perspectives & methods Flashcards
what are the 2 major questions when studying child development?
- normative development: how do children develop skills, knowledge and personality?
- individual differences: how do variations among children come about?
nature vs nurture
nature (genetic factors): shapes traits and characteristics
nurture (envt factors): unbringing, culture, exp
overlap: gene-envt interaction
define theory
an integrated set of statements that describe, explain and predict a behaviour
define hypothesis
a prediction about a behaviour that is drawn from a theory
what is the objective of science?
evaluating theories and hypotheses based on data
what is the scientific method?
- theory
- generate hypothesis
- collect data
- analyse data
- summarise data and report findings
- confirm or modify theory based on results
list 3 common methods of research
- self-reports (questionnaires/surveys/interviews)
- systematic observations (naturalistic/structured observations)
- psychophysiology
what are the pros and cons of administering questionnaires/surveys?
pros:
- quick way to gather alot of data
- standardised - easy comparison
cons:
- little depth
- presentation bias
- challenges in capturing developmental changes
presentation bias (aka esponse bias or respondent bias):
- systematic error that occurs in survey research when respondents provide inaccurate or misleading answers due to various factors related to how the questions are presented or framed
-undermines the validity and reliability of survey findings
- includes:
*Social Desirability Bias: provide answers that they believe are socially acceptable or favorable, rather than their true opinions or behaviors
*Acquiescence Bias: tendency to agree with statements or questions regardless of their actual beliefs or experiences
*Interviewer Bias: behavior or characteristics of the interviewer can influence respondents’ answers
*Question Wording and Order
*Response Scale Bias
*Cultural and Linguistic Bias (due to cultural diff/language barriers)
what are the pros and cons of interviews?
pros:
- interviewee can express thoughts in own words
- comfortable setting
- flexible, can ask followup questions
- more depth in info
cons:
- not standardized
- presentation bias (interviewer effect where behaviour of interviewer affects responses)
- labor-intensive
what are the pros and cons of naturalistic observations?
pros:
- realistic (high ecological validity)
- direct observation of behaviour
- social interaction
cons:
- low base rate of behaviour
- reactivity (if you know you are being observed, will behave differently)
- lack of control
what are the pros and cons of structured observations?
pros:
- observed in the same context (controlled envt)
- directly observe specific behaviour of interest
- efficient for infrequent events (behaviour that doesn’t occur all the time)
cons:
- low ecological validity due to less natural
- reactivity due to diff in real-life situations
what is observed when a study gather data in terms of psychophysiology?
- heart rate: interested/distressed
- EEG/ERP: states of arousal
- fMRI: specialised brain region
what are the pros and cons of psychophysiology?
pros:
- objective
- mediation (how a 3rd variable affects/is affected by the other 2)
cons:
- time-consuming
- costly
- require theory to interpret findings
- complex data analysis
what are the 4 basic types of research designs?
- experimental
- correlational
- longitudinal
- cross-sectional
what is the aim of experimental designs?
to establish causal r/s (effect of IV on DV)
the 2 groups in an experimental design are:
1. control group
2.
experimental group (out of ctrl group)
what are 2 common ways to assign people into groups?
- random assignment
- matching via pre-existing characteristics (eg. gender/age)
what is the conceptual definition of IVs and DVs?
theoretical variables as stated in hypothesis
what is the operational definition of IVs and DVs?
practical realization of variables (translating conceptual variables into how they will be used in experiments) - concrete and measureable
what does Bandura’s Bobo Doll study demonstrate?
- demonstrated that children learn by observing the behavior of others, particularly adults, and imitate those behaviors (social learning)
- children who observed an adult model aggressively interacting with a Bobo doll were more likely to exhibit similar aggressive behaviors towards the doll themselves (observational learning)
does Bandura’s Bobo Doll study illustrate nature of nurture in the children’s behaviour?
nurture
social learning (imitation of adult’s aggressive behavior towards doll) causes children to also be aggressive towards the doll (social/observational learning)
advantage of experiments
determines causality most accurately (whether IV has caused DV)
what are some limitations of experiments?
- ethical reasons
- some IVs cannot be manipulated (eg. gender, race)
- need to use natural groupings (eg. choosing to compare males against females without manipulating their gender. lacks full manipulation like true experiments, aka quasi-experiments)
- can also do field research (observe without manipulation) - takes alot of time and resources
what is the aim of correlational design?
to assess the direction and strength of r/s among variables in hypothesis
fill in the blanks:
_____ research design assesses the direction and strength of r/s among variables in hypothesis.
a feature of this design is that variables are only observed with no ________ or intervention by researchers.
correlational; manipulation
explain the correlation coefficient:
- range
- what does r=0 mean?
- absolute value indicates?
- sign indicates?
-1 < correlation coefficient (r) < 1
r=0, no r/s
absolute value -> strength of r/s
sign (+/-) -> direction of effect (positive/negative)
does correlation = causation?
NO. correlation cannot infer causation. causation can only be inferred through experimental designs involving manipulation.
what is longitudinal design?
examines behaviour of itnerest within the same group of participants over a period of time.
what are the cons of longitudinal design?
- attrition / loss of participants
- substantial commitment of time and cost
- training effect
- changes in measurement techniques
cross-sectional research design examines the behaviour of interest by comparing groups of participants at different ages in a particular point in time.
what are its pros and cons?
pros:
- time efficiency
- one-time assessment
cons:
- less sensitive to individual diff (cannot follow one’s development)
- cannot establish causation
- cohort effects
*Cohort effects: differences in characteristics or outcomes observed between groups of individuals who were born or experienced significant events during different time periods. These differences arise from the unique historical, social, and cultural contexts that individuals are exposed to during their formative years.
