Final Flashcards
choosing social policies
Research on children’s responses can help us understand the best ways to ask them questions
Meta analysis
a statistical method for combining the results from independent studies to reach conclusions based on all of them
Nativists think
evolution has created many remarkable capabilities that are present even in early infancy, particularly in areas of special importance, such as understanding basic properties of physical objects, plants and animals, and other people
Empiricists think
infants possess general learning mechanisms that allow them to learn a great deal quite quickly, but that infants and young children lack the specialized capabilities that nativists attribute to them
Plato believed
children are born with innate knowledge
Aristotle believed
children learn from experiences
John Locke believed
similar to Aristotle, and that what they learn reflects on what nurture they receive. That the most important way they learn is through example.
Rousseau believed
children need maximum freedom from the beginning and then more structure at around age 12
Nature refers to
biology and genetics
Nurture refers to
environment. This can be parenting, where they live, and a variety of other factors
Twin studies
help us look at what makes a difference in development, specifically environment
Genome
refers to a person’s entire genetic makeup
Epigenetics
the study of stable changes in gene expression that are mediated by the environment
methylation
a biochemical process that influences behavior by suppressing gene activity and expression.
How do children shape their own development?
Fantasy play, crib talk, and noise
Continuous development
the idea that changes with age occur gradually, in small increments, like that of a pine tree growing taller and taller.
Discontinuous development
the idea that changes with age include occasional large shifts, like the transition from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly.
stage theories
approaches proposing that development involves a series of large, discontinuous, age-related phases.
cognitive development
the development of thinking and reasoning. Piaget’s theory
effortful attention
when children put effort into paying attention. This includes following directions and emotion control.
neurotransmitters
chemicals involved in communication among brain cells.
sociocultural context
the physical, social, cultural, economic, and historical circumstances that make up any child’s environment
socioeconomic status
a measure of social class based on income and education, this is also important when considering environment for children
the active child
being able to choose for themselves
scientific method
an approach to testing beliefs that involves choosing a question, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and drawing a conclusion.
forming a hypothesis
a prediction that helps formulate an experiment or study, it has to be testable with children.
reliability
if it gets tested several times, do you get the same result?
test-retest reliability
the degree of similarity of a participant’s performance on two or more occasions
validity
the degree to which a test measures what it is intended to measure
structured interviews
interviews with predetermined questions, are very helpful when learning about children
Questionnaires:
can be difficult when children cannot read, also have to consider the interpretation of each question
Clinical interview
starts structured, but if the interviewer finds something interesting, they will expand on that
Naturalistic observation
observing children in their natural environment
Structured observation
a method that involves presenting an identical situation to each participant and recording the participant’s behavior.
Correlation does not
equal causation
Third variable
can mean that the two variables are not linked, that there is a third thing that can correlate them
correlational designs
studies intended to indicate how two variables are related to each other.
correlation
the relationship between two variables
direction of causation problem
a correlation does not indicate which variable is the cause and which variable is the effect
experimental designs
a group of approaches that allow inferences about causes and effects to be drawn.