Science and Human Development

Scientific Method

• Uses empirical research and data-based conclusions to answer questions

Steps of the Scientific Method

• Step 1: Begin with curiosity and pose a question
• Step 2: Develop a hypothesis
• Step 3: Test the hypothesis
• Step 4: Draw conclusions
• Step 5: Report the results
• Step 6: Replication, repeating a study using different participants

Science of Human Development

• Seeks to understand how and why people of all ages and circumstances change or remain the same over time

Aspects of Growth

• Multidirectional
• Multicontextual
• Multicultural
• Multidisciplinary
• Plastic

Nature vs Nurture

• Nature: Genetic influences on a person
• Nurture: Non-genetic influences on each developing person including mother's nutrition during pregnancy and national culture
• Nature affects Nurture, and Nurture affects Nature

Differential Susceptibility

• Sensitivity to any particular experience differs from one person to another because of inherited genes or what happened earlier in life

Life-Span Perspective

• This approach to the study of human development takes all phases of life into account, not just childhood or adulthood
• Development can be viewed as multidirectional, multicontextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plastic

Development

• Human characteristics change in every direction over time
• Discontinuous development involves stages, supported by theorists like Freud, Erickson, and Piaget
• Continuous development is viewed as a constant process
• Critical periods and sensitive periods are considerations in the timing of losses and gains

Multicontextual Factors

• Human development is fundamentally contextual
• Ecological systems impacts each person through social contexts and interpersonal interactions
• Individuals are surrounded and affected by three nested levels, and this approach was later re-named bioecological theory

Historical Context

• Cohort: People born within the same historical period move through life together, and experience the same major events, technologies, and cultural shifts at the same ages

Socioeconomic Context

• Affected by national and historical contexts, more critical in some jurisdictions, and includes the pervasive context of Socioeconomic Status (SES)
• Socioeconomic Status (SES): A person’s position in society as determined by income, wealth, occupation, education, and place of residence

Multiculturalism

• Culture: A system of shared beliefs, norms, behaviors and expectations that persists over time and guides behavior and assumptions
• Social construction: An idea based on shared perceptions; age-related terms like childhood and senior citizen are social constructions
• Difference-equals-deficit error: Mistaken belief that deviation some norm is necessarily inferior

Concepts of Groupings

• Ethnic group: People whose ancestors were born in the same region, and who often share a language, culture, and religion
• Race: A flawed and destructive concept, defined as a group of people regarded as distinct on the basis of physical appearance

Multidisciplinary Factors

• All important human characteristics are epigenetic
• Epigenetic factors refer to effects of environmental forces on the expression of an individual's/species' genetic inheritance
• Some epigenetic influences impede development, while others facilitate it

Plasticity

• Denotes that human traits can be molded yet people maintain a certain durability of identity
• Dynamic systems: Human development is an ongoing, ever-changing interaction, between the physical and emotional self and the person and every aspect of their environment

Dynamic-Systems Approach

• Builds on the multidirectional, multicontextual, multicultural, and multidisciplinary aspects of development
• Urges consideration of all interrelated aspects, and every social and cultural factor, over days and years

Three Insights

• Benefits of prediction advance nature and nurture
• Sensitivity periods
• Differential sensitivity

Scientific Observation

• Requires the researcher to record behavior systematically and objectively in a naturalistic setting or laboratory

Statistical Measures

• Used to analyze research results, like effect size, significance, cost-benefit analysis, odds ratio, factor analysis, and meta-analysis

Research Studies

• Important characteristics of people who participate are the people who are studied, and those characteristics are presented with statistics

Experiments

• Researchers try to determine a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables
• Independent variable: A variable that is introduced to see what effect it has on the dependent variable
• Dependent variable: A variable that may change as a result of the introduction of a new condition or situation

Study Groups

• Experimental group: Subject to the particular treatment or condition, the independent variable
• Comparison Group: Also known as a control group, does not receive the experimental group treatment

Surveys

• Involve collection of information from a large number of people
• Present challenges in acquiring valid information
• Produce answers that are influenced by the wording and sequence of the survey questions

Developmental Research

• Measurements are taken of how people change or stay the same over time

Types of Research

• Cross-sectional research: Comparing groups of people of one age with people of another age
• Longitudinal research: Collecting data repeatedly on the same individuals as they age
• Cross-sequential research: Studies groups of people of different ages, a cross-sectional approach, and follows them over the years, a longitudinal approach

Best Approach for Research

• Cross-sequential research is the most time-consuming and complex, but it yields the best information

Correlation

• Exists between 2 variables; one variable is more(or less) likely to occur when the other does
• Positive correlation: both variables tend to increase or decrease together
• Negative correlation: one variable tends to increase while others decrease
• Zero correlation: no connection is evident
• Correlation does not equal causation

Quantitative Research

• Provides data that can be expressed through numbers such as ranks, scales

Qualitative Research

• Considers qualities instead of quantities
• Descriptions of particular conditions and participant expressed ideas are part of qualitative studies

Research Ethics

• Each academic discipline and professional society involved in human development study has its own code of ethics
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) ensures that research adheres to established guidelines and remains ethical
• Participation is voluntary, harmless, and confidential
• Research subjects must consent to the research, and understand the procedures and risks