methods and approaches Flashcards
(29 cards)
what is developmental psychology
- psychology of change
- (pre) cradle to grave
- physical, cognitive, emotional and social development
cradle to grave
from foetus through childhood and adolescence and into old age
problem of developmental psychology
- not easy
- measuring the unmeasurable
- young participants may have limited abilities
- have to think very carefully about research methods and design
levels of explanation
At least 3 levels of explanation:
- Behavioural - In terms of what we can see happening
- Cognitive - In terms of thought processes
- Biological - In terms of neuronal explanations, genetics, biochemistry
consequences of levels of explanation
- can make more sense to talk at one level rather than enough
- others are less clear eg which level
- useful to think about how different levels interact
neonate
newborn
- up to 1 month
infancy
first 2 years of a child’s life
- before a child uses language
preschooler
child between the ages of 2 and 5
school aged child
5 to 12
adolescent
12 to 18
childhood
around 2 to 12
late adulthood
65+
historical foundations
philosophy
- is the child born tabula rasa
- is who the child is predetermined
- how do children learn about the world
biology
- does psychological development mirror biological development
- what are the causes of individual differences
darwin
- humans have evolved over time, so much of our make up could be explained by giving a survival advantage in the past
- diary studies of emotion in son
evolutionary principles
- an emphasis on changes over time
- development can be understood as progressive adaptation of child to environment
learning - conditioning theory
- watson
- children start with no knowledge
- learn everything from the environment
- little albert
maturation
- gesell / mcgraw
- children grow according to a predetermined pattern
- largely independent of environment
maturation
- gesell / mcgraw
- children grow according to a predetermined pattern
- largely independent of environment
how can we say when something is innate?
- if all children show a trait - genetic
- familial similarity
- early appearance of a trait - not always reliable
- lack of learning - innate if havent had time to learn it
can we find out empirically whether something is innate
try to separate genetics from the environment experimentally
- adoption studies
- twin studies - MZ and DZ
- twins reared apart
- molecular genetic studies
twin studies
- every trait (personality, intelligence, disease) is caused by a combination between genes, environment (shared & individual)
- compare MZ and DZ twins
twin study examples
hair colour - MZ 0.99, DZ 0.20
grade in GCSE maths - MZ 0.88, DZ 0.60
chicken pox - MZ 0.97, DZ 0.90
epigenetics
- gene/environmental interactions
- influence can be bi-directional
- environmental/experiences switch genes - gene expression alevel
piaget
- First coherent theory of cognitive development
- Children as active agents exploring their world
- Developmentally predisposed to organise and adapt our cognitive structures (schemas) depending on environment
- Development occurs in stages which are universal and invariant
- Explains transformational change
