AP Psychology Chapter 8

ShapeDreamsShapeDreamsShapeDreamsShapeDreamsAcademyAcademyAcademyAcademyPsychologyPsychologyPsychologyPsychologyLessonLessonLessonLesson9999LessonLessonLessonLesson9:9:9:9:DevelopmentalDevelopmentalDevelopmentalDevelopmentalPsychologyPsychologyPsychologyPsychologyReadings:Readings:Readings:Readings:IntroductiontoPsychologyIntroductiontoPsychologyIntroductiontoPsychologyIntroductiontoPsychologyChapter17Chapter17Chapter17Chapter179.1.Life-SpanApproach9.1.Life-SpanApproach9.1.Life-SpanApproach9.1.Life-SpanApproachThelife-spanapproachtodevelopmentalpsychologytakestheviewthatdevelopmentisnotaprocesswithaclearending.Fordecades,developmentwasthoughttoendwiththeonsetofadolescence.Rather,itisnowviewedasaprocessthatcontinuesfrombirthtodeath(orconceptiontocremation).Fromthisperspective,developmentalpsychologycanbedefinedasthestudyofthechangesthatoccurinpeople'sabilitiesandbehaviorsastheyage.Itisimportanttodifferentiatebetweenlife-spanpsychologistsandchildpsychologists.Althoughbothstudydevelopment,thechildpsychologisthasdecidedtofocusonaparticularearlierportionofthetypicallifespan.TheviewthatdevelopmentoccursacrossanentirelifetimewasfirstchampionedsuccessfullybyErikErikson.Consequently,developmentalpsychologyinvolvesmanyconceptstraditionallyincludedinotherareasofpsychology.Forexample,bothpersonalityresearchersanddevelopmentalpsychologistscloselyexamineidenticaltwinsforpersonalitysimilaritiesanddifferences.Somepsychologistsconsiderdevelopment.Psychologytobeanapplied,ratherthanpure,researchtopic.Thatis,developmentalpsychologistsapplyresearchfromotherareasofpsychologytospecialtopicsinvolvingmaturation.Andonewaytoorganizetheinformationincludedinthedevelopmentalpsychologysectionistothinkaboutoneofthebasiccontroversies:natureversusnurture.9.2.ResearchMethods9.2.ResearchMethods9.2.ResearchMethods9.2.ResearchMethodsResearchmethodsindevelopmentalpsychologyvaryaccordingtothequestionsbeingaskedbytheresearcher.Somedevelopmentalpsychologistsareinterestedinstudyingnormativedevelopment,whichisthetypicalsequenceofdevelopmentalchangesforagroupofpeople.Forexample,somedevelopmentalpsychologiststalkaboutdevelopmentoccurringinaseriesofstages,universalt0humandevelopment.Otherdevelopmentalpsychologistsaremoreinterestedinindividualdevelopment,ortheindividualpatternofdevelopment,includingdifferencesamongindividualsduringdevelopment.Oftenthetechniquesandresearchmethodsusefulforstudyingonetypeofdevelopmentarenotusefulforstudyingothertypesofdevelopment.9.2.1.Cross-SectionalMethod9.2.1.Cross-SectionalMethod9.2.1.Cross-SectionalMethod9.2.1.Cross-SectionalMethodNormativedevelopmentisoftenstