Child Psychology 560 Research Methods for Developmental Psychology 01 23 2014 So how do we study developmental processes What do you want to know Research question Is your question testable o Ethical issues Which method is best Design your study o Can other factors explain my results Confounds Challenges How will I get my data What s the best method o Hard with kids What s the best research design o Hard to study change Acquiring data Naturalistic observation o o o o Observe child in natural environment DO NOT INTERVENE Illuminates ecology of a child s life Naturalistic study example Bell Ainsworth 1972 Responding to young infants crying Increasing or decreasing crying later Where What to measure Duration intensity frequency how often the parents console the child how quickly they respond How long should the study go on o o Strengths Good for about naturalistic interactions Generalizable results Weaknesses Results responding less crying Requires objectivity Bias Use 2nd observer for reliability Reactivity Observation affects people Lack of control Clinical Interview method o Systematic interview Piaget o Strength o One at a time trained person one on one with child Measure individual differences Weaknesses Bias Remedy standardize structured interview Generalizability Experimental methods o Independent variable IV o Manipulated by experimenter Dependent variable DV Behavior measured by experimenter Can also be a measure of brain function o o Hold other factors constant Example Mean Monkey Research Question Around what developmental age do children learn deception IV Child s ages hold other factors constant DV Sticker shown to MM do they lie Good design Irrespective of age whether or not they will lie because they are just honest children Assignment to experimental conditions Random assignment o Non random assignment o IV fixed Strengths o o IV random ideal Causal conclusions Tests of specific hypotheses Weakness o Lab situations artificial Experimental designs for studying development Correlation o o o o Galton 1900 Family resemblance Question Is height genetic Method Heights of many dads adult sons Correlation does not equal causation o We can t prove causation this way What s the latent variable Age in ex of shoe size correlated with reading skills Longitudinal design o Cross sectional design o Same subjects at different ages Different subjects at different ages Strengths and Weaknesses o Best capturing change stability o Most practical o Longitudinal Cross sectional less attention cost Problem repetition can affect DVs Cross sectional wins What kind of developmental research questions call for a longitudinal design What kind of developmental research questions call for a cross sectional design Research tools How do we collect data from fetuses infants kids teens Research ethics with children Are there issues that are specific to doing research with kids o o Getting parental consent getting child assent age 3 subject content making sure you don t teach a bad behavior diversity of sample putting children in brain machines Responsibility to anticipate potential risks minimize such risks make sure that the benefits of the research outweigh the potential harm 01 23 2014 01 23 2014