1. Chapter 1 Understanding Life-Span Human Development

2. Three broad domains What is Development? Development Physical
Cognitive
Psychosocial
Development

3. Defining Development Growth Biological aging Aging
Physical changes that occur from conception to maturity
Biological aging
Deterioration of organisms that leads to death
Gain-stability-loss
Aging
Physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, positive and negative, in the mature organism
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4. An Overview of Periods of the Life Span
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5. Age Grade: Socially defined age groups
Statuses, roles, privileges, responsibilities
Rite of passage
Ritual that marks a person’s “passage” from one status to another
Body painting
Bar or bat mitzvahs (Jewish)
Quinceañera (Hispanic American girls)
Age Norms: Behavioral expectations by age
Social Clock: When things should be done
“Off time” vs. “On time” experiences

6. Subcultural Differences
Ethnicity
People’s classification or affiliation with a group based on common heritage or traditions
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Standing in society based on occupational
prestige, education, and income
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7. Subcultural Differences
Poverty can be damaging to human development
% of children in US lived below the
poverty line
Lower academic achievement, poorer mental health and wellbeing
Increased stress
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8. Developmental changes are the products of a
Maturation: (nature) The biological unfolding of the individual genetic plan
Learning: (nurture) Relatively permanent changes due to environmental experiences
Developmental changes are the products of a
complex interplay between nature and nurture

9. Figure 1.1

10. Goals of Studying Life-Span Development
Description
Normal development, individual differences
Explanation
Typical and individually different development
Optimization
Positive development, enhancing human
capacities
Prevention and overcoming difficulties

11. MODERN LIFE-SPAN PERSPECTIVE
Development is
A lifelong process
Involves both gain and loss
Characterized by lifelong plasticity
Shaped by its historical-cultural context
Multiply influenced

12. The Scientific Method 5 4 3 2 1 objective, systematic, and testable
Report, revise, replicate 5
Draw conclusions 4
Test 3
Hypothesize (based on theory) 2
Perceive 1
Mastering1.6

13. Figure 1.2 The Scientific Method in Action

14. Sampling Unrepresentative sample Population Sampling procedure

15. Population – all the cases in a group
Random Sampling
if each member has an equal chance of inclusion into a
sample, we call that a
random sample (unbiased).
The fastest way to know about the marble color ratio is to blindly transfer a few into a smaller jar and count them.

16. Random Sampling from Population
INFERENCE
POPULATION
SAMPLE

17. 3 major types of Data Collection
Verbal reports - involve asking people
questions about themselves or others
Interviews
Written questionnaires or surveys
Ability and achievement tests
Personality scales
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18. Survey
A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people
Psychology 7e in Modules

19. Behavioral observations
A) Naturalistic Observation: Observing subjects in natural environments

20. Behavioral observations
B) Structured observations
Achieve greater control over the conditions
Create special stimuli, tasks, or situations
designed to elicit the behavior of interest
Will research participants behave naturally?
Will behavior generalize to behavior in the
real world?
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21. Physiological Measurements
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Measures increase in blood flow to an area of the
brain that occurs when that brain area is active
Hard to fake
Useful in the study of infants
Not always clear exactly about what is being
assessed

22. Description
Case Study
Phineas Gage
Is language uniquely human?

23. (positive or negative)
Correlation
When one trait or behavior accompanies another, we say the two correlate.
Indicates strength
of relationship
(0.00 to 1.00)
Correlation
coefficient
r = +
0.37
Correlation Coefficient is a statistical measure of relationship between two variables.
Indicates direction
of relationship
(positive or negative)
Psychology 7e in Modules

25. Correlation and Causation
OBJECTIVE 3-5| Explain why correlational research fails to provide evidence of cause-effect relationships.
Psychology 7e in Modules

26. Correlation Coefficient Interpretation
Range
Strength of
Relationship
Very Low
Low
Moderate
High Moderate
High
Very High

27. The Experiment
Operational definition - definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be directly measured.
Independent variable (IV) - variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter.
Dependent variable (DV) - variable in an experiment that represents the measurable response or behavior of the subjects in the experiment.
Definition: Hitting while playing
IV: Violent TV
DV: Aggressive play

28. Evaluating Therapies Random Assignment
Assigning participants to experimental (Breast-fed) and control (formula-fed) conditions by random assignment minimizes pre-existing differences between the two groups.
Psychology 7e in Modules

29. Random Assignment LO 1.11 Experimental approach and terms
Experimental Group
Test for Differences
SAMPLE
Control Group
Menu
Psychology 7e in Modules

30. Confounding Variables
LO Experimental approach and terms
Effect of violent tv on aggression
Experimental Group
SAMPLE
Are differences due to manipulation or confounding variable (mood)?
Control Group
Menu
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31. No Confounding Variables
LO Experimental approach and terms
Effect of violent tv on aggression
Experimental Group
SAMPLE
Differences due to manipulation, not an extraneous variable because mood randomly determined.
Control Group
Menu
Psychology 7e in Modules

32. Experiments Placebo effect Single-blind
Experimenter bias & “double blinding”
Quasi-experimental designs
Mastering1.44

34. Psychological Research
Example: An experiment to test the effect of Ginkgo biloba on memory and cognitive abilities
Getty Images

35. Below is a comparison of different research methods.

37. Developmental Research Designs
Cross-Sectional Designs
1 cohort (same generation) or age-groups studied
1 time of testing
Studying age differences at any one time
Longitudinal Designs
1 cohort (same generation)
Study changes across time in one cohort

38. Figure 1.4

39. Age, Cohort, and Time of Measurement Effects
Age effects: Changes which occur due to age
Cohort Effects: Born in one historical context
Changes due to differences in society
Disadvantage of cross-sectional design
Time of measurement effects: Historical
Take place at time of data collection
Disadvantage of longitudinal design

40. Sequential Designs
A combination of cross-sectional and
longitudinal designs
Advantages of both designs
Gives information about
Which age-related trends are age effects?
Which age-related trends are truly cohort
effects?
Which age-related trends are a result of
historical events?

41. Figure 1.6

42. Cross-Sectional, Longitudinal, and Sequential Developmental Designs
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43. Ethics in Psychological Research
Protection of rights and well-being of participants
Informed consent
Justification when deception is used
Right of participants to withdraw at any time
Protection of participants from harm
Confidentiality
Debriefing participants at the end of the study
Correcting any undesirable consequences that may result