Developmental Psychology: Research & Methods

• The lecture discusses developmental psychology and methodological basics.
• It is held by Professor Dr. Andreas Neubauer in the winter semester of 2024/2025.
• The lecture covers research goals, designs, longitudinal data analysis, and study designs in developmental psychology.
• Learning objectives include understanding lifespan questions, longitudinal study designs, and longitudinal data analysis.

Research Goals of Developmental Psychology

• Intraindividual changes are changes within an individual over time.
• Inter-individual differences are variations in intra-individual changes between people.
• Examine the connections between changes in various aspects of life.
• The causes of intra-individual changes.
• The causes of inter-individual differences in intra-individual changes based on Baltes & Nesselroade, 1979.

Research Designs of Developmental Psychology

• Addresses the research designs in developmental psychology.
• Querschnitt: involves studying different age groups at one point in time.
• Längsschnitt: following the same individuals over time.
• Sequenzdesign, or sequential design: combines both to address research questions more effectively.

Querschnitt Study Design

• Efficient for correlating age and well-being.
• Compares the mean well-being of younger versus older groups.
• There are no period, selection, or measurement repetition effects, unlike longitudinal studies.
• Requires different age groups from the same population.
• Cannot examine intra-individual changes, only inter-individual differences
• Cohort effects cannot be excluded.

Längsschnitt Study Design

• The same people are examined at multiple measurement points.
• All five research goals by Baltes & Nesselroade (1979) can be addressed.
• Allows for reduced influence of cohort effects since individuals are compared to themselves.
• Requires complex data and analysis methods.
• It involves long periods of time, potential selection effects, measurement repetition effects, and period effects.
• Selective dropout/experimental mortality occurs when participants no longer take part in the study.
• Selective non-participation at further measurement points can lead to distortions
• People with below-average performance are more likely to drop out of the study.
• May lead to an overestimation of the average change over the 4 measurement points

Messwiederholungseffekte

• It is a problem, especially with cognitive tests.
• There are training effects in which performance improves, which can overshadow age-related changes.
• The solution to messwiederholungseffekte is to adapt the instrument by using different tasks/items.
• Vorsicht, but be careful when adapting the instruments to make sure it still measures the same thing (Messinvarianz)
• another solution is to use a comparison group that hasn't taken part of previous tests.
• There will still have to be similar properties to the test group.

Periodeneffekte

• Konfundiert mit dem Zeitpunkt, zu dem die Befragung stattgefunden hat (Schulen geschlossen)
• Events or circumstances at the time of the survey can affect trait (z. B. Konfundierung)
• Affects events at selected MZP, could overshadow long changes
• positive attitudes towards being alone (e.g., "I have discovered the benefits of being alone")
• Assessed at four time points (~ 3 years)
• periodEffect da war die x-Achse noch nicht gegeben

Sequenzdesign

• A combination of Querschnitt and Längsschnitt
• People are examined at multiple measurement points in addition to new cohorts being added

Vorteile Sequenzdesign

• All 5 research goals by Baltes & Nesselroade (1979) can be addressed.
• With the help of cohort/measurement point comparisons, can eliminate isolated konfundierende effects
• Not all efekkte can be reduced/omitted at a given time
• Sehr Lange Laufzeit
• Here we start with a cross Section from we make Long section and other

Time-lag

• Hier der Zeitliche unterschied
• All seven years of new measurements

Alters-, Kohorten-, Perioden-Effekte

• Wie auch immer wir die Stichprobenzusammensetzung und Design verändern, es ist nicht möglich,
• Alters-, Kohorten- und Perioden-Effekte in einem gemeinsamen statistischen Modell voneinander zu
• trennen.

Weitere Studiendesigns

• Testing-the-limits involves understanding what maximum can be gotten out of a task or situation
• The aim is to separate Ausgangsreserve, or base capacity and Entwicklungsreserve, or developmental reserve
• Ausgangsreserve is the design of the background conditions(z.B.Instruktion)
• Entwicklungsreserve is Training, Wiederholen -->Plastizität
• Experimentelle Ansätze, where older test subjects do not test as well compared to the younger ones
• The aim is to describe not just Altersunterschiede with experimental Manipulations
• Motivation can also influence the processes -This also affects how people connect with the test faces

Verhaltensbeobachtung

• This is important when working with kinder, (child) age test patients
• The are key steps and factors when observing the subjects -Interaction Kid - Bezugspersonen -Blickbewegung -EEG

Zussammenfassung

• Längsschnittliche Studiendesigns sind für das Erreichen der fünf Forschungsziele der Entwicklungspsychologie unenthehrlich
• These designs bring in Komplikationen as well, thus a Trennung of Alter, Kohorte, und Periode, making it impossible to make Designs
• The method of Analyse zur von Längsschnitlichen Daten, involves taking Wachstumsmodell(growth model) and comparing it to the the current
• Die Entwicklungspsychologie(psychology) sets in the however also this method and works z. B. experimenteller Designs, and other factors to come to a consensus