What is development? Domains of development Questions about Development: Normative Development and Individual Differences Goals of developmental psychology Themes/Issues in developmental psychology

What is development? Development refers to systematic changes in the individual that occur over time from conception to death

Domains of Development Physical Development –Changes in the body and brain Cognitive Development –Changes in thought, intelligence, and language Socioemotional Development –Changes in relationships, emotions, and personality

Questions about Development Normative development –Involves typical or average patterns of change

Individual differences –Involves differences between individuals of approximately the same age

Goals of Developmental Psychology Describe behavior and how it changes across development Explain development –Identify the underlying processes or causes of change Apply knowledge to help children develop in positive directions

Themes/Issues in Developmental Psychology How do genetic/biological and environmental factors work together to shape development?

Is development continuous or discontinuous?

–Continuous (Quantitative) Gradual, small, steady increases in skills/abilities

–Discontinuous (Qualitative) Relatively fast changes that involve a major re-organization of skills/abilities (new stage of development)

How important is early experience in affecting later development?

Research Methods in Developmental Psychology –Hypotheses –Data Collection Techniques Systematic Observation –Naturalistic Observation –Structured Observation Self-report Measures –Clinical Interviews –Structured Interviews and Questionnaires Psychophysiological Methods –General Research Designs Correlational Experimental –Designs for Studying Development Longitudinal Designs Cross-sectional Designs

Research Methods in Developmental Psychology Hypothesis: A specific prediction that can be tested

Data Collection Techniques Systematic Observation (2 Types) – Naturalistic Observation Observe child’s behavior in a natural environment –Exs: playground, school, home

–Structured Observation: Design a situation that will elicit relevant behavior(s) Typically conducted in a laboratory setting Observe different children in the same situation

General Disadvantages (Observation):

Self-report Measures –Clinical Interviews More “open-ended” questions—response choices are not limited –Ex: “Tell me about that” Participants may be asked different questions (depending on their answers)

–Structured interviews and questionnaires More “close-ended” questions—response choices are limited –Ex: yes/no questions, rating scales, multiple choice questions All participants are asked the same questions

Parents, child care providers, and teachers often provide information about infants and young children (and/or about themselves) –Ex: infant/child temperament; behavior problems; social skills

General Disadvantage (self-report or report by others):

Psychophysiological Methods Record physiological responses –Exs: heart rate, hormone levels (cortisol), brain wave activity Infer psychological “states” from these responses (e.g., perceptions, emotions)

Advantage: Can be used with preverbal infants and young children (limited language) Disadvantage: Changes in physiological responses can be caused by many “irrelevant” factors (e.g., hunger, boredom, movement)

General Research Designs Correlational Designs –Examine the relationship between two (or more) variables Variable: Characteristic or experience that varies across individuals –Exs: age, gender, IQ, personality traits

Correlation Coefficient –Indicates how strongly two measures (variables) are related –Can range from to +1.00

Size of the coefficient Zero correlation

Sign of the coefficient: – Positive –Negative

Major limitation Why not?

Experimental Designs –Independent Variable –Dependent Variable

Groups in an experiment should be equivalent except for their exposure to the independent variable –But individuals are different in a lot of ways So how can the researcher be sure the groups are the same at the start of the experiment?

Random Assignment: Participants have an equal chance of being assigned to each group/condition in an experiment –Advantage: Participants’ pre-existing characteristics should be equally distributed across groups/conditions Ex: Should be same number of highly aggressive kids in each group/condition—so the groups are the same when the experiment starts –Can infer that the independent variable causes changes in the dependent variable

Designs for Studying Development Purpose: Can examine developmental (age- related) change

Longitudinal Design

Advantages –Can examine stability and change in individual children’s characteristics or behavior over time

Disadvantages –Non-random participant loss Participants who finish the study differ in systematic ways from participants who drop out –Final sample is not representative of the group (population) researcher wanted to study—findings may not generalize to the whole group –Practice effects Change due to familiarity with data collection procedures rather than change due to development

–Time-consuming and expensive

Cross-Sectional Design

Advantages –More efficient than a longitudinal design (faster, less expensive) –No participant loss –No practice effects

Disadvantages –Cannot examine stability and change in individual children’s characteristics or behavior over time