Lecture 1 Flashcards

why and how to study human development?

1
Q

What is the main concern of developmental science?

A

How to get from a baby who cannot express their behaviour in a complex way to a vast variety of individual adults

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2
Q

What are the three main aims of developmental science?

A
  • Describe developmental change (what develops and when?)
  • Explain developmental change (what are the mechanisms through which the change happens?)
  • Predict developmental outcomes
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3
Q

What is developmental change?

A

The process of change that occurs in human beings throughout development

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4
Q

What are the four aspects of brain development mentioned?

A
  • Growth/increase in size
  • Increase in folding of the brain
  • Changes in synaptic connections
  • Changes in neuron structure & myelination
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5
Q

True or False: A baby’s brain is simply a smaller version of an adult’s brain.

A

False

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6
Q

What are the basic conceptual distinctions in developmental change?

A
  • Qualitative (~stage-like)
  • Quantitative (~continuous)
  • Domain-specific (~local)
  • Domain-general (~global)
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7
Q

What are the two main influences on developmental change?

A
  • Nature (~inheritance)
  • Nurture (~environment)
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8
Q

What does studying development provide insights into?

A
  • Mature form
  • Children’s capabilities
  • Shaping social policy
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9
Q

Who is Jean Piaget and what is his contribution to developmental science?

A

He studied how knowledge develops in children, emphasizing that children are ‘little scientists’ who actively construct their knowledge.

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10
Q

What is the main idea behind the Empiricism perspective?

A

Newborns understand nothing at birth and all knowledge is built through experiences and associations.

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11
Q

What does Nativism suggest about knowledge and cognition?

A

Some cognitive abilities are provided by genetic inheritance, suggesting specialized learning mechanisms.

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12
Q

What is the focus of Comparative & Evolutionary perspectives in developmental science?

A

Understanding why humans develop as they do by comparing across species.

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13
Q

What do Cross-cultural perspectives examine in development?

A

Cultural variations and their influence on patterns of development.

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14
Q

What does Neuroscience in developmental science investigate?

A

How neurobiological systems give rise to psychological development.
How the nervous system changes as a result of experience?

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15
Q

What techniques are used in Neuroscience to measure brain activity?

A

Electroencephalography (EEG)
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNRIS)

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16
Q

What is the longitudinal approach?

A

the same group of people is studied repeatedly at various points in time

17
Q

What are the advantages of longitudinal studies?

A
  • Evaluates impact of earlier events on later behaviour
  • Studies long-term effects
  • Reveals patterns of change over time
18
Q

What are the disadvantages of longitudinal studies?

A
  • Time-consuming
  • Participant dropout
  • Practice effects
19
Q

What characterizes a cross-sectional study?

A

Different groups of people are studied at each age of interest.

20
Q

What is a key disadvantage of cross-sectional studies?

A

They do not provide information about the causes of age-related changes, and children of different ages can be subject to cohort effects.

21
Q

What are cohort effects?

A

i.e. a given age group might differ in important ways from people who are somewhat younger or older

22
Q

What are the key advantages of cross-sectional studies?

A
  • Reveals patterns for each age group
  • enables quick assessment of hypothesised differences between ages
23
Q

What is the sequential approach in developmental research?

A

Combines features of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs for cross-cohort comparisons.

24
Q

Why might one use a sequential approach?

A

To overcome certain limitations such as how to separate age-related changes from changes caused by the unique experiences of a particular age cohort

25
Q

Fill in the blank: Developmental scientists use a rich array of _______ to study developmental change.

A

[research methods]

26
Q

What are the three main methods to study developmental change?

A
  • Longitudinal approach
  • Cross-sectional approach
  • Sequential approach