Lecture 2 Flashcards
(21 cards)
Types of causal factors
- Necessary causal factors = factors that much be present for an outcome to occur e.g.To need stitches a cut needs to be deep enough
- Sufficient causal factors = factors that are by themselves enough to cause an outcome to occur e.g. if you cut yourself you will bleed
Cross sectional research
- Single point in time
- Cant establish a cause, looks at associations
Can cross sectional research advance developmental theory?
- Says nothing about the course of an individuals development over time
- Cohort effect = the way children differ is not always obvious
- No causal relationship
Longitudinal research
-Looks at one person over period of time
3 common longitudinal designs
- Panel studies
- Multiple cohort studies/cohort sequential studies
- Intervention studies
Panel study
- Looks at specified intervals over a long period
- Can provide evidence for developmental changes
- Used to establish whether a real connection exists between an earlier behaviour and a later outcome
Multiple cohort study
- One or more samples used are followed
- Strongest evidence for developmental change is when changes occur across multiple cohorts
- Used to establish whether a real connection exists between an earlier behaviour and a later outcome
Intervention studies
- Experimental design
- Shows one variable causes development in another
Genetically sensitive research designs
- Behaviour genetics
- Quantitative genetics
- Molecular genetics
Behaviour genetics
- Looks at origins of individual differences in cognition and behaviour
- Looks at the 1% of DNA that varies between people
Quantitative genetics
-Estimates genetic and environmental influence on individual differences
Molecular genetics
-Identifies specific DANA variants associated with traits
Twin studies
-Correlations used to define similarity between twins (Pearsons r)
Heritability
-Heritability = proportion of variance between individuals that can explain by DNA differences
Challenges infants/children present in research
- Consent needed from parent/guardian
- Language and communication skills
- Motor skills
- Temperament
- Attentiveness and fatigue
Experimental methods used to study infants
- Preference technique
- Habituation-dishabituation technique
- Preferential looking technique
- Anticipatory looking technique
- Violation of expectations techniques
Habituation-dishabituation technique
- Can infants distinguish between different stimuli?
- Infant presented with visual/auditory stimulus
- Infant loses interest in first stimulus (habituation)
- Renewed interest with onset of new stimulus (dis-habituation) indicates discrimination between stimuli
Anticipatory looking technique
- Can infants form expectations?
- Infant observes a particular sequence of events
- Infant gaze prior to onset of next event is recorded
Violation of expectations technique
- Infants shown an event
- Events either incompatible or compatible with particular principle
- Infants look longer when there is an incompatible event as violation of expectations
Observing children
- Recording and quantifying overt behaviour using coding schemes
- Coding schemes = instructions that define sets of behaviours and how they will be quantifies
Ratings, questionnaires and interviews drawbacks
- Yes bias
- Performance bias
- Desirability bias
- Failure to identity problem behaviours
- Familiarity with target children
