Full summary and lecture notes for Chapter 1 of the book by Slater & Bremner (3rd Edition). Includes tables and diagrams and a table of all keywords and their definitions. Key information is highlighted in colors and is therefore easy to read and memorize, which is great for visual learners!
1: The Scope & Methods of Developmental Psychology
[INTRODUCTION]
AN INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Developmental psychology = attempts to describe & explain changes that occur over time in the
thought/behavior/reasoning/functioning of a person due to gene & environmental influences
Children’s development, development of human behavior across the lifespan
STUDYING CHANGES WITH AGE
Increasing age by itself contributes nothing to development
What’s important is changes resulting from experience & maturation = aspects of development
that are largely under genetic control (hence largely uninfluenced by environmental factors) (e.g.
puberty)
[CONCEPTS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT]
“FOLK” THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT: PUNISHMENT OR PRAISE?
“Folk” theories of development = ideas held about development that are not based upon scientific
investigation
2 opposing folk theories:
1. Punishment = children need to be punished regularly to develop as pleasant/law-abiding
citizens; failure to use physical punishment may cause the child to be disobedient, & their
soul may be at risk
2. Praise = children are born inherently good; physical punishment is unnecessary & harmful
DEFINING DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO WORLD VIEWS
Paradigm = a world view/model/world hypothesis
World view = a philosophical system of ideas that serves to organize a set/family or scientific
theories & scientific methods
2 main paradigms/world views:
1. Organismic world view = the idea that people are inherently active & continually interacting
with the environment, therefore helping to shape their own development
E.g. Piaget’s theory
Child is active
Development occurs in stages (qualitatively different), cannot be reversed
2. Mechanistic world view = the idea that people can be represented as being like machines,
& are inherently passive until stimulated by the environment
E.g. behaviorists = theorists who believe that directly observable behavior, resulting
from conditioning, reinforcement, & punishment, is the focus of development
Child is passive
Development occurs gradually (quantitatively different), frequency of behavior
decreases with age when it is no longer functional
1
, [WAYS OF STUDYING DEVELOPMENT]
WAYS OF STUDYING DEVELOPMENT
2 broad categories:
o Designs for studying age-related changes in behavior
o Research methods used to collect information/data about development
DESIGNS FOR STUDYING AGE-RELATED CHANGES
Design Definition Strengths Limitations
Cross- A study where children of Fast, cheap Only describes age
sectional different ages are Provides quick estimate differences
design observed at a single point of changes with age No estimate of continuity
in time
Longitudinal A study where more than Can assess within-person Slow, expensive
design 1 observation of the changes with age & High drop-out rates
same group of children is between-person Practice effects may
made at different points differences in age occur
in their development changes Results may only be true
Estimates of continuity for the particular cohort
studied
Microgenetic A method that examines Detailed information Practice effects may
method change as it occurs; about an individual over a occur = repeated trials
children are tested period of transition over short period of time
repeatedly over a short
period of time
Sequential A combination of cross- Combines strong aspects Slow, expensive
designs sectional & longitudinal of cross-sectional &
designs; examines the longitudinal designs
development of Reveals whether results
individuals from different from these 2 designs
age cohorts agree
Sometimes cross-sectional & longitudinal results tell a different story, due to:
o Length of time between measures:
Different distances between test ages (intervals on x-axis) can result in very different
developmental functions
Some developmental functions are not revealed unless frequent measurements are
taken (e.g. growing a cm overnight)
o Cohort effects:
Changes across generations in the characteristic of interest (e.g. height, attitudes,
leisure activities, everyday life, IQ)
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