Developmental Psychology: Questions, Methods, and Research Designs PDF

Development p. 10 Questions and Themes Questions Themes How do nature and nurture together Nature and nurture shape development? How do children shape their own The active child development? In what way...

Development p. 10 Questions and Themes Questions Themes How do nature and nurture together Nature and nurture shape development? How do children shape their own The active child development? In what ways is development continuous, Continuity/ and in what ways is it discontinuous? Discontinuity How does change occur? Mechanisms of developmental change How does the sociocultural context The sociocultural influence development? context How do children become so different Individual differences from each other? How can research promote children’s Research and well-being? children’s welfare  1. Nature and Nurture Nature refers to our biological endowment, especially the genes we receive from our parents (nativist) Nurture physical and social environments that influence our development (empiricist) l ***nature and nurture work together-not 43% nature and 57% nurture; interactive and inseparable!!! Which of the following characteristics is entirely the result of biological influence (genes)? A. Intelligence B. Mental health C. Physical appearance D. None of the above Epigenetics Which of the following characteristics is entirely the result of biological influence (genes)? A. Intelligence B. Mental health C. Physical appearance D. None of the above Epigenetics 4. Mechanisms of development l How does change happen? (Darwin’s evolution…) l Variation-differences in thought, processes and behavior l Selection-particular patterns are more successful 6. Individual differences l How do children become so different? l Genes (interact with environment; not alone) l Treatment by others l Subjective reactions (to treatment by others) l Choice of environments, even within the same family! 7. Research, children’s welfare, public policy l Practical benefits of child-development research l preferential looking paradigm l Intervention programs-e.g., sensitivity and attachment Research Methods l way to elicit the behavior you are interested in from a particular set of participants l The methodology you choose should be based on: l your theory/hypothesis l your research question l the age/abilities of your participants Example: What can very young infants do? l suck l turn their head l track objects with their eyes l fixate on objects Infant Methodologies/Paradigms l Operant conditioning paradigms l Pacifier Sucking (see DeCasper) l Mobile-kicking l Head Turn (see Werker) l Habituation paradigms l Preferential looking Preferential Looking Example: What can toddlers do? l group objects l search for objects l simple problem solving l talk! Toddler Methodologies/Paradigms l Object Examining l Sequential Touching l Grouping/Categorization l Object search l Problem Solving l Language-Based Tasks Sequential Touching Research Designs l correlational designs l experimental designs (table 1.6 comparison) l cross-sectional These can be correlational l longitudinal and/or experimental! l microgenetic Correlational Designs* l Nothing is manipulated l Examine association between two variables (see fig. 1.3-types of correlations) l Direction-of-causation problem: cannot tell which variable is the cause and which is the effect l Third-variable problem: correlation may arise from both being influenced by some third variable *used for initial research exploration  Correlational Study Birth Control by Toaster Method l Li, 1975 l Use of contraception use of best predicted by contraception number of appliances in the home l Positive correlation coefficient, r l Crazy correlations # toasters in the home What is cause of correlation between birth control and toasters? l A. people who use birth control like appliances l B. people who like toasters are more likely to use birth control l C. people who use birth control are shopaholics l D. people who can afford toasters can afford birth control Third Variable Problem Crazy correlations Money Toaster Contraception Toaster Contraception The external validity of a measure involves the extent to which: a) the effects of an experiment are truly due to conditions the researcher intended to manipulate. b) different observers of the same behavior agree. c) the results of a study will hold when studies are conducted with different participants and methods. d) independent measurements of a given behavior are consistent. Experimental Designs l Experiment - manipulate something and observe its effect on behavior l independent variable (what you manipulate) l dependent variable (what you measure) l participants randomly assigned (control vs. experimental group OR different treatments) l can infer causality and why relationship exists Cross-sectional vs. Longitudinal l Cross-sectional designs: Children of different ages are compared on a given behavior or characteristic over a short period of time l Problem: differential ability among same age groups l Strength: not too time consuming l Longitudinal designs: Used when the same children are studied twice or more over a substantial period of time (often > 2 yrs) l Problem: time-consuming l Strength: can watch development happen (long time) Microgenetic Designs l Used to provide an in-depth depiction of processes that produce change l Problem: very intensive (coding!) l Strength: can watch development happen (short time), uncover mechanism!  p. 37 Comparison of Designs Design Key Features Advantages Disadvantages Cross- Children of Yields useful data about Uninformative about stability of sectional different ages differences among age individual differences over time are studied at a groups Uninformative about similarities single time Quick and easy to administer and differences in individual children’s patterns of change Longitudinal Children are Indicates the degree of Difficult to keep all participants examined stability of individual in study repeatedly over differences over long periods Repeatedly testing children can a prolonged Reveals individual children’s threaten external validity of period of time patterns of change over long study periods Microgenetic Children are Intensive observation of Does not provide information observed changes while they are about typical patterns of change intensively over occurring can reveal process over long periods a relatively short of change Does not reveal individual time period Reveals individual change change patterns over long while a change patterns over short periods in periods is occurring considerable detail