Introduction and Studying Human Development

Question 1

fundamental distinctions in developmental theories

Answer 1

qualitative vs quantitative
domain-general vs specific
innate vs acquired

Question 2

qualitative

Answer 2

children think in fundamentally different ways over time by improving quality

Question 3

quantitative

Answer 3

change in quantity of information to be processed and available knowledge

Question 4

domain-general

Answer 4

characterise broader patterns in development of behaviours

Question 5

domain-specific

Answer 5

focus on particular behaviours with narrow effects

Question 6

innate

Answer 6

early-developing, similar across children, contexts, and culture

Question 7

acquired

Answer 7

extended-over-time, with significant variation between children, contexts, and culture

Question 8

how did kamirloff-smith (2013) define developmental change?

Answer 8

“the process of change that occurs in human beings throughout development”

Question 9

what does developmental science aim to do?

Answer 9

1. describe developmental change (what develops and when)
2. explain developmental change (the mechanisms by which change occurs)
3. predict developmental outcomes

Question 10

how can the nature of developmental change be seen?

Answer 10

examples of brain development
- growth and increase in folding of the brain (cachia, 2022)
- changes in synaptic connections (keil, 2014)
- changes in neuron structure and myelination (kulikova, 2016)

Question 11

changes in synaptic connection

Answer 11

synaptic pruning occurs at 1 years old, where their density decreases because abilities stabilise over time to make processing become more efficient

Question 12

changes in neuron structure and myelination

Answer 12

dramatic increase of myelin after 1 month old, which insulates neurones to increase their efficiency of processing

Question 13

what does the nature of developmental change show?

Answer 13

psychological development is not a monolithic concept, as complex changes occur across several different dimensions and cannot be equated with simple growth/increase

Question 14

what is studying development an insight into?

Answer 14

both the mature form and children’s capabilities, which allows for understanding into shaping social policy

Question 15

piaget (1896-1980)

Answer 15

was interested in where knowledge comes from after observing common mistakes made by children during experimental tasks

Question 16

discoveries of piaget

Answer 16

• children’s thinking changes qualitatively with age through developmental stages
• they are “little scientists” who actively construct knowledge by theories and testing

not entirely accurate, but still remains hugely inspiring for the field

Question 17

what does empiricism consider?

Answer 17

knowledge as built up by forming associations between the phenomena we experience, as newborns understand nothing due to lack of experience with the world

Question 18

what does empiricism consist of?

Answer 18

all-purpose learning system, with no biases towards acquiring particular information
general learning occurs by linking together co-occurring information

Question 19

empiricism is informed by…

Answer 19

goode, berkley, and hume

Question 20

what does nativism consider?

Answer 20

some elements of the cognitive toolkit are provided by genetic inheritance, and there are specialised learning systems designed to process particular kinds of information

Question 21

nativism is informed by…

Answer 21

descartes and leibniz

Question 22

what do comparative and evolutionary perspectives believe?

Answer 22

different organisms experience similar challenges during development, as traits emerge through natural selection

Question 23

what do comparative and evolutionary perspectives allow for?

Answer 23

this allows for cross-species comparison to find out the origins of various psychological capabilities

Question 24

what do cross-cultural perspectives consider?

Answer 24

aspects of development which remain stable despite cultural differences, (e.g., visual depth, language development, or religious beliefs)

Question 25

what does neuroscience use?

Answer 25

EEG to observe how brain development guides or constrains psychological development, and how the nervous system changes as a result of experience

Question 26

methods to study developmental change

Answer 26

longitudinal
cross-sectional
sequential

Question 27

longitudinal approach

Answer 27

same group of people is studied repeatedly at various time points

Question 28

advantages of longitudinal approach

Answer 28

• powerful for establishing causality of earlier events and studying long-term effects
• may uncover long-term patterns of change in individuals

Question 29

disadvantages of longitudinal approach

Answer 29

• time-consuming and participants may drop out during the process
• practice effects rather than finding the natural course of development

Question 30

cross-sectional approach

Answer 30

different groups of people are studied at each age of interest

Question 31

disadvantages of cross-sectional approach

Answer 31

• yields no information about causes of age-related changes
• different groups may be subject to cohort effects

Question 32

sequential approach

Answer 32

combines both designs which enables cross-cohort comparisons

which allows age-related changes to be separated from changes by unique experiences of particular cohorts