research in developmental psychology

Question 1

what is the aim developmental psychology

Answer 1

to describe and explain development in children’s behavior over time.

Question 2

5 themes in developmental psychology

Answer 2

1. nature and nurture
2. individual differences
3. the active child
4. (dis)continuity of development and critical periods
5. Socio-cultural context

Question 3

3 methods of measuring development

Answer 3

1. cross- sectional
2. longitudinal
3. microgenetic

Question 4

cross sectional design in developmental psych

Answer 4

compare children of different ages at a single time.

Question 5

longitudinal design in developmental psych

Answer 5

• compare children to themselves
• children are examined repeatedly over a prolonged period ( over months or years)

Question 6

microgentic design in DP

Answer 6

• children are observed intensively over a relatively short period
• a change occurs within this short period

Question 7

pros of a cross sectional design

Answer 7

1. faster to collect data
2. can identify differences between age groups

Question 8

cons of cross-sectional design

Answer 8

1. uninformative about discontinuity of development over age (e.g. stability of wellbeing)
2. uninformative about individual differences (within a cohort)

Question 9

pros of a longitudinal design

Answer 9

1. watch development unfold - for each case study
2. can examine the stability of individual differences over time and individual patterns of change

Question 10

cons of a longitudinal design

Answer 10

1. practice effect
2. attrition - drop out rates and bias
3. takes a long time and a lot of resources

Question 11

pros of a Microgenetic design

Answer 11

1. very detailed
2. intensive observation can clarify process of change as it occurs

Question 12

cons of a microgenetic design

Answer 12

1. must know when change will occur
2. no long term data about change patterns
3. narrow in focus

Question 13

what is a genetically informative design

Answer 13

a design that …
… allows us to estimate, and in some cases locate, genetic contributions to development ( e.g. heritability)

Question 14

6 types of genetically informative designs

Answer 14

1. twin studies
2. adoption
3. adopted twins
4. DNA sequencing
5. molecular genetic
6. genomewide scan

Question 15

3 common data collection techniques

Answer 15

1. interview / questionnaire
2. naturalistic observation
3. structured observation/tasks

Question 16

interview / questionnaires in DP

Answer 16

inexpensive way to gather self reports

clinical interviews allow for flexibility to respond to unexpected answers

Question 17

naturalistic observation in DP

Answer 17

useful for describing behavior and exploring social interaction

Question 18

structured observation / task in DP

Answer 18

allows controlled comparisons

Question 19

participatory techniques

Answer 19

timelines and social network map

NSPCC research with children in care

Question 20

practical problems of research

Answer 20

stated by Fargas-Malet et al 2010

1. gaining access and seeking consent
2. context/ location
3. data collection
4. confidentiality and child protection issues
5. debriefing and rewards

Question 21

fargas malet et al 2010

Answer 21

look at practical problems in research

Question 22

who researched practical problems

Answer 22

fargas malet et al 2010

Question 23

what is reliability

Answer 23

the degree to which independent measurements of a behavior are consistent

Question 24

examples of reliability

Answer 24

inter-rater reliability

test retest reliability

Question 25

describe 3 potential negatives of choosing a longitudinal design ( 3 marks)

Answer 25

practical SAQ

my answer - time consuming and expensive, high drop out rates, and practice effect.

Question 26

aim - research into materialism within children

Answer 26

to research to see if children had an issue with materialism

Question 27

method - research into materialism within children

Answer 27

pin board with pictures of material things on and another board with non-material things on e.g. family members, friends, hobbies and interests.

where asked to take pictures from both board to make a happiness board that reflected everything that makes them happy

Question 28

how did they calculate the results / score for each participant - research into materialism within children

Answer 28

calculated by counting up the number of each type of item - material vs. non-material

then did material items minus non-material items to get a measure of materialism

then took this score and compared it to a measure of well being to see if the constructs where related