Methods of child development Flashcards
What should researchers be mindful of for both the infant and the parent when planning a study?
Babies naps are vital, studies should be planned around this
Parents may worry that their child hasn’t ‘passed the test’ emphasise there is never a ‘right answer’
How can researchers work with infants to make putting on EEGs easier?
EGGs are non-invasive so better for infants
Researchers that place the electrodes must understand good placement, and do it as quickly as possible under minimum distress for the participant
Distracting them with toys whilst you put the EGG on is helpful. Or letting them play a game before they enter the lab
What is the violation of expectation?
Infants have an innate pre-existing knowledge
Infants look longer at the impossible outcomes (ones they aren’t familiar with)
Babies are surprised to see these unexpected things
They may be confounding surprise and familiarity preference however
What is the visual preference method?
Infant shown 2 screens, usually side by side
Shown in pairs for a fixed amount of time and repetitively
Camera underneath to capture where the infant is looking
Screens must be far enough apart to determine what exactly the baby is looking at
Record how long the baby looks at each item
What is habituation?
Must be sure this isn’t due to fatigue but actual interest
Infants must show consistent preferences
Shown infants the same item until they get bored, show them something new and they may be suddenly interested
Shows us if babies can discriminate between stimuli
Can show us a babies interest/preference
Can be used with looking time measures or sucking
What are the caveats for habituation?
Infants can show both novelty and familiarity preferences. They may show initial familiarity but later have a novelty preference for that same item
Some infants can be slow and fast habituators, depending on their speed of processing and cognitive ability
How do research questions develop?
Use basic and applied research
Identify gaps in research
What ideas need bridging?
What interests you?
What are the key theories?
How can problems in the world be solves?
Can infants make faces?
Infants can control their facial expressions
Provide a stimulus which could encourage expressions
Infants can adjust their expressions through social smiling and neonatal imitation
Do infants non-nutritive suck? How can researchers measure this?
Infants can control the rate they’re sucking on their pacifier
Link between the rate and sucking to a stimulus
12-36 hours old, adjust their rate to see an image of mum over a stranger
High amplitude sucking is a commonly used measure
Can infants follow stimuli?
Infants can control where their gaze is directed
Move stimulus to see if the infant follows it
Infants follow face-like stimuli
What is the preferential looking paradigm?
Baby is shown 2 things, see which they prefer looking at
Useful for studying visual preference and word learning
What should researchers consider when researching children across different ages?
Suitability of the task/question/language
Suitability of the environment is it at home? lab? nursery? school?
During the test are the babies aiming to please adults?
What types of studies are used to research the develop of children?
Longitudinal: several observations of the same participant over a period of time
Cross-sectional: observations of different age groups done at the same point in time
Can children consent to taking part in a study?
Children must be able to understand what they’re consenting to in a study
e.g. is written format the best choice? is it in a language they can understand?
Must be able to withdraw and modify consent
Consent is ongoing
Able to contact researcher
Able to ask for destruction of their contirbution
What is the Mental Capacity Act 2005?
Under 16s can’t give consent
Unable to make a decision if they can’t understand or retain the information, and are unable to communicate their decision (by any means)
What is the difference between dishabituation and habituation?
dishabituation: unfamiliar with the object
habituation: familiar with the object
With the high amplitude sucking paradigm.
Habituation: less sucking
Dishabituation: more sucking
Sucking stays the same: can’t discriminate between items
