lecture 1 Flashcards
what are the aims of developmental research?
to describe how performance changes with age
uncover the earliest instances of knowledge
what is competence?
conceptual understanding required to solve a problem
what is performance?
cognitive skills required to access and express understanding
what are 3 types of study designs?
cross sectional design
longitudnal designs
microgenetic design
what happens in cross sectional design?
single point in time
compares the behaviour of different age groups at the same time
what are the advantages of cross sectional design?
time efficient
cost efficient
shows differences between older and younger children
what are the disadvantages of cross sectional design?
individual differences
doesn’t explain why development happens
what is a longitudnal design?
compares the abilities or behaviour of a group of children over several time points
can involve experimental manipulation or analysis of naturally occurring behaviours
what is the advantage of a longitudnal design?
can observe change over time within individuals
reveals the proportion of children showing certain developmental trajectories
can investigate longitudnal predictors
what are the disadvantages of longitudnal studies?
resource intensive
subject attrition (ppts may drop out)
practice effects- may learn from previous exposure or get bored with the repeated task
repeated testing may change the course of development
what happens in microgenetic design?
study children on the verge of an important developmental change
study the change as it is occurring
same children studied repeatedly over a short period of time
what is explicit knowledge?
knowledge is easily accessible to the child
measure via an elicited response
what is implicit knowledge?
knowledge the child is unaware of
measure via spontaneous response
who investigated gestures?
church and goldin meadow (1986)
alibali and goldin meadow (1993)
what can gestures alongside speech demonstrate?
partial knowledge not shown in speech
what is gesture speech mismatch?
information conveyed in a gesture may not appear anywhere in accompanying speech
what are the results for gestures 1 year old?
children fail the task regarding gesture and speech
what are the results for gesture 2 year old?
children fail the task in their verbal response
show knowledge via gestures
this inconsistency shows the transition
what are the results for gestures aged 3?
children pass the task through their gesture and speech
how can we measure infant knowledge using preferential looking?
if infants can distinguish between different visual stimuli
have attentional preference for one over the other
works well for positive but not negative results (as inconclusive)
how can intermodal preferential looking be used to measure infant knowledge?
determines if infants can link stimuli across different modalities
choice between two simultaneously presented visual stimuli
one matches an accompanying verbal stimulus
if infants comprehend the link- predicted to look longer at matching than non matching
what is habituation?
organisms response to a repeated stimulus decreases over time
what is dishabituation?
temporary recovery of a response which had habituated
new intense stimulus introduced or original stimulus removed= increased looking
how can we measure infant’s knowledge using violation of expectancy?
repeated exposure to a particular event/stimulus
infants form expectations about how the world works
test phase= introduce unexpected event, goes against established expectations
how can we use anticipatory looking to assess infant’s knowledge?
infants direct their attention to a specific location in anticipation of an event or stimulus
looking behaviour/prediction used to determine if they correctly anticipate what will happen next
how can pupilometry be used to assess an infant’s knowledge?
analyse the change in the size of a pupil
dilates in response to cogntively demanding tasks/novel events/emotional stimuli
