methods and research design

Question 1

Define developmental psychology

Answer 1

A discipline that aims to examine human behaviour across the life course and adopt a range of perspectives

Question 2

What are the five developmental trajectories?

Answer 2

a- continuous increasing ability
b- continuous, decreasing ability
c- step or stage like
d- inverted u
e- upright u

Question 3

What is an example of an inverted u shape trajectory?

Answer 3

Intelligence- as we age, our intelligence increases up to a certain point and then declines

Question 4

What is an example of an upright u shaped trajectory?

Answer 4

The stepping reflex in infants- newborns take stepping movements, appearing to be able to walk but this disappears and reappear a few months later

Question 5

What are two types of research design often used in developmental psychology?

Answer 5

Cross-sectional, longitudinal

Question 6

What methods are often used in developmental psychology research?

Answer 6

Observations, surveys, baby biographies (obs of own child), psychometrics, time and event sampling, interviews with children on memory

Question 7

What did Miles investigate about memory in children?

Answer 7

The mean age for remembering an earliest memory from childhood was 3 years, 4 months. Girls reported earlier memories than boys as did first born children.

Question 8

What did Peterson find about memory in Italian boys?

Answer 8

The more involved parents were and the warmer the relationship, the earlier the reported first memories and the more positive memories.

Question 9

What are the different types of observations?

Answer 9

Structured/unstructured, direct/indirect, ppt/non ppt, naturalistic/controlled, covert/overt

Question 10

What are the strengths of observations?

Answer 10

• Hypothesis generating
• Useful when other methods are inappropriate
• Easily used with young children
• Researcher defines and chooses target behaviours

Question 11

What are the limitations of observations?

Answer 11

Expensive
Many events may occur at once
Observer influence
Uncontrolled
Time-consuming

Question 12

What did Talwar and Lee discover about lying behaviour in children?

Answer 12

Compared the lie telling bhvr of 3 and 4 year old children in a natural experiment, either from a strict or non strict school. They found a much higher % of children from the punitive schools lied and were better able to maintain their deception in follow up questions. suggests that punitive enviros foster increased dishonesty.

Question 13

What are psychometric assessments? Give an example

Answer 13

A cognitive assessment e.g. IQ test or WISC-V- measures vocab and verbal reasoning.

Question 14

What are the challenges with conducting imaging studies with children?

Answer 14

• Can be invasive
• Testing procedure can be challenging e.g. noisy
• The brain develops rapidly in infancy

Question 15

What are the strengths and limitations of a cross-sectional design?

Answer 15

S: We can compare differences between age groups, it uses a between participants design
L: cannot test change over time

Question 16

What is a microgentic design?

Answer 16

Allows for the collection of detailed data on developmental change, involving detailed observations over a short period but practice effects are a concern

Question 17

What is an accelerated cohort design?

Answer 17

A longitudinal design that allows for growth trajectory over a larger age range over time e.g. can be used to predict parenting behaviours based on own childhood experience