Lecture 2Outline of Last Lecture I. Syllabusa. Instructor’sb. Course Structurec. Grading ScaleII. Influences on DevelopmentOutline of Current Lecture I. How to Study DevelopmentII. Why study Child Development?a. Understanding Human Natureb. Choosing Social Policiesc. Raising Childrend. GoalIII. Greek Philosophersa. Plato & Aristotleb. Early Philosophical ViewsIV. Beginnings of Researcha. Social Reform Movementsb. Darwin’s Theory of Evolutionc. William Preyerd. Field of Child DevelopmentV. What Science isa. Can the study of anything be a science?b. What makes science special?c. “Real” ScienceVI. Scientific Method (formal)a. Theoriesb. Hypothesesc. Experimentsd. Ordere. Goalf. Scientific IntegrityCurrent LectureScience ThemesI. How to study development?PSY 2401 1st Editiona. Science and scientific processII. Why study child development?a. Understanding human natureb. Choosing social policiesi. Ex: universal pre-school1. Ages 0-5 is the fundamental time for children’s development, early emotional skills and language are importantc. Raising childreni. Giving important information to pediatricians who can help new parents determine if their children are on track or have a developmental delayii. Asking practitioners to formulate interventions for motor or language delays in children d. Goal: describe, explain, and better human development as a wholei. What is the process that helps children learn language, or learn how to walk? ii. Early education advice for parentsIII. Greek Philosophers a. Plato & Aristotle (don’t need to know particular people)*b. Early philosophical viewsi. Plato (nature/innate) vs. Aristotle (nurture/experience)1. Nativism most basic skills are hard-wired in the brain at birth2. Empiricism knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience ii. Nativists vs. Empiricists (Locke)1. Innate/genetically determined vs. ‘tabula rasa’/learned through experiencea. Tabula Rasai. Individuals are born without built-in mental content IV. Beginnings of Researcha. Social reform Movements b. Darwin’s theory of evolutioni. Study on his own son “Biographical Sketch of an Infant” late 1800’s 1. Described aspects of his child’s behaviora. Explored what it means to be human, what human nature is, why are we set apart from different animals, if we are at all?b. Noted facial expressions in different dogs, chimpanzees, and humansii. Took nativist approachiii. We are different from animals on one hand, but similar to animals that are closely related (Ex: chimpanzee)c. Wilhelm Preyeri. More rigorous, scientific methods1. Rather than looking for similarities or differences, he was looking for how different abilities were learned and what influenced those abilities2. Wrote a study on his won son also “The Mind of the Child”3. Looked at change over time and not trying to assume anything about what was there to begin withd. Field of Child Development (late 1800’s)i. Sigmund Freud—Biological drives1. Focused on human physiology2. Sexual and aggressive drives that influence peoples behavior3. Internal processesii. John Watson—learned through reinforcement1. External forces2. Environmental influences on developmentiii. Both wanted to explain influences on behavior and developmentiv. Had slightly different perspectivesV. What Science Isa. Can the study of anything be a science?i. Must prove or disprove that something is right or wrongii. Push is always to try and disprove your hypothesisb. What makes science special?i. Observable measures that must be….1. Reliable a. Get the same answer eat time (Ex: a ruler)2. Valida. Measures what you think it measures (Ex: a thermometer)ii. Falsifiable theories/hypothesesiii. Rigorous testing of predictions c. “Real” Sciencei. Astrology: NO1. Horoscopes2. Predict personality/behaviors/future based on when you were born/celestial bodies3. Observable measures? YES4. Reliable? YES5. Valid? DEPENDSa. Can fit anyone based on how and individual sees themself6. Falsifiable? EXPLAIN ALL MISTAKES7. Predictions? MADE BUT NOT TESTED, NOTHING TANGABLEii. Developmental Science: YES1. Predict how behaviors will change over days, months, years….2. Observable measures? YES3. Reliable? MOST OF THE TIMEa. Can vary from child to child4. Valid? MOST OF THE TIMEa. Can vary from child to child5. Falsifiable? SOMETIMES6. Predictions? YESVI. Scientific Method (formala. Theoriesi. Try to explain why infants behavior change ii. Ex: How they learn to walk and talkb. Hypothesesi. Specificii. Proposed explanation made on the basis of a small amount of evidence as a starting point for further investigation (in question form)iii. Ex: Infants who listen Mozart from they time they are in the mothers womb and able to hear will score higher on standardized tests and perform better in school c. Experiments i. Made to test the hypothesisd. Orderi. Choose a question to answerii. Formulate a hypothesis that relates to the questioniii. Develop methods to test hypothesesiv. Draw a conclusion based on resultse. Goal of Scientific Methodi. Figure out how things work by figuring out how things go NOT work….1. “Cargo Cult Science”…. Mr. Young’s experiments with rats in mazesa. Made hypotheses about the cues the rat usedb. Falsified all hypotheses but onec. He figured out what cue the rat was using (vibrations/sound) by figuring out what cues the rat was NOT using (smell, visible landmarks, etc.)d. Made hypotheses about all the cues the rat used e. Eliminated all hypotheses but onef. Scientific Integrityi. Feynman says scientist should “bend over backwards to how you’re maybe wrong”1. What does this mean?a. Developmental psychologists studying children have to think critically about why children behave the way they dob. CHILDREN ARE NOT ADULTSc. We have to “bend over backwards” to figure out how development works; we must be careful not to try to “read children’s