1 / 42

Psychology

Psychology. Measuring Human Development. Developmental Research is Unique. Developmental research is the study of change with age or change over time. Therefore, one of the independent variables is always age. Thus, we typically measure and compare multiple age groups.

lucian-woodward
Download Presentation

Psychology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Psychology Measuring Human Development

  2. Developmental Research is Unique • Developmental research is the study of change with age or change over time. • Therefore, one of the independent variables is always age. • Thus, we typically measure and compare multiple age groups.

  3. Developmental Research is Unique • However, it begins the same way as all other research… • With a research question. • What are the effects of essential fatty acids on cognitive development? • When do children show self-recognition? • Are there different categories of attachment? • When should strabismus be corrected for optimal vision? • Research questions often begin with observation.

  4. General Research Ideals • Human research should contain the following characteristics. • Control of extraneous variables. • Eg. Difference in SES are often controlled by random assignment. • Should be objective and unbiased. Results should not be contaminated by the beliefs of the researcher. • Eg. Clinical researchers are often blind to group assignment.

  5. General Research Ideals • Measurements should be reliable. • Measurement should be precise and sensitive to change. • Research should be efficient in terms of time and cost. • Time efficiency is critical in developmental research.

  6. General Research Ideals • Research should also possess validity. Results should apply to the real world.

  7. Research Methods: Observation • Naturalistic Observation: Watching and recording of behavior of organisms in their natural environment. • No attempt is made to control or manipulate the situation.

  8. Research Methods: Observation • Observational studies allow the formation of research questions and hypotheses. • No control over extraneous variables.

  9. Research Methods: Correlational • Correlational Research: Looks at relationship between variables. • Variables are not manipulated by the researcher. • What is the relationship between number of hours studied and academic success? • What is the relationship between hours of TV watched and behavioral problems?

  10. Research Methods: Correlational • What is the relationship between parental income and child intelligence? • What is the relationship between infant nutrition and cognitive development? • What is the relationship between infant nutrition and visual development?

  11. Research Methods: Correlational • Correlation coefficient (r): A statistical measure of the strength of the relationship between two or more variables. • r ranges from -1.00, a perfect negative relationship, to +1.00, a perfect positive relationship. • An r of 0 represents no relationship.

  12. Research Methods: Correlational Direction of relationship: Positive Direction of relationship: Negative r = + 0.12 r = - 0.64 Strength of the relationship Strength of the relationship

  13. Research Methods: Correlational • Advantages of correlational research. • Allows one to conduct studies using variables that can not be manipulated (ethical issues). • E.g., Parental income and intelligence. • E.g., Smoking and infant birthweight.

  14. Research Methods: Correlational • Usually efficient in terms of time and cost. • Gather large amounts of data very quickly. • Often a good starting point for experimentation. • They are definitive. If there’s no relationship, then there is nothing there.

  15. Research Methods: Correlational • Disadvantages of correlational research…. • Measures linear relationships only. Not all relationships are linear. • E.g., the relationship between age and test scores. • E.g., the relationship between self-confidence and age.

  16. Research Methods: Correlational • There may be unknown subgroups within your sample that diminish a true relationship, or create a false relationship. • Eg. Schizophrenics within a clinical treatment group. • Correlations do not infer causation. • Eg., what if there’s a correlation between low self-esteem and depression?

  17. Research Methods: Correlational We may say causes Depression Low self-esteem But perhaps… causes Low self-esteem Depression Or… Low self-esteem causes Biological Predisposition Depression

  18. Research Methods: Experiment • Experiment: Experiments manipulate a factor of interest while holding all other factors constant. • Allows us to isolate cause and effect.

  19. Research Methods: Experiment • There are three types of experiments. • Laboratory Experiment: Complete manipulation of a variable within a laboratory setting. • Subjects are randomly assigned to a control condition or an experimental condition. • Random assignment ensures that subjects are equal on potential extraneous variables.

