping design choices for longitudinal studies

Question 33

What did Hendry et al (2022) study between infancy and toddlerhood?

Answer 33

Inhibitory Control (global, competitive and behavioural)

Question 34

How did Hendry et al (2022) measure Inhibitory Control? What was the result of their study?

Answer 34

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

Question 35

What were the limitations of Hendry et al’s (2022) study? How can it be improved?

Answer 35

Additional time points to give a clearer trajectory
Behavioural inhibition questionnaires alongside task-converging methods
Randomise ordering of tasks

Question 36

What developmental trajectory did Hunt et al (2022) investigate?

Answer 36

Inhibitory Control and its association with symptoms of ADHD/ASD in young males with fragile X syndrome

Question 37

What inhibitory control measures this Hunt et al (2022) use?

Answer 37

Rothbart Scales of Temperament - [Early] Childhood behaviour questionnaire

Question 38

What was the result from Hunt et al’s (2022) study?

Answer 38

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

Question 39

How could Hunt et al (2022) improve their study?

Answer 39

Look at the subtypes of IC
have ADHD assessed by clinician
Lab tasks to measure IC
Questionnaires done by secondary informant eg teacher

Question 40

What did Hosch et al (2022) study?

Answer 40

Development of self-regulation using 17 measures such as performance-based, questionnaires and raters

Question 41

Why did Hosch et al (2022) use 17 different measures for self-regulation?

Answer 41

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

Question 42

What kind of design did Hosch et al (2022) use

Answer 42

Accelerated longitudinal design

Question 43

What kind of tasks did the children undergo during the lab visits in Hosch et al’s (2022) study?

Answer 43

Computerised tasks, go-no-go tasks, parent-child interaction tasks, self-reg tasks, assessments of achievement

Question 44

What was the result of Hosch et al’s (2022) study?

Answer 44

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

Question 45

What were the limitations to Hosch et al’s (2022) study?

Answer 45

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)