introduction to developmental psychology (1)

development

systematic continuities and changes between conception and death

maturation and learning

two concepts that drive development

maturation

hereditary influences on the aging process

learning

change in behaviour due to experience

normative and ideographic

two subtype descriptions of development

normative development

standard of development

individual differences in development

ideographic development

holistic

combination of factors

physical, cognitive, psychosocial

combination of factors that make up the holistic process of human development

plasticity

the brain’s ability to change and adapt in response to experience, learning, or injury

prenatal period

first period of life

conception to birth

prenatal period age range

infancy

second period of life

birth to 18 months

infancy age range

toddler period

third period of life

18 months to 3 years

toddler period age range

preschool period

fourth period of life

3 to 5 years

preschool period age range

middle childhood

fifth period of life

5 to 12 years (until puberty)

middle childhood age range

adolescence

sixth period of life

12 to 20 years (until independence)

adolescence age range

young adulthood

seventh period of life

20 to 40 years

young adulthood age range

middle age

eighth period of life

40 to 65 years

middle age range

old age

ninth period of life

65 years and older

old age range

9

how many periods of life are there?

original sin

theory of a child’s inherent nature that children are inherently bad and must be “molded” to fit morally into society

thomas hobbes

who developed the inherent nature theory of original sin?

original sin

what was thomas hobbes’ view of children’s inherent nature?

innate purity

theory of a child’s inherent nature that children have an innate sense of right and wrong before they are “corrupted” by society

jean jacques rousseau

who developed the inherent nature theory of innate purity?

innate purity

what was jean jacques rousseau’s view of children’s inherent nature?

tabula rasa

theory of children’s inherent nature that children are not inherently good or bad, and rather a “blank slate” on which society and experience writes

john locke

who developed the tabula rasa theory of inherent nature?

tabula rasa

what was john locke’s view of children’s inherent nature?

passive

a child’s role in development where how they are raised shapes their morals and personality; development relies on external factors rather than the child’s own agency

active

a child’s role in development where the child is engaged with their environment and learns through their actions, choices, and experiences

passive

what was thomas hobbes’ view on a child’s role in development?

active

what was jean jacques rousseau’s view on a child’s role in development?

passive

what was john locke’s view on a child’s role in development?

charles darwin, clara and william stern, jean piaget

psychologists historically associated with studying children (often their own) to draw conclusions regarding childhood development

subjectivity bias, lack of generalizability

what are the main problems with a parent recording development of their own child as a basis of research into developmental psychology?

language acquisition

what specific area of development was studied by clara and william stern through recording and observation of their own children?

objectivity, replicability

two main criteria for scientific investigation

reliable and valid

in order for a test to be a good measure of whatever it is intended to study, it must be __________

reliability

referring to a test’s ability to give consistent outcomes each time

validity

referring to a test’s ability to measure what it purports to measure

structured interviews

self-report method of research in which a researcher asks a set series of questions (i.e. scripted)

semi-structured interviews

self-report method of research in which a researcher asks a series of questions with scripted key points

structured questionnaires

self-report method of research involving a set series of written questions/answers

clinical method

self-report method of research; free-form interview

young children

for what demographic might self-report research methods be ineffective?

bias, inaccurate answers, varied interpretation of questions

limitations of self-report research methods

naturalistic observation

observational research method in which children are observed in natural surroundings (e.g. home, school)

time-sampling

observational research method in which the frequency of specific behaviours is recorded in brief observation intervals

structured observation

observational research method in which a laboratory situation is designed to elicit a specific behaviour

observer influence

changes in behaviour due to knowledge of being observed

observer influence, no determination of cause, ethical concerns

limitations of observational research methods

case studies

detailed records of an individual/group’s development

not comparable, not generalizable

limitations of case studies

ethnography

research method in which a researcher lives in a community they wish to study for a period of time

effect of culture on development

the main goal of ethnography is to understand the __________

highly subjective, not generalizable

limitations of ethnography

anthropology

social science that commonly uses ethnography as a research method

biological processes involved in perception, cognition, emotion

the main goal of psychophysiological research methods is to understand the __________

event-related potentials

ERPs

heart rate, ERPs, fMRIs, eye tracking

some examples of psychophysiological research methods

combination of methods

what is the best psychophysiological research method?

expensive, interference from other biological processes

limitations of psychophysiological research methods

aspect of the stimulus, biological response

a limitation of psychophysiological research methods: it may be difficult to determine which __________ drives __________

correlational design

research method with the main goal of determining whether two things are related

r

correlational coefficient

index of strength and direction of relation

what does r (correlational coefficient) represent?

-1.00 to 1.00

what is the range of the correlational coefficient?

absolute value

what indicates the strength of a correlation?

no relationship exists

what does an r value of 0.00 indicate about the relationship between two variables?

experimental design

research method with the goal of determining whether a causal relationship exists

experimental control

ensuring the reliability and validity of a research design

confounding variable

extraneous factor influencing the outcome of experimental design

random assignment

unbiased procedure for assigning participants to research groups

ecological validity

assesses whether conclusions drawn from laboratory studies apply to the real world

natural/quasi experiment

measures the impact of a naturally occurring event (e.g. interviewing people on the street about the L.A. fires)

cannot conclude causation

limitation of natural/quasi experiments

cross-sectional design

people of different ages studied at the same point in time

differences between age groups, cohort effects

limitations of cross-sectional design

longitudinal/time-series research

the same participants are observed repeatedly over time

no guarantee of finished research

limitation of longitudinal design

sequential design

combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs i.e. different ages across time

microgenetic design

research method with the goal of specifying why a change occurs while the change is in progress

cross-cultural studies

research with the goal of guarding against overgeneralization of results by falsely claiming “universal” findings

protection from harm, informed consent, confidentiality, debriefing, knowledge of results

ethical considerations of research design; research participants all have the right to __________