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1. Introduction

2. Fact or Fiction?

3. Defining Development

4. Four Characteristics of Development

5. Developmental Study as a Science

6. Cautions from Science

7. Closing Thoughts

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Introduction

[Video: Introduction to Human Development]

Developmental Fact or Fiction?

Fiction

Fact

1. The science of human development is the study of how and why people change as they grow older, as well as how and why they remain the same.

2. An experiment is always the best way to investigate a developmental issue.

3. Developmental psychologists almost never base their research on the study of one group of people over a long period of time.

4. When two variables are correlated, it means that one caused the other.

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5

What causes people to change or remain the same over time?

science of human development: Seeks to understand how and why people of all ages and circumstances change or remain the same over time.

Science

Is the question of nature or nurture more about how much rather than which factor?

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nature: Traits, capacities, limitations each individual inherits genetically from parents (at conception).

nurture: All environmental influences that affect development (after conception).

Influences

Influences

[Video: Albert Bandura’s classical experiment]

Teratogen Effects Timing

Radiation

Disrupted development of central nervous system.

8 to 15 weeks most critical

Growth and developmental retardation 3 to 8 weeks most critical

Microcephaly 3 to 38 weeks

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Radiation

Tobacco

Alcohol

Cocaine

What happens when a potentially harmful agent — a teratogen — is introduced at a critical period of prenatal development?

Tobacco use by mother

Limb malformation

4 to 6 weeksUrinary tract damage

Tobacco use by father

(second-hand smoke)

Low birthweightLate pregnancy

Reduction in weight by an average of 2 oz.

Alcohol

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) 3 to 8 weeks most critical

Fetal Alcohol Effect

3 to 38 weeksGrowth and developmental retardation

Craniofacial dysmorphism

Cocaine

Growth retardation3 to 8 weeks

Small head size

Premature birth

After 17 weeksProblems with placenta

Low birth weight

Attention difficultiesAfter birth for several years

Emotional regulation

critical period: When a particular type of development growth (in body or behavior) must happen if it is ever going to happen.

sensitive period: When a certain type of development is most likely, although it may still happen later.

Connections Between Change and Time

dynamic-systems theory: A view of human development as an ongoing, ever-changing interaction between the physical and emotional being and between the person and every aspect of his or her environment, including the family and society.

How do people interact with other people, and do so continuously over time, each interaction affecting the other?

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Dynamic Systems Theory

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life-span perspective: Study of human development that takes into account all phases of life.

How do human characteristics change in every direction to reflect development as multidirectional?

Multidirectional

Multidirectional

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[Video: Making the Most of Life During Adulthood]

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ecological-systems approach: The view that in the study of human development, the person should be considered in all the contexts and interactions that constitute a life.

How does the ecological-systems approach work?

Multicontextual

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The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

culture

People whose ancestors were born in the same region and who often share a language, culture, and religion.

ethnic groupA group of people who are regarded by themselves or by others as distinct from other groups on the basis of physical appearance. (Social scientists think race is a misleading concept.)

race

Multicontextual

When monkey sees, why

does monkey do?

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mirror neurons:

Cells in an observer’s brain that

respond to an action

performed by someone else

in the same way they

would if the observer had

actually performed

that action.

Multidisciplinary

Brain damage/

injury

The brain is plastic, able to reassign neurons

Change may occur,

some functions may be

restored.

plasticity: Human traits can be molded (as plastic can be), yet people maintain a certain durability of identity (as plastic does).

How plastic (moldable) are the brain and personality?

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Plasticity

What is the five-step procedure used to answer questions with empirical research and data-based conclusions?

scientific method: A way to answer questions using empirical research and data-based

conclusions.

Develop hypothesis

2 Test hypothesis

3 Curiosity 1

Draw conclusions

4 Report results 5

Raise a questionA prediction that

can be tested

Design and conduct research; gather

empirical evidence

Support or refute hypothesis

Share data, conclusions, alternate explanations

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Steps of the Scientific Method

scientific observation: A method of testing a hypothesis by unobtrusively watching and recording participants’ behavior in a systematic and objective manner.

Where do scientific observations take place?

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Scientific Observation as a Way to Test Hypotheses

SurveyInformation is collected from a large number of

people Acquiring valid survey data is

not easy

Some people lie and some change their

minds

What happens when a survey is taken?

survey: A research method in which information is collected from a large number of people by interviews, written

questions, or some other means.

Survey answers are influenced by wording and sequence of questions

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The Survey as a Way to Test Hypotheses

Randomlyselected

How Do You Design an Experiment?

Many participants, measured on many characteristics, including the dependent variable (the behavior being studied)

Experimental group

Special treatment

(independent variable)

No special treatment

Significant change in the

dependent variable

No change in the variable

(predicted outcome)

Comparison (or control)

group

(two equal groups)

dependent variable: In an experiment, the variable that may change as a result of whatever new condition or situation the experimenter adds.

independent variable: In an experiment, the variable that is introduced to see what effect it has on the dependent variable. (Also called experimental variable.)

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The Experiment as a Way to Test Hypotheses

Does one of these patterns accurately represent

intelligence as people age?

65

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

25

32

39

46

55

60

67

74

81

88

Cross-Sectional

Longitudinal

Age

T =

S

core

Source: Schale, 1988

cross-sectional research: A research design that compares groups of people who differ in age but are similar in other important characteristics.

longitudinal research: A research design in which the same individuals are followed over time and their development is repeatedly assessed.

cohort: A group defined by the shared ages of its members.

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Studying Change Over Time

cross-sequential research: A hybrid research design in which researchers first study several groups of people of different ages (a cross-sectional approach) and then follow those groups over the years (a longitudinal approach). (Also called cohort-sequential research or time-sequential research.)

How are cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs combined?Cross-sequential

Total time: 16 years, plus double and triple analysis

2-year-olds 6-year-olds 10-year-olds

14-year-olds

18-year-olds

2-year-olds 6-year-olds 10-year-olds

14-year-olds

2-year-olds 6-year-olds 10-year-olds

[4 years later]

[4 years later]

[4 years later]

[4 years later]

[4 years later]

[4 years later]

[4 years later]

[4 years later]

[4 years later]

Time 1

Time 1 + 4 years

Time 1 + 8 years

Time 1 + 12 years

Time 1 + 16 years

For cohort effects compare groups on the diagonals (same age, different years).

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Studying Change Over Time

correlation: A number between +1.0 and -1.0 that indicates the degree of relationship between two variables, expressed in terms of their likelihood that one variable will (or will not) occur when the other variable does (or does not).

How do variables correlate?

Quiz on Correlation

Two VariablesPositive, Negative, or Zero Correlation?

Why?(Third Variable)

1. Ice cream sales and murder rate

2. Learning to read and number of baby teeth

3. Sex of adult and their average number of offspring

Positive

Negative

Zero

third variable: heat

third variable: age

no third variable: each child must have a parent of each sex

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Correlation and Causation

How is quantitative and qualitative research used?

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quantitative research: Research data expressed with numbers, such as ranks or scales.

qualitative research: Research that considers qualities instead of quantities.

Quantity and Quality

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How do we ensure that research is done ethically?

code of ethics: A set of moral and specific guidelines principles that members of a profession or group are expected to follow.

Institutional Review Board (IRB): A group that exists within most educational and medical institutions whose purpose is to ensure that research follows established guidelines and remains ethical.

Ethics

How does science make the study of human development possible? 25

Closing Thoughts