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Adulthood & Aging > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

What are 3 assumptions about development?

A
  1. From birth development is uphill the entire way
  2. There is rapid growth early in life until it plateaus at a certain age
  3. There is rapid growth early in life and then there is a rapid decline
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2
Q

Do those 3 assumptions of development have any value?

A

Well, they’re not wrong, they are applicable to some, they are not representative of how we develop as a whole

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3
Q

What are the 6 Key ideas in the lifespan approach from Baltes

A
  1. Development is a life-long process
  2. Development is multidimensional and multidirectional
  3. Development involves both gains and losses
  4. Development is plastic
  5. Development does not occur in a vacuum
  6. The study of development should be multidisciplinary
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4
Q

What is meant by development is a life-long process?

A

Development extends over the lifespan because some processes might not originate at birth; they may kick in later in life. ex: Biological, social-emotional, cognitive

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5
Q

What is meant by Development is multidimensional and multidirectional?

A

For example intelligence: is made up of crystallized and fluid intelligence (multidimensional) but they separate later in life graph wise (multidirectional)

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6
Q

What is meant by development involves both gains and losses?

A

Means that we can define any change in adaptiveness of the organism, whether good or bad, as development. ex: pruning

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7
Q

What is meant by development is plastic?

A

There is individual variability and the opportunity for gains and losses. ex: teach an old dog new tricks

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8
Q

What is meant by development does not occur in a vacuum?

A

We cannot view any aspect of human life in isolation. Because oh historical embeddedness and context

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9
Q

What is historical embeddedness?

A

ex: grandparents were frugal because they lived through great depression

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10
Q

What is context?

A

experiences over the lifetime. These individual differences can affect how people develop. Ex: cohort effect: Can see huge difference across a group of 53 year olds. Just because you bring in a group of 53 year olds, doesn’t mean they are representative because of the cohort effect because of context and historical embeddedness.

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11
Q

What is meant by development should be multidisciplinary?

A

Psychology only offers a partial view. We need to consider anthropology, biology, sociology, gerontology

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12
Q

What are 3 sources of change in our lives?

A
  1. Non-normative influences
  2. Normative age-graded influences
  3. Normative history graded influences
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13
Q

What are non-normative influences?

A

Timing – unpredictable (ex: loss of a family member). Doesn’t necessarily happen to every person or every person at the same time.

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14
Q

What are age-graded influences?

A

puberty

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15
Q

What are history graded influences?

A 
o	Historical events affect people of different ages in different ways (ex: war would affect a child differently than an adult) 
o	Cohorts (ex: modernity) ex: parents remember colour TV, we remember dial up.
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16
Q

What are three sources of stability in development?

A

• Genes
• Environment
and Gene-Environment Interactions

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17
Q

An ageist research design tends to support a…

A

“senescence” view of ageing. Meaning, - That there is an inevitable decline. Typical of 60s and 70s research design.

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18
Q

How do you avoid agism research design? (3)

A
  • Is your research question biased?
  • Is it fair to compare older and younger adults?
  • Test for mechanisms, not just differences
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19
Q

What is chronicle age?

A

The number of years youve been alive

20
Q

What are 3 types of functional age?

A
  1. Biological age
  2. Psychological age
  3. Social age
21
Q

What is biological age?

A

how people perform in certain biological measures (breathing, heart function)

22
Q

What is social age?

A

having children, moving out of the house

23
Q

What is psychological age?

A

How one feels/acts

24
Q

Development is really about…(3)

A

Selection, optimization and compensation

25
Q

Explain selection (2) - the textbook definition

A
  1. Development has a target function and behavior whether it is conscious or not
  2. Development is always preceded with the condition of limited capacity. ex: constraints on time and resources
26
Q

Explain selection in your own words and give examples

A

We have a finite amount of time and resources so we constantly need to be selective about where we use those resources. For older adults, age-associated losses in biological potential of plasticity increase the pressure for selection.

ex: language acquisition is a lot easier when we’re children as opposed to when we’re adults.
ex: other race effect: we tend to be good at differentiating between people of our own race. But very bad at differentiating people of other races. But children don’t display this effect.

