Studying children's minds Flashcards
what is dev?
- change in beh As a function of time or age
- age tells us lots about dev but lots of dev OccUrS in short periods of time (hours)
- increasing age contributes nothing to dev
-Maturation is dev
The 4 P’s
-help us work out if its dev change or transitory learning
- Profound -> changes entire Out look on world (attachment formation)
- Permanent -> dev NOT easily reversed unlike learning
- Progressive ->dev bring about improvement
-Pervasive -> affects all areas of life
What is developmental psych?
-study of dev of mind + beh
- obvious links with most other areas of psych
- Focus on mind + ben changing how + why
Reasons for studying dev
- Empirical -> comparative to other animals, role of early exp in dev
- philosophical -> What do we bring to the world? HOW do we get something from nothing?
- Practical- informs: parental advice, intervention for dev disorders, teaching + policy
Early perspectives of dev
-Plato -> all ideas are innate- Is process of discovering what is already known
-Descartes: Nativism -mind body dualism
- RousseaU : innately good chiId dev according to natures plan
- Locke: mind as tabula rasa (blank slate) . Dev entirely by experience + interactions ( empiricism)
EMergence of scientific discipline
-Darwin: origin of species
- Bio sketch of infant - systematic observations of his son Doddy
-Dev is progressive adaptation to env
- systematic methods - not just anecdotal evidence
- Bio origins Of human nature - genetic + evolutionary inheritance
- first person to believe It was nature -nurture
Extension of Darwin’s ideas
- stage Theories
- Recapitulationism : everything we did as a species to dev children do from scratch
- Misapplications - Hall’s evolutionary hierarchy
Nature + Nurture issue in dev psych
-Nativist (nature) perspective-> descartes, innate endowments
- Empiricist position (nurture)- > Locke, env influence , Watson -Little Albert + conditioning phobia
-modern position (Plomin) -> contributions of nature + nurture (interactionists -Piaget’s)
continuities + Discontinuities issue of dev psych
- Discontinuous dev = Freud psychosexual dev, Piaget’s stage theory - different distinct stages, stop start
- continuous dev = Bardura’s Learning Theory - continuous smooth dev
Passive + active child issues of dev psych
- Are children passive ppts in dev, primarily moulded experience
-mechanistic view -> we are like computers - or do they have an active role in exploring word + constructing concepts
- Piaget believes they are active + construct their knowledge
- Active = organismic view
Longitudinal stability + influence issue in dev psych
- Do certain dev constructs remain stable overtime?
- Are some constructs important in predicting subsequent dev
- Attachment
- people tested repeatedly as they grow older
Indiv Difference issues in dev psych
-concern with What is shared by all humans + What varies
- Try to explain causes of indiv differences
what accounts for indiv differences in children the same age
Methodological problems when studying dev
-children aren’t reliable ppts
- Infants can’t talk
-Dev is noisy + influenced by many factors
- Ethical considerations limit studies to establish cause + effect direction
The Data problem when studying dev
- most are naturalistic observations
- How can we obtain satisfactory quantitative measures While maintaining naturalistic context
- The issue of naturalistic contexts differing
- Developmental task solves the problem -> design tasks to measure specific abilities (eco valid, not compliant issues)
Establishing causal relationships when studying dev
- correlational studies have issues of direction of causation + possible 3rd factor causing the association
- Experimental method tries to overcome this - controls confounding variables however generalising problems + compliance
choosing the right age when studying dev
- Need to ensure tasks + procedures are age-appropriate to avoid floor ceiling effects
- want a range of ages need to ensure task is suitable for diff age groups (cross-sectional design)
-microgenetic -> examine change as it occurs by repeated testing + high density observation
FolK Theories of dev
= ideds about dev not based on scientific reasoning
- punishment or praise theory
-often intergenerational -> copy parents parenting style for own
- Believe born inherently good + punishment is unnecessary
observational studies to study dev
- Baby biographies > diaries detailing infants dev -rich detail but often incorrect + unreliable
- Time sampling-> record beh at frequent intervals - Not accurate , doesn’t record all beh
- Event sampling -> record particular beh during events
- clinical > natural beh then change env to understard beh at interest
Psychological testing of dev
- Quantitative assessment of indivs attributes
- standardised tests
- Tests depend on age + beh
Development functions definition
typical trends in dev
5 ways you grow/change with age
- continuous , increasing ability- beh improves with age
- continuous, decreasing ability- beh gets worse with age
- step or stage like - occurs in stages (Piaget)
- inverted U - improve early then Stabilise as adult then get Worse older
- Upright U - ability early, disappear then reappear
