ECC Chapter 1 PSY 218 Spring 2015.pptx

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What is development?

• Different from just simple growth and change:

• 1. It makes an individual better adapted to the environment.

• 2. It proceeds from the relatively simple and global to the more complex and specific.

• 3. It is relatively enduring over time and situation.

• Enduring growth that makes an individual better adapted to the environment by enhancing its ability to engage, understand, and experience, more complex behavior, thinking, and emotions.

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Goals of developmental research

• _{Essentially all individuals who study human research have four related}

goals:

• _1._Describe_{developmental change}

• _2._Explain_{what causes developmental change}

• _3._Predict_{what and individual will be like based on past and present}

characteristics.

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What is being studied?

• _{Eight age periods characterize major transitions in human}

development:

• _{1. Prenatal Period (conception to birth)} • _{2. Infancy (birth to age 2)}

• _{3. Early Childhood (2-6)} • _{4. Middle Childhood (6-11)} • _{5. Adolescence (11-20)}

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What is being studied?

• _{Age boundaries are approximate, and vary by culture.}

• _{Within these categories there are generally three major domains of}

study:

• _{Physical Development – Changes in size, outward appearance, and inner}

physical functioning.

• _{Cognitive Development- Changes in intellectual abilities such as memory,}

language, problem solving.

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What questions are asked?

• _{Four basic questions about human development:}

• _{1. Which aspects of development are universal, and which vary between}

individuals and groups?

• _{2. Which aspects of development are continuous and which are not?}

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Guiding principles in studying

development

• _{Development results from the constant interplay of biology and environment.}

• Development occurs in a multilayered context.

• _{Individuals are affected by various sources of stimuli (interpersonal relationships, social institutions,}

etc…)

• Development is a dynamic reciprocal process.

• Development is cumulative.

• Developmental Trajectory – The pathway that connects the past with present and future.

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Theories of Development

• _{Theory – set of ideas or principles based on empirical evidence that}

explains related phenomena.

• _{Numerous different types of theories regarding development.}

• _{Can generally be split into two categories:}

• Classical Theories

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Classical Theories

• _{Psychoanalytic Theory}

• _{Sigmund Freud}

• _{Focuses on inner-self and how emotions determine our}

interpretations/behaviors.

• _{Believed infants are born with sexual and aggressive urges and seek}

gratification.

• Urges often collide with reality (hopefully leads to self-control).

• _{How the child resolves the conflict between its urges and reality, it}

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Classical Theories

• _{Psychoanalysis}

• _{Divided development into stages:}

• Oral

• Anal

• Phallic

• Latency

• Genital

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Classical Theories

• _{Erikson’s Psychosocial Development}

• _{Progression of predictable emotional and social stages from infancy through}

adulthood.

• _{Believed that personality is not fixed, and changes throughout life (different}

from Freud).

• _{Also believe that the progression of these stages results from social}

interaction (rather than inner conflict).

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Classical Theories

• Learning Theory

• Emphasizes role of external influences on behavior

• _{View behavior, and development as a result, as the result of consequences of}

experience.

• _Behaviorism

• Based in learning theory.

• _{Classical Conditioning} • Operant Conditioning

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Classical Theories

• _{Social Learning Theory}

• _{Albert Bandura}

• _{Learning/Development can be acquired by imitation of a model performing a}

behavior.

• Observational Learning

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Classical Theories

• _{Cognitive-Developmental Perspective}

• _{The way that individuals think about their physical and social world affects}

our development.

• _{When we change the way the think about and view the world, we also change}

in terms of our development.

• _{Assimilation – Fitting new information into existing ways of thinking.}

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Contemporary Theories

• _{Ecological/Sociocultural Perspectives}

• _{Studies the child’s immediate environment, relationships, and settings to}

emphasize the role of context in development.

• _{People aren’t raised in isolation and similar environments or relationships}

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Contemporary Theories

• _{Behavioral Genetics}

• _{Focuses on understanding inherited behavior and the reciprocal relationship between genetics}

and experience/behavior.

• Evolutionary Perspective

• Interested in identifying the point in our evolution at which a certain behavior/cognition was adaptive.

• Dynamic Systems Theory

• _{Focuses on the complexity of development}

• Changing any part of our ever-changing “system” can have consequences throughout the system.

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The Scientific Method

• _{1. Develop a hypothesis.}

• _{2. Develop a study to test the hypothesis}

• _{3. Analyze the data.}

• _{4. Develop a conclusion based on analysis.}

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Research Methods

• _{Observational Research}

• _{Naturalistic Observation}

• _{Participant Observation (Observing an interview)}

• _{Structured Observation (Setting tasks to evoke a behavior)}

• _Self-Reports

• _{Questionnaires/Interviews}

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Research Methods

• _{Standardized Tests}

• _{Tests administered to all participants in precisely the same manner.} • _Norms

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Research Design

• _{Case Study}

• _{Intensive study of one or a small number of individuals/entities.} • _{Generally interview format.}

• _{Correlational Study}

• _{Examines the relationship between two or more variables.} • _{Range from -1.00 – 1.00}

• _{Positive Correlation} • _{Negative Correlation}

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Research Design

• _Experiments

• _{Provide a way to determine cause-and-effect relationships.} • _{Independent Variable}

• _{Dependent Variable} • _{Experimental Group} • _{Control Group}

• _Uses_{Random Assignment}

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Studying change over time

• Longitudinal Studies

• Studying the same individual or group of individuals over a significant period of time.

• Allows for studying direct developmental changes in the same individuals.

• _{Takes a great deal of time and resources}

• _{Cross-Sectional Studies}

• _{Studying individuals of different ages at the same time.}

• _{Allows for studying developmental differences between age groups.}

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Research Ethics

• Six primary ethical rules:

• _{1. Nonharmful Procedures} • _{2. Informed Consent}

• 3. Confidentiality

• 4. Debriefing

• 5. Discussion of the implications of the findings.

• 6. Meet requirements or face consequences for misconduct.

• Do these standards protect the participant to an appropriate level?