27
Q

Why do we have optimization in development? Give an example…(2)

A

Because development is always moving towards increased efficiency and higher levels of functioning.

ex: riding a bike – with time & experience you’re not aware of what all your muscles are doing in trying to keep yourself balanced as you were when you first begun. You learn shortcuts that help you automatize your behavior.

Ex: opening a door is automatized for most.

28
Q

What is the purpose of Compensation,

A

Overcoming the losses so we can continue to function

Whenever a given set of means is no longer available

29
Q

For compensation, give an example of direct loss

A

hearing loss

30
Q

For compensation, give an example of negative transfer

A

(incompatibility between goals) – have multiple goals but they’re conflicting so you might need to compensate by selecting one of the goals rather than all of them. Ex: time & energy, when you can’t do everything you want to do that day because you’re tired.

31
Q

Sum up selection, optimization and compensation in a few words

A

Selection involves directionality, goals, or outcomes (ex: specification of goals, goals systems - hierarchy, goal commitment)
Optimization involves means to achieve success (ex: attentional focus, time allocation, practice skills)
Compensation involves a response to loss in resources (Increased attentional focus, effort/energy & time allocation)

32
Q

What did Grady and Craik (2000) suggest about the link between memory and physical loss? And what kind of data was it?

A

CORRLETATIONAL.

  • Often as you age vision, hearing and memory decline.
  • Declining memory is associated with biological loss of the brain that process auditory and visual cues.
  • Implying many memory deficit we see in older people is associated with the physical loss of vision and hearing.
  • Therefore you can turn young people into older people by degrading the stimuli because it affects their memory.
33
Q

What is the differences and similarities between young and old people in recollection and recognition tests?

A

Recollection: young > old
Recognition: young = old

34
Q

Why cant we say young and old people are the same for recognition tasks?

A

There are different levels of brain activation between young and old adults. So they’re performing the same but there are different mechanisms supporting their behaviors.

35
Q

What is something else that is going on in older adults that may explain the brain activation difference in response to recognition tests? give evidence

A

COMPENSATION!!!

In many studies, over activation is accompanied by age-equivalent performance. This additional activity, then, may serve a beneficial, compensatory function

36
Q

What may it the neural network be compensating for? (2)

A

to make up for its own declining efficiency

or to make up for processing deficiencies elsewhere in the brain

37
Q

What are the 3 main age-related research designs?

A
  • Cross-sectional
  • Longitudinal
  • Sequential
38
Q
  • Experimental
  • Survey
  • Behavioral Observation
  • Archival
    These collection methods can work for which of the research designs?
A

all 3

39
Q

What are 2 benefits of cross sectional studies?

A
  1. quick and easy

2. test many different age groups at once and compare them

40
Q

What are three downsides to cross-sectional studies?

A
  1. survival principle
  2. self selection
  3. cohort effects
41
Q

survival principle

A

people in the 25-year-old group may not be alive by the time they reach 65-year-old group. So we’re missing out on that data.

42
Q

self selection

A

some age groups are more apt to participate than others

43
Q

cohort effects

A

A cohort is a group of people sharing a common characteristic or experience. It’s when the research is impacted by characteristics of the cohorts being studied.

44
Q

Explain how a cohort effect would be present when looking at the decline of intelligence using a cross sectional study

A

If there is a decline of intelligence for example, you’re not able to see when the decline starts. So you cannot use a cross-sectional design. Because it’s a snapshot measure, not measuring a trajectory therefore there’s a cohort effects.

45
Q

Based on a study looking at white matter volume it is significantly different across age groups. Why can’t we say white matter volume is decreasing with age since results show younger people have a higher volume than older people?

A

Because of the cohort effect!!!! The younger generation has more year of education.

Adulthood & Aging (11 decks)

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