PSYC 307 Lecture 2** How we study child development I. Scientific Methoda. Choose a question b. Formulate hypothesisc. Test hypothesisd. Draw conclusion e. Hypotheses/ theories can never be proven (only disproven)i. To prove a theory: you would need to test ALL situations across all cultures (infinite)II. Reliability a. Degree to which independent measures of behavior are consistenti. Interrater reliability: you will get the same results regardless of who observes behaviorii. Test-retest reliability: get the same measures if you run the experiment again and again 1. Standardized tests across individuals III. Validitya. Degree to which a test/experiment measures what it is intended to i. Internal: ability to be comfortable that measures are measuring what you say they should be ii. External: can you generalize your results to other populations IV. Contexts for gathering data about children a. Interviewsi. Structured Interview: all participants get the same questions 1. Pro: responses are easy to code and interpretii. Clinical Interview (unstructured): questions adjusted in accordance with answers interviewee gives (harder to interpret results)iii. Case studies: individuals1. Generalizing data (studies only one person)2. HM, Canada: temporal lobe damage/epilepsya. Effects of brain damage on memoryb. Case studies can help evolve/generate researchb. Naturalistic Observationi. Observe children in everyday situations (ie: age related differences and interaction with parents)1. Advantage: more likely to get genuine observation 2. Limitation: do not have control over any aspect, limited in the conclusions that you can draw c. Structured Observation i. Can get information and control the experience 1. Advantage: can control factors2. Limitation: not as naturalV. Ethnographya. Descriptive, qualitative techniqueb. Goal: understand group/culturei. Participant observation ii. Researcher lives in community (usually one that is developing or isolated) for months or years iii. Works to capture unique values/social processes1. Observe developmental stages: “right of passage”VI. Neurobiological Methodsi. Measures autonomic nervous system activity sensitive to psycho state1. Heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory system, pupils, stressii. Measures relationship between nervous system processes and behavior 1. Helps infer perceptions, thoughts, emotions of infants/young children (no words stimuli)b. Methods of Measuring Brain Function i. EEG: measure electrical activity in brain ii. ERP: evokes potentials in certain situations (peak)iii. fMRI: changes of blood flow in brain 1. language studies in babies common2. very expensiveiv. PET: clinical studies, radioactive dyesv. NIRS: different wavelengths of light1. Oxygenated blood vs. deoxygenatedVII. Designs/Strategiesa. Correlational Designsi. Goal: determine how 2+ variables are related1. Correlation: association between 2 variables a. Ex: sugar intake and activity levelii. Types of correlations: perfect positive (1.0), positive strong (.4+), perfect negative (-1.0), strong negative (-.6), no correlation (0)iii. **CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION iv. Third-variable problem: other things affect experimental processesb. Experimental Designsi. Controlled setting1. Experimental group receives experience of interest(independent variable)2. Those in control group do not get (IV)3. The dependent variable (DV) is a behavior that is hypothesized to be affect by IV4. Random assignment: help ensure that change in behavior is due to IV/DVVIII. Naturalistic Experimentsa. Ext. val. of experimental designs can be questionableb. Naturalistic experiments – can address problem i. TVs vs. no TVsIX. Designs for Examining Development a. Cross-sectional: allows you to study different age groups simultaneously i. Pro: can be done quickly, all data collected at onceii. Con: unable to see how previous performance is connectedto current performance1. Continuity vs. discontinuityb. Longitudinal: study the same group of participants over timei. Pro: observing how the same subjects are changingii. Con: attrition (drop outs over periods of time), data collection takes time1. Social-historical effects: changes in norms and trendscould affect datac. Sequential: longitudinal AND cross-sectional comparison i. Reveals cohort effectsii. Permits tracking of age related changes effective iii. Design helps identify difficultyd. Microgenic: provide in-depth depiction of processes that produce change i. How do changes actually occur1. Children on brink of developmental changes are more exposed to experiences that are believed to promote change a. Studied more intensely during transitionX. Ethical Issues in Researcha. Anticipate potential risks participants may encounter i. Minimize those risksii. Ensure that the benefits of the study outweigh the harm that it could do to participants b. International Review Boardi. Studies involving children, pregnant women, or prisoners are reviewed extremely
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