psych midterm 1

nature

the belief that development is primarily driven by innate, biological factors and full dependent on genetics

nurture

belief that development is primarily shaped by experience

development is an interaction between

genetics and the environment

PKU

example of gene expression being dependent on environmental input

how one weights nature vs nurture impacts

public policy, how one thinks about ability/intelligence, parenting, and how disorders are treated

disclosure for informed consent

full information about the study and its purpose, risks, procedures, and benefits given before the experiment

comprehension

participant must understand what they’re agreeing to

voluntary

participant’s free of coercion and can withdraw at any time without penalty

competence

participant must be capable of making the decision or have someone who can (consent/assent)

risk should never be

disproportionate to what’s gained

debrief

explaining the true purpose of the study, clarifying any deception, and addression any questions after a study; ensures participants leave with accurate understanding and no lasting harm

IRB

instructional review board, reviews proposed research before it happens to ensure it meets ethical standards; can approve, reject, or require changes to studies

domain of development

a specific area of development that researchers study and are interconnected

theories

generate predictions/hypothesis that guide what researchers observe

observations

support/refute/refine theories

reliability

consistency of a measurement

inter-rater reliability

consistency across PEOPLE

test-retest reliability

consistency across TIME

validity

how well a test/study actually measures what it claims to

internal validity

if a study shows that the IV actually changes the DV

construct validity

if a measure actually measures the concept it’s supposed to

external/ecological validity

if a study’s results can be generalized

operational definition

the precise, measurable definition of a concept and specifying how it’ll be observed/manipulated (ex: aggression = # of hits recorded in 10 minutes)

pros of operational definition

helps reliability and validity

factors that cause bias

observer expectations, non-representative samples, poorly operationalized definitions, demand characteristics, lack of blinding, social bias

weird participants

western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic; majority of psych participants but makes up a small percentage

open science

movement promoting transparency in research and making research easily shareable

replication crisis

many findings can’t be reproduced, increases reliability concerns

data sharing

sharing data, methods, etc. which lets researchers check results, repeat studies, and catch errors

naturalistic study

observing behavior in real-world settings without manipulation, low experimental control

pros of naturalistic study

high ecological validity, good for studying behaviors that can’t/shouldn’t be manipulated

cons of naturalistic study

low internal validity, can’t determine causation, less control over confounds

no

can you infer causation from correlation

independent variable

variable manipulated

dependent variable

variable measured as an outcome

random assignment

randomly placing participants into different conditions so groups are equal to start; ensures confounds/pre-existing differences are evenly distributed

pros of experiments

high internal validity, control over confounds

cons of experiments

can lack ecological validity

case study

in-depth, detailed investigation of an individual/small group over an extended time

pros of a case study

detailed data

cons of a case study

not generalizable, can’t infer causation

internal validity

how well a study establishes causation

external validity

how well a study’s results can be generalized

cross-sectional study

comparing different groups at a single point in time

pros of cross-sectional study

fast, low attrition

cons of cross-sectional study

can’t track individual change over time; vulnerable to cohort effects

demonstration study

type of cross sectional study where researchers look at one age group to show a phenomenon at that particular age or to compare it to a benchmark (looking at one age)

age-matched control study

type of cross sectional study that compares a group of interest to a similar group matched by age to isolate the effect of studied variable (comparing two groups of the same age)

longitudinal study

following/measuring the same individuals repeatedly over time

pros of longitudinal study

tracks actual individual development change

cons of longitudinal study

time-consuming, practice effects, not generalizable to other cohorts

microgenetic study

type of longitudinal design involving very frequent observations over a short period, captures moment-to-moment process

cohort effect

difference in age groups due to generational experiences of that cohort, rather than the development process itself

zygotic phase

0-2 weeks, egg is fertilized

embryonic phase

3-8 weeks, support systems develop and major organs/body structures begin to form

fetal phase

9-40 weeks, growth/refinement of organs/structures

teratogen

any external agent that can cause abnormal prenatal development or birth defects

teratogen effect on zygotic phase

miscarriage

teratogen effect on embryonic phase

major structural birth defects

teratogen effect on fetal phase

growth related, preterm/low birth weight

typical gestation

37-42 weeks, > 5.5 lbs

prematurity’s typical gestation

<37 weeks, < 5.5 lbs

reason for prematurity/SGA (small for gestational age)

lack of O2/nutrients, leading to an increase in risk of complications

cerebral palsy

disorder affecting movement, muscle tone, posture

cause of CP

damage to a developing brain

genotype

an organism’s genetic makeup, specific set of genes/alleles inherited

phenotype

observable characteristics of an organism, resulting from interaction between genotype and environment

chromosomes

“threads” made of DNA that code for specific traits

monozygotic twins

identical twins, single fertilized egg splits into 2 embryos, share 100% of genes

dizygotic twins

fraternal twins, two eggs fertilized by two separate sperm, share 50% of genes

fetal learning in utero requires

opportunities to learn, developed systems to detect stimuli, responses display to learning

behaviors measurable in utero

HR changes and fetal movement

testing fetal learning of flavors/smells/sounds

consuming a certain food during pregnancy → preference for flavor consumed prenatally

habituation

decrease in response to a stimuli over time

dishabituation

recovery of a response because of slightly different stimuli

preferential looking study

infants are shown 2 stimuli side by side and researchers measure how long the infants looks at each

there will be viewing preference

infants distinguishing a difference in the preferential looking study

cross-modal preferential looking study

study where infant receiving information from one sensory modality and must choose between 2 visual displays that match/mismatch info

cross-modal

integrating 2 different senses

yellow booties study

infants looking longer at the matching visual display demonstrates cross-modal matching

eye-tracking methods

provide precise, moment-to-moment data on where an infant’s looking rather than just overall looking duration towards a direction/stimulus, allowing researchers to find specific patterns/details

head mounted eye tracking

allows tracking as infant moves since it tracks eye movement relative to head view, records where exactly eyes are fixated

remote eye tracking

a stationary item (camera near a screen) that tracks eye movements from a distance without anything attached to the infant

head cameras

record what’s in an infant’s general field of view without indicating what they’re specifically fixated on

violation of expectation study

infants are shown an event that follows expected rules or violates them and looking time’s compared

if infants look longer at the impossible event

it suggests an expectation was there and they noticed it was violated, implying there was some underlying knowledge about the rule tested

VOE vs habituation

VOE tests if an infant has knowledge or expectations about how things should work, habituation tests if an infant can tell 2 stimuli are different (is it different vs is it supposed to happen)

classical conditional

learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that already provides a response → neutral stimulus triggering a similar response

operant conditioning

learning that occurs through the consequences of voluntary behaviors

reinforcement ___ behavior

increases

punishment ___ behavior

decreases

positive

adding something

negative

taking away something

if behavior changes from operant conditioning, one can infer that

infant has learned an association between their behavior and consequence

rovee-collier’s mobile study

ribbon tied to infant’s ankle → movement made mobile move

what did infants learn from the mobile study

more kicking → more mobile movement

what learning was used in the mobile study

operant conditioning (positive reinforcement)

extinction phase of mobile study

ribbon being disconnected so kicking no longer moved the mobile

effect of extinction

kicking rates decrease since reinforcing consequence no longer occured

facial expressions during mobile study during reinforcing effect

positive when reinforcing effect occurred, negative during extinction (negative bc of emotional response tied to learning contingency being broken)