PSYC 333 Unit 1 Notes August 28 2012 Child Development Major Themes Theories Developmental Science Development systematic change from conception to death Questions in developmental science o How people change o Why children change o Explanations for individual differences in change variations from person to person Applications of Developmental Science Why is my 2 yr old attempting to stick his foot into the door of a 3 inch hotwheels car My newborn never looks me in the eye could there be something wrong social phobia autism etc Why does my 3 yr old think he has more cookie when I simply break the cookie into two pieces Is frequent praise good or bad for children s motivation My daughter was an early walker is she likely to be a skilled athlete Why will Genie probably never be cognitively socially and emotionally normal Genie Genie Struggles o Motor disturbances o Lack of speech o Bizarre mannerisms o Disconnected from body temperature o Others still in diapers slowed physical development her legs from being strapped in a chair lack of attachment to others unusually high number of sleep spindles How do you explain Genie s behavior o Is it something her parents had done Most people agree with this I agree with this at first o Was Genie born this way Few agree with this o Other ideas Maybe a combo of the first two Even though her father thought she was mentally retarded from her birth locking her up tying her to a chair probably worsened her conditions or problems she already had Nature vs Nurture Nature biological endowment genes Nurture environment Genie is an example of nature nurture interaction Genie s Case Will Genie ever acquire language Will change happen all of a sudden or in small gradual steps Would you expect her to still be attracted to people as an adult Continuity vs Discontinuity Gradual vs abrupt change Gradual Continuous constant straight line on graph ex growing tree quanitative Abrupt change Discontinuous steps on a graph ex caterpillar butterfly qualitative Stage theory children in different kinds of stages are different types of children abrupt change discontinuous Connected vs unconnected Genie s Case Could Genie learn without the intense aid of her teachers and therapists What role did Genie herself play in her own development Active organismic vs Passive Child mechanistic Do children actively contribute to their own development or are they passive recipients of environmental input o Attention preferences peer choices environmental choices etc Genie s Case What differences in Genie s situation would you expect if o She didn t fit our standards of beauty o She had not interfaced with a high powered research hospital o The movie about Victor Wild Child had not been released one week after finding Genie o Status and fame were not associated with helping her Is children s development universal or influenced by social and cultural factors August 30 2012 Genie s Case Would you expect different outcomes for Genie if she was for example 18 months old when they found her and not 13 Poll most say yes very few say no Early vs Later Experiences RECAP of our Themes Nature vs nurture Continuity vs discontinuity Organismic vs mechanistic Universal development vs social cultural factors Early vs late experience Huge Social Implications According to Where You Stand on These Issues Nature Nurture what drives development o Can girls learn math science o Can compensatory education work o Are race differences in IQ genetic or economic Continuity Discontinuity o Should be concerned that college drinking is setting up life long habits or is it just a phase Active Passive o Dennis Rader responsible for his actions or was he perhaps abused as a child Recent shooters as well o Should an individual s history be considered when giving punishment for a crime Early Late Experience o Should money be diverted from high school programs into early childhood programs o Does adolescent drug use have long term repercussions Is late abuse as harmful as early abuse Final Thoughts What if Genie had looked her age like 13 yrs old instead of like a 6 yr old would she have been treated differently What if she had actually been 6 or 7 Immaturity is Adaptive David Bjorklund o Plasticity o Others reactions INTRO TO RESEARCH IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT PRE TEST Do vaccines cause autism It is impossible to know at this point They may or may not cause autism Why are stories like Jenny McCarthy s so compelling What sorts of evidence are parents attending to when they become convinced that their children s vaccines caused autism How do humans infer causation Humean Principles o Contiguity o Precedence one thing happens right before another thing pattern eventually becomes recognized o Covariance correlation Assumptions In Science Beliefs should be tested Conclusions must be objective conclusions must be based on o The data o May be easier for positive findings than null findings Research Q hypothesis method to gather data draw conclusions Repeated null findings drop study make new hypothesis Discuss Gathering Evidence Why are about half of Americans not convinced there is no link o What would really GOOD evidence of a link look like What would it take to be convincing o What would really GOOD evidence of no link look like What would it take to be convincing o How easy would it be to get such evidence September 4 2012 HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENTAL THOUGHT THE MIDDLE AGES Popular historical view vs probable reality o Phillipe o Economic Functions RESEARCH METHODS Correlational Design can t determine causation Experimental Design random sampling etc CHOOSING BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL CORRELATIONAL DESIGN Am I interested in testing a cause effect hypothesis o Yes Is it practical or feasible to manipulate the variable I m interested in Next question o No Correlational study Yes Is it etical to manipulate the variable I m interested in Next question No Correlational study Yes Experimental study METHODOLIGIES IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH Observation o Naturalistic observation studying a subject object in its natural environment Contributions themes of pretend play rough tumble play trends in international math science study Advantages really good stuff comes from it Disadvantages it s really hard expensive o Structured Observation removes the real world complexities but unnatural situation may affect behavior Landmark structured observational studies Bandura s observational learning studies the visual cliff Ainsworth on