  20. Research Methods: Experiment • Experimental condition: Receive the intervention/ experience/treatment. • Control condition: Did not receive the intervention/experience/ treatment. • E.g., Liebert and Baron (1972) studied the link between watching a violent television program and aggressive behaviour.

  21. Research Methods: Experiment • Children went to a laboratory waiting room with a TV set. • Experimental group saw a violent program about organized crime. • Control group saw a sports program. • Children then played a game with a child who was in another room. • They could either hurt or help the other child.

  22. Research Methods: Experiment • Advantage: Confounding variables are controlled. • Disadvantages: May lack ecological validity. • May induce artificial behavior.

  23. Research Methods: Experiment • Field Experiment: the manipulation takes place in a more familiar setting. • Eg., Friedrich & Stein (1973) also investigated the effects of violent TV on aggressive behaviour. • Study was conducted at a summer nursery school.

  24. Research Methods: Experiment • They observed children in a nursery school to get a baseline measure of aggression. • Over the next 4 weeks, the children watched a half-hour program that depicted aggression, or they watched a neutral program. • They then measured children’s aggressive behaviour at the nursery school.

  25. Research Methods: Experiment • Natural Experiment: Measures the effects of events or changes that occur in the real world. • Changes/events can be social, political, environmental, technological, etc.

  26. Research Methods: Experiment • There is no manipulation or random assignment. • Williams (1986) investigated the effect of the introduction of TV on aggressive behavior. • Other examples… • Families becoming rich or poor, children who have lost their parents, exposed to war, end of war.

  27. Hallmark of Experimentation • The hallmark of the experimental method is that it provided control of potential confounding variables. • Characteristics/conditions that vary that can explain your results. • It does this through random assignment. • Eg., you’re interested in the effects of DHA on cognitive development.

  28. Hallmark of Experimentation • Several times over a year you take a blood sample from infants. • At 12 months of age, you assess their cognitive development using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.

  29. Hallmark of Experimentation • Results show that higher levels of DHA is associated with high scores on the Bayley Scales. • However, this research is correlational. • The results may be explained by confounding variables… • Parents SES (quality of care), number of siblings, other aspects of diet, mother’s weight, quality of prenatal care, birthweight, etc.

  30. Hallmark of Experimentation • Eg. Upon birth, infants are randomly assigned to receive formula supplemented with DHA or traditional formula. • By using random assignment, experimental and control conditions should be roughly equal on potential confounding variables.

  31. Hallmark of Experimentation • Any difference between the two groups is likely due to DHA. • Yet, specific statistical techniques can be used to control for confounding variable. • Eg., factor analysis.

  32. Methods of Measurement • Extracting data from infants and children is often difficult. • They can’t tell you what they’re thinking or what they’re capable of. • To test children, we can use several electrophysiological and behavioral methods. • These measures reflect the some psychological process of interest • e.g. memory, perception, language, even pathology

  33. Methods of Measurement • Electrophysiological Methods: Measure physiological/electrical activity in the CNS. • EEGs: Surface electrodes record electrical activity in the • brain.

  34. Methods of Measurement • Evoked Potentials

  35. Methods of Measurement • Positron Emission Tomography (PET): Records the consumption of radioactive sugar glucose. • It shows what areas of the brain are active when performing a certain task.

  36. Methods of Measurement • Functional MRI (fMRI): Provides a measure of blood flow, i.e., brain activity.

  37. Methods of Measurement • Other methods measure activity in the autonomic nervous system. • Heart rate

  38. Methods of Measurement • Overt Behavior: Both observational (natural/controlled) and “instructional” tasks (experimental “tests”, pen & paper tests, role playing, questionnaires). Bayley Scales of Infant Development

  39. Methods of Measurement • Natural Reflexes Optokinetic Nystagmus (OKN)

  40. Methods of Measurement • Attention and Habituation

  41. Methods of Measurement • Preferences

  42. Methods of Measurement • Questionnaires and Interviews

More Related