Introduction and RM Flashcards

1
Q

What is developmental psychology?

A

The study of change and stability over the lifespan - looks at how we change physically, cognitively, behaviourally and socially due to biological, individual and environmental differences

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2
Q

What are the three types of development?

A

Ontogenetic, microgenetic, phylogenetic

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3
Q

What is ontogenetic development?

A

The development of an individual over their lifetime

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4
Q

What is microgenetic development?

A

Changes that occur over very brief periods of time

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5
Q

What is phylogenetic treatment?

A

Changes over evolutionary time

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6
Q

What are the three levels of explanation?

A

The brain, mental processes, individual differences and environment

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7
Q

Describe the brain as a level of explanation

A

How changes in the brain can cause change in behaviour

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8
Q

Describe mental processes as a level of explanation

A

Language, memory, attention - how we can observe and measure changes in these processes

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9
Q

Describe individual differences and environment

A

How this causes development

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10
Q

What are the different domains development can be examined in?

A

Physical, cognitive and psychosocial

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11
Q

Describe the physical domain of measuring development

A

How we grow and mature physically

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12
Q

Describe the cognitive domain of examining development

A

How we learn, memorise, and problem solve

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13
Q

Describe the psychosocial domain of examining development

A

How our personality and emotions change

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14
Q

What are the different ways of studying development?

A

Quantitative, qualitative, and stability

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15
Q

What are quantitative changes?

A

Easily measurable and quantifiable aspects of development

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16
Q

What are qualitative changes?

A

Changes in functions or processes

17
Q

What are the factors that affect development?

A

Nature and nurture

18
Q

What is continuity?

A

The extent that development is a series of gradual small continuous changes (e.g adding more of the same skill)

19
Q

What is discontinuity?

A

The extent that development involves abrupt transformations (e.g a process in which new ways of thinking emerge at specific times)

20
Q

What is the order of the scientific method?

A

Observation, hypothesis, test hypothesis, analyses, report finding and draw conclusions, then either replicate results or test new hypothesis

21
Q

What are important considerations

A

1) Are measures reliable and valid
2) When does change actually occur
3) What age group are we testing
4) WEIRD samples

22
Q

What does WEIRD stand for?

A

Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic

23
Q

What are methods for understanding change?

A

Cross - sectional studies, Longitudinal, and microgenetic

24
Q

What are cross-sectional studies

A

Children of different ages studied at the same time.

25
Evaluate cross-sectional studies
Strength - least time consuming as don't need the kids to get older Weakness - can't look at how individual children change as performance is averaged
26
What are longitudinal studies?
The same children are tested repeatedly at multiple time points as they grow older
27
Evaluate longitudinal studies?
Strength - can look at both individual change and across children change Weakness - practice effects leading to change, costs a lot of money and time
28
What are microgenetic studies?
Extreme version of longitudinal studies, individual children being tested repeatedly over a short period of time
29
Evaluate microgenetic studies?
Strength - very precise descriptions due to high intensity of measurements Weakness - intensive to run so often only results in small samples
30
What is the experimental design?
Looking at the effect of variables on children's skills or abilities (if the IV affects the DV)
31
How can indirect and observational methods gather data about children?
- Interviews or questionnaires with parents or children - Naturalistic observation (in the environment where the behaviour happens) -Structured observation in a lab situation to evoke the behaviour of interest
32
How do cognitive measures gather data about children?
Tasks specifically designed to measure a process of interest such as IQ tests
33
How do psychophysical methods gather data about children?
Methods to uncover basic biological processes that can sometimes help us to infer perception and cognition, ie eye tracking
34
How do cognitive neuroscience techniques gather data about children?
EEG - measures changes in electrical activity in the cerebral cortex fMRI - detects differences in oxygen in the brain, and reveals what brain areas are activated when engaged in a particular task
35
What are the challenges of working with children?
They have limited language, attention, and motor skills making it hard to engage them and create tasks that capture their abilities. Creativity is required.