Lecture 1 PDF - Developmental Psychology

Lecture Monday, January 6, 2025 9:36 AM Outline: - Why study developmental psychology? - Longstanding themes and questions - Basics methodology developmental methodology Why Study Developmental Psychology? - Universal experience with lots of heterogeneity ○ Very few experiences tha...

Lecture Monday, January 6, 2025 9:36 AM Outline: - Why study developmental psychology? - Longstanding themes and questions - Basics methodology developmental methodology Why Study Developmental Psychology? - Universal experience with lots of heterogeneity ○ Very few experiences that aren't universal ○ Heterogeneity - A lot of differences in peoples lives - Informs individual decision making ○ Is my child’s progression normal or should I take her to the doctor? Allows us to track normative trends and timelines What are optimal parenting practices ○ Should I let my child “cry it out” or pick him up? ○ Does “time out” help? § Really all depends on the specific child and their tendencies/behaviour - Training for those who interact professionally with children - Policy ○ Universal lunch programs § Program that provides healthy meals to all children ○ Eyewitness testimony § Elizabeth Loftus § Studying how children are questioned, see the effects of certain tactics § Study of a Simon says game, recorded the things the kids did or didn’t do □ The children's accounts varied based on the way the story was told by the interviewer □ Children tend to leave out a lot of information, not intentionally lie Enduring Themes: - What is the relative contribution of nature vs. nurture? ○ Very specific questions and varies for each topic ○ How do they work together to influence? ○ More of an “and” rather than a “versus” § We now consider them working together and not just one or the other to Enduring Themes: - What is the relative contribution of nature vs. nurture? ○ Very specific questions and varies for each topic ○ How do they work together to influence? ○ More of an “and” rather than a “versus” § We now consider them working together and not just one or the other to influence ○ Relative contribution varies based on topic § When people go through famine and learn to store fat and have baby they w too from environmental cues § For height - the genes contribute and there is a max height that you can grow to and wont pass that from anything other than genetics - Are children active or passive? ○ Active children means they are playing a big role in shaping their own learning, behaviours, and environments. ○ Never passive contributors - Is development continuous or discontinuous? ○ More so continuous ○ How does change happen in infants and children's lives? § Continuous - Development is gradual and a cumulative process of change ove time, rather than separate stages. § Discontinuous - Children have one set of skills, and when they grow they are qualitatively different/completely different. - How do children become so different from one another? ○ Genes § Born differently of course, influences certain behaviours ○ Different treatment § Ex. Growing up in conflict vs. not § Home environment can really impact children, the way they think and behav ○ Different reactions to same treatment § E.g., gene x environment; differential susceptibility § No two children will respond to something the same, regardless of having the same environment § Differential susceptibility: there are certain children that would be dandelion and others to be orchids; □ Dandelions - tend to do well in most environments, if given no support □ Orchids - really sensitive to their environment. They flourish in environments where they are supported. They fall apart if not. ○ Environmental selection Externalizing Problems: - Involves acting negatively on the external environment - Shows up instantly in behaviour - A lot of withholding of feelings will w er ve e ns t.  ○ Environmental selection Externalizing Problems: - Involves acting negatively on the external environment - Shows up instantly in behaviour - A lot of withholding of feelings - Impulsivity, aggression, etc. - Depression Heterotypic Continuity: - Heterotypic continuity: the same behaviour occurring across different development periods has a different meaning. ○ Ex. Biting as a small child vs adolescence has different meanings Basic Methods of (Developmental) Psychology: - Basics of measurement - Reliability ○ If you measure it across time there is an agreement/no change § Ex. Personality tests given months apart - shouldn’t change much ○ Interrater reliability § Ensures that measurements or evaluations are consistent across different observers, improving the reliability and objectivity of the results. § Interested in behaviour § E.g., Stranger approach coding ○ Test-retest reliability § Helps to determine whether a test is dependable and consistent across time. § E.g., CBQ - Validity ○ Making sure what you're trying/wanting to study is what you're actually studying. ○ Internal § Degree to which a study can confidently establish a cause-and-effect relationship between variables. ○ External § Extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other people, settings, or times. - What is the relation between reliability and validity? ○ If what you're measuring changes - how can you measure it? - How do we gather data? ○ Interviews and questionnaires § Cheapest option § Often asking other people on children's behalf § Can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured § Can do child self-report or parent report □ Ex. Wanting to find out about a child's personality? A parent report.  § Cheapest option § Often asking other people on children's behalf § Can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured § Can do child self-report or parent report □ Ex. Wanting to find out about a child's personality? A parent report would be ideal § E.g., CBQ vs. EATQ § E.g., MINI, Kid-SCID, open interviews ○ Naturalistic observation § Studying in the real world and observe. § Not as common with developmental psychology § E.g., Dr. Ken Rubin or Dr. Rob Coplan ○ Structured observation § Involves observing and recording specific behaviors in a controlled setting using pre-determined categories ○ Correlational designs § Everyone gets same exposure, simply looks at correlation between two variables § Direction of causation problem □ Can't say that x is a direct influence on y, just that there is a correlation § Third variable problem ○ Experimental designs § When you begin to manipulate something § Different groups, different treatment § Random assignment § Experimental control □ Independent variable □ Dependent variable What Does Inhibitory Control Look Like? - Inhibitory control: ability to inhibit a prepotent response in favor of activating a less dominant response. - Marshmallow study - children given a marshmallow, left alone, if they eat it then no more treats, if they don’t they get more. ○ Have to inhibit their dominant response (just eat the marshmallow) to get what the want (more treats) - Something like waiting in line can also be inhibitory control (by not just going to the front to slide down right away) - Measuring inhibitory control: ○ Flanker task: a test that can be used with children to assess their selective attention inhibitory function, and interference control § Involves a target stimulus surrounded by non-target stimuli, and the participant is asked to respond to the target. The non-target stimuli can matc or mismatch the target, and the participant's response time and accuracy are n e ey t n, ch e - Measuring inhibitory control: ○ Flanker task: a test that can be used with children to assess their selective attention inhibitory function, and interference control § Involves a target stimulus surrounded by non-target stimuli, and the participant is asked to respond to the target. The non-target stimuli can matc or mismatch the target, and the participant's response time and accuracy are measured. ○ Dinky toys task: the child is asked to place his or her hands on knees while choosing on prize from a box filled with small toys. § The instructions are for the child to “tell” the experimenter which toy he or she wanted without touching or pointing to the toy. n, ch e g