Chapter 2 - Research in Child Devel. Flashcards by Danica Prociuk

child development researchers typically use one of what 3 approaches in research

-obersving systematically
-using tasks to sample behaviour
-directly asking children or others for info

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describe systematic observation

research technique that involves watching and carefully recording what people do or say

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what are the 2 forms of systematic observation

naturalistic observation
structured observation

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what is naturalistic observation

subjects are observed as they behave spontaneously in some real-life situation

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what 2 thigns must a researcher decide on ahead of time when uisng naturalistic observation

which variables to record and how often during a an observation session a record of behaviour should be made

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in the recent publication regarding early childhood education, teh government of new zealand recognized what method as best practice

observation

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describe structured observation

researcher creats a setting that is liekly to elicit the behaviours that are difficult to observe naturally

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what structured technique did Mary Ainsworth use on her study of mother-child attachment breifly desribe

Strange Situation
-researchers would document childffrens reactions to being left alternately with mother, stranger, alone and then with mother again

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when investigators cant observe a behavioru directly, what is an alternative

to create tasks that are thought ot sample the behaviour of interest

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how do some researchers measure childrens ability to differentiate emotions

child is asked to look at photographs and point to person who is happy

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to measure working memeory what do researchers sometimes use and describe it

a digit span task
-listen as a sequence of numbers is spoken aloud, after last digit is presented, they are asked to repeat digits in order or reverse order (to demonstrate capacity for short term memory and attention)

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why is sampling behaviour with tasks popular in child development research and what is a major problem

cause of its convenience
-the extent to which the task samples the actual behaviour of interest

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what is ecological validity

degree to which conclusions from research can provide info about behaviour in real life situaitions

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what is the 3rd common appraoch to measurement in child developmetn

asking directly

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why are self reposts useful

-can lead directly to info on the topic of interest
-relatively convenient and often can be administered to groups

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what is the con of self-reports

not always valid measures of childrens behaviour cause peopels answers are sometimes inaccurate

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what are demand characteristics

situational cues that suggest to a research participant how a researcjer wants the participant to respond

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what is a weakness of naturalistic observation

difficult to use with behaviours that are rare or private

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what makes a measurment reliable

if results are consistent over time

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what makes a measurment valid

if conlcusions based on the measure asctually mean what the researcher hypothesized they would mean

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what is convergent validity?

the measure in question is closely related to another measure known to be valid

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what is divergent validity

the validity of a measure is compared with that of one measuring the exact opposite of a variable

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is it possible to have a measure that is reliable but not valid

yes

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describe correltational study

study of the relationhsip between variables htat naturally coexist in the wolrd

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describe the simplest possibole correlational study

a researcher measures 2 variables1 to see how they are related

in william and colleagues study where they wanted to know the relationship between frequency of substance sue and mental health in adolescence, in the age group of 12-14, using tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana hade what impact on the emotional disrder questionnaire

higher scores than children who enver used these substances when using at least once per week

in william and colleagues study where they wanted to know the relationship between frequency of substance sue and mental health in adolescence, in the age group of 12-14, using cocain, stimulants, tranquilizers and opiates how many tiems had what impact on their emotional disorder questionnaire

at least 3 times in the previous year -significant higher scores than abstainers

in william and colleagues study where they wanted to know the relationship between frequency of substance sue and mental health in adolescence, what exampels of adolescneces and their substance use end with results of scores that did not significantly differ from the scores of abstainers

-using mariujana 5 or fewer times in total -alcohol only once or twice on special occasions -tobacco less than once per week

in william and colleagues study where they wanted to know the relationship between frequency of substance sue and mental health in adolescence, they found that unlike the 12-14 age group, youths 18 and older used tobacco and alochol how many times per week and what were their scores like

tobacoo: 6-7 times per week alcohol: 3 times per week -equivalent scores ont he emotional disroder questionnaire to those of abstainers

qhat does it mean when r = 0

2 variables are completely unrelated

qhat does it mean when r is greater than 0

scores are positively related

qhat does it mean when r is less than 0

scores are inversely related

what must experimenters do if want to track down causes

must use an experimental study

what is a way researchers often judge whether a difference is stastically significant and describe it

statistical value = p-value -shows the probability of obtaining a particular measurement if in fact, no real difference existed between the 2 conditions being observed

when looking at p-values, what shows a significant differeence

if p-values are low -usually less than 5% but sometimes less than 1%

what is descriptive statistics

basic numerical summaries of research data (averages or ranges etc.)

what is inferential statistics

calculations that go beyond basic description of research data to predict how well data represents the total population of observation from which data might be gathered

in an experimental study, the factor being manipulated is called what

independent variable

in an experiment study, the factor being measured is called what

the dependent variable

what are mediator variabels

variabels that explain or account for any relationship between independent and depenedent variables

Bigler, Averhart and Liben found that childrens vocational interests as well as their perceptoins of occupational status were affected by what

the racial makeup of the workforce

what is a field experiment

type of experiment in which the independent variable is manipulated in a naturalistic setting

why are field experiments often impractical to conduct

-in natural settings children are often supervised by adults who must be willing to become allies in the proposed research -some may not want to change their routines to fit a researchers needs

what is a longitudinal study

variables of interest are measured in the same research participants repeatedly over time

what method is the only way to study continuity or discontiuity of behaviour

longitudinal study

in the alberta substance-use study, results showed that based on longitudinal research when is substance use highest

-in late teen years, extending somewhat into the early 20s

in the alberta substance-use study, results showed that based on longitudinal research what impact did failing to curb their substance use after youths early twenties have on them

higher risk for problems with their mental health

what is microgrenetic study

variables of interest are measured in the same participants repeaderlty over a short period of time, such as days, works

what method is useful when investigators have hypotheses about a specific age when developmental change should occur

microgenetic study

what is sequential design

variables of interest are measured repeadetly over time in the same groups of research participants, with each group having been born in different time period

sequential design study method combiens what 2 study methods

cross sectional and longitidunial approaches

what does sequential design allow for and why is it so powerful

-learn about cohort effect -enables researchers to compare data across age but also over time

what is practice effects

becoming test wise and achieveing better scores on a test than on previous because of repeated exposure ot the test

what is attrition

loss of participants in a study

what are the 2 disadvantages of longitudinal studies

pariticipants becoming test wise and those who chose not to continue with the study

what is cross sectional study

varibale of interest is measured at one point in time across persons of different ages or characteristics

what is the advantage of cross sectional study

avoids almost all the problems associated with repeated testing

what is the weakness of cross sectional study

participants tested at only one point in their development, learn nothing about the continuitry of development

what is the differene between sequential and cross sectional studies

cross sectional studies are limitied by cohort effects -difference between age groups might results as much from environmental events as from developmental processes

definition of correlational design

observe variables as they exist in the world and determine their relations

strength and weaknesses of correlational design

s: behaviour is measured as it occurs naturally w: cannot determine cause and effect

definition of experimental design

manipulate independent and dependent variable

strength and weakness of experimental design

s: control of variable allows conclusions about cause and effect w: work is often laboratory based which can be artificial

defintion of longitudinal design

one group of children is tested repeatedly as those children develop

strength and weakness of longitudinal design

s: only way to chart an individuals developmental and look at the continuity of behaviour over time w: participants drop out, and repeated testing can distort performance

definition of cross sectional design

children of different ages are tested at the same time

strengths and weakness of cross sectional design

s: convinent, avoids problems associated with longitudinal studies (drop out, and test-wise) w: cannot study continuity of behaviour and cohort effects complicate interpretation of differences among groups

name the 4 principles f the Candian code of ethics for psychologists according to level of priority

1. respect for dignity of persons 2. responsible caring 3. intergrity of relationships 4, responsibility to society

what happens if the review board objects to some aspects of a proposed study

researcher must revise those aspects and present them anew for the boards approval

around what percent of canadian children live with both children

aroudn what percent of canadian children live with parents in stepfamilies

around what ppercent of canadian children live with a single parent

what is a quasi experimental design

involving comparison of groups whose members are not randomly selected