Psychology of Child Development

• Nature


  Our biological endowment; the genes we receive from our parents.
• Genome


  Each person has a complete set of hereditary information.
• Epigenetics

  the study of stable changes in gene expression that are mediated by the environment.
• Interrater Reliability

  the amount of agreement in the observations of different raters who witness the same behavior.
• Test-retest Reliability

  the degree of similarity of a participant's performance on two or more occasions.
• 37. Control Group


  the group of participants in an experimental design who are not presented the experience of interest but in other ways are treated similarly.
• 41.Longitudinal Design


  a method of study in which the same participants are studied twice or more over a substantial length of time.
• •Gametes


  - reproductive cells - egg and sperm - that contain only half the genetic material of all the other cells in the body.
• •Amniotic Sac


  a transparent, fluid-filled membrane that surrounds and protects the fetus.
• •Dishabituation


  the introduction of a new stimulus rekindles interest following habituation to a repeated stimulus.
• •Colic


  excessive, inconsolable crying by a young infant for no apparent reason.
• 9)Mutation


  A change in a section of DNA
• What does spanking do?

  spanking leads to outburst outcomes, leading that anger output is put out through physical reactions, you end up internalizing problems and don't know how to externalize them but you hit and deal with everything physically
• Locke and Rousseau

  parents and society shape children vs complete freedom
• structured interviews


  an interviewing approach that involves developing a list of questions beforehand and asking the same questions in the same order to each candidate

  
  

  Useful when goal is to collect self-reports on same topics from everyone being studied
• Principles of development


  • Development is lifelong and change is apparent across the lifespan
  • Development is multidirectional
  • Development is multidimensional
  • Development is characterized by plasticity
  • Development is multicontextual
• Periods of development


  • Prenatal Development
  • Infancy and Toddlerhood
  • Early Childhood
  • Middle Childhood
  • Adolescence

  
• Prenatal Development


  • Conception occurs and development begins
  • All of the major structures of the body are forming
  • The health of the mother is of primary concern
• Infancy and Toddlerhood


  • Dramatic growth and change
  • Newborn with keen sense of hearing but poor vision transforms into walking, talking toddler
  • Caregivers manage feeding, sleep schedules, and safety
• Early Childhood


  • Also referred to as preschool years
  • Child is busy learning language, gaining sense of self and independence, beginning to learn workings of physical world
• Middle Childhood


  • Ages 6-11
  • Much connected to involvement in early grades of school
  • Learning and testing new academic skills
  • Assessing abilities and making comparisons to others
  • Growth rates slow, motor skills refined
  • Learning about social relationships beyond family
• Adolescence


  • Dramatic physical change marked by overall growth spurt and sexual maturation
  • Cognitive change as adolescent begins to think of new possibilities and consider abstract concepts
  • Sense of invincibility puts adolescents at greater risk
• Issues in development


  • Nature vs Nurture
  • Continuity vs Discontinuity
  • Active vs Passive
• Nature vs Nurture


  Debate over whether features are result of heredity or environmental factors
• Continuity vs Discontinuity


  Debate over whether development is a slow, gradual process or one of more abrupt change
• Active vs Passive


  Debate over how much one plays a role in their own developmental path
• Continuous development


  Development is a slow and gradual process, with adults possessing more advanced skills that were already present in some form in the child
• Discontinuous development


  Development occurs in distinct stages, with children and adults having different qualities and characteristics at each stage
• Continuous growth


  • Growth of a tree
• Discontinuous development


  • Life cycle of a ladybug

  
• Active role in development

  Humans actively explore their world and construct new ways of thinking to explain their experiences
• Passive role in development


  Humans are more passive in the developmental process
• Science involves continuously renewing our understanding of subjects and an ongoing investigation of how and why events occur
• Personal inquiry can be biased by our assumptions and tendency to see what we believe
• Scientific method


  1. Determining a research question

  2. Reviewing previous studies (literature review)

  3. Determining a method of gathering information

  4. Conducting the study

  5. Interpreting results

  6. Drawing conclusions, stating limitations, and suggesting future research

  7. Making findings available to others
• Qualitative research


  1. Begin with a broad area of interest

  2. Gain entrance into a group to be researched

  3. Gather field notes

  4. Ask open-ended, broad "grand tour" questions when interviewing

  5. Modify research questions as study continues

  6. Note patterns or consistencies

  7. Explore new areas deemed important by participants

  8. Report findings
• Observational studies


  • Allow researcher to see how people behave rather than relying on self-report
  • Do not allow researcher to explain causal relationships
• Experiments


  • Test hypotheses in a controlled setting to explain how certain factors or events produce outcomes
  • Establish cause and effect relationships by meeting three conditions: variables must be related, cause must come before effect, and cause must be isolated
• Case studies


  • Explore a single case or situation in great detail
  • Cannot be generalized or applied to larger populations
• Surveys


  • Enhance accessibility to subjects
  • Yield surface information on a wide variety of factors, but may not allow for in-depth understanding of human behavior
  • Based on self-report, which can limit accuracy