Methods in developmental psychology Flashcards
(12 cards)
What are key requirements for research measures?
They must be reliable and valid.
What challenges arise when measuring children’s development?
Use of indirect measures, limited language, limited behavior repertoire, coding difficulties, and interpretation issues.
What is an example of a reliability concern in child research?
Whether judgments about children performing correct target actions (e.g., in imitation tasks) are consistent across observers.
In the gesture imitation study, what is the dependent variable?
The number of correct target actions performed by each child.
What does reliability refer to in developmental research?
The consistency of measurement or scoring (e.g., consistent judgments of children’s behavior).
What does validity refer to in developmental research?
Whether the measure truly assesses what it intends to (e.g., actual imitation ability in infants).
What are some threats to validity in child measures?
Indirect measurements (e.g., asking parents), task demands, children’s mood or willingness (assent), and physical/cognitive abilities.
What is a common solution to verbal report limitations in child research?
Observational methodologies – directly observing behavior in naturalistic settings (nurseries, schools, family homes).
What are psychophysiological methods in child research?
Examining links between physiological responses and behavior (e.g., using ERPs to study early language in infants).
What issue arises with psychophysiological data like ERPs?
Averaging issues – responses must be averaged across many trials to get reliable data.
Why is pilot work important in child developmental research?
To test feasibility—are tasks, stimuli, and settings appropriate before full study?
What questions are asked during pilot/feasibility sessions?
Are stimuli suitable? Is the setting ideal (e.g., camera angles)? Are responses codeable and within motor abilities? Is age range appropriate?
