Developmental Psychology

Continuous Development: Smooth and stable uniform change which is often done through quantitative methods

Discontinuous Development: An abrupt, dramatic change, and hitting major milestones

• Often qualitative studies

Considerations/challenges in Developmental Psychology

Post Hoc Fallacy: A false assumption that an event causes another because it came before an event

Bidirectional Influences

Human development is almost aways a two way street

• Children’s experiences and relationships play a big factor on their development overtime

• Children play an active role in development because they have more control over selecting/altering their environments with age.

Research Designs in Developmental Psychology

Cross-Sectional Design

Examines people of different ages at a single point in time

Limits

• Cohort Effect: Effect observed in a sample of participants that result from people in a sample that grew up in the same time

  • We cannot see how beliefs, behaviours, and thoughts evolve overtime

Longitudinal Design

Examines development in the same group of people on multiple occasions over time. Longitudinal design is more beneficial for finding true development overtime.

It is more sensitive because it is prone to many influences/factors of an individuals life

Limits:

1. Costly and time-consuming

2. Attrition

Nature vs Nurture

They both interact with each other

Gene-Environment Interaction: The impact of genes depends on the environment in which the behaviour develops

Warrior Gene: MAOA

Breaks down serotonin and if the MAOA gene breaks down, it can lead to impulsions. Thus leading to violence.

Nature via Nurture: Genetic predispositions can drive us to select and create particular environments

• E.g. An introvert will select a quiet environment

Gene Expression: Some genes turn on only in response to specific environmental events

• E.g. A death of a family member can activate the genetic predisposition of anxiety