Individual differences in eviormental sensitivity part 3

Question 1

4 methodological challenges

Answer 1

statistical criteria

measurement of the environment

cultural and racial variation

limitations of observational studies

Question 2

statistical criteria: according to Belsky, tests of differential susceptibility ideally require a series of five consecutive steps:

Answer 2

Visual inspection: Which
inspection of the shape of the moderator effect

inspection of the shape of the moderator effect: not all moderation effects are indicative of differential susceptibility

No associantion between moderator and enviorment

No addociantion between moderator and outcome

Specificity of effect tested by replacing the suceptibility factor and the outcome

Question 3

Roisman et al., 2012, Dev & Psychopath

Answer 3

much empirical work thus far does not meet these rigorous statistical criteria yet

in most studies, differential susceptibility is tested by means of visual inspection of graphed (cross-over) interactions between an environmental predictor and a developmental outcome

however, some plots are visually ambigous

Question 4

“regions-of-significance” approach

Answer 4

grey shaded areas = region of significance approach:  they indicate regions where the two lines are significantly different from each other.

Question 5

measurement of the environment

Answer 5

adequate variance in environmental conditions

person-environment interactions are much more likely to emerge in the range of average expectable environments than at environmental extremes

at environmental extremes, the power of context to shape human development may restrict the range of phenotypic variation

Question 6

Cultural and ethnic variation

Answer 6

to which extent are environments, plasticity factors and developmental outcomes culturally specific?

Anxiety in adolescence is predicted by different aspects of parenting in different cultural groups

variants of genetic polymorphisms may have different correlates in people from different etnic groups

distribution of genotypes varies substantially among the various parts of the world

Question 7

limitations of observational

Answer 7

one risk is that what appears to be function of person-environment interaction actually reflects person-environment correlation

one way to come over this, is to make sure that the moderator is unrelated to the environmen

Question 8

limitations of observational

Answer 8

one risk is that what appears to be function of person-environment interaction actually reflects person-environment correlation

one way to come over this, is to make sure that the moderator is unrelated to the environment

a stronger strategy, however, is to experimentally manipulate the environment

Question 9

repeated measurements

Answer 9

the differential susceptibility model assumes that sensitive individuals function in opposite manners in contrasting conditions

there is almost no research truly validating this assumption

relevant/promising avenues for the future:
repeated-measurement experiments
experiments in nature

Question 10

Unknowns and future directions

Answer 10

same individuals, different plasticity markers?

Population variation in plasticity

categorical or dimensional

Question 11

same individuals, different plasticity markers?

Answer 11

You can investigate individual differences in sensitivity at multiple levels of analyses
Do all these studies identify the same individuals as sensitive? Do the same individuals pop up as highly sensitive?

there are associations between plasticity markers at different levels of analysis

however, there is also evidence suggesting that plasticity markers are not interchangeable

the association between child care quality and social functioning is moderated by genotype (i.e. DRD4)
but
the GxE interaction is not accounted for by a Temperament x Environment interaction

Question 12

Population variation in plasticity?

Answer 12

do populations differ in the degree to which individuals are plastic?

Across the world only two species of primates live in diverse ecological niches: rhesus macaques and humans and only the only two species in which the serotonin transporter gene that is linked to plasticity is found.

Question 13

categorical or dimensional?

Answer 13

are individual differences in plasticity best conceptualized in categorical or dimensional terms?

Aron and Aron assume that sensory processing sensitivity is a categorical phenomenon:
high sensitive individuals (20%)
low sensitive individuals (80%)

however, most research on sensory processing sensitivity thus far use dimensional HSP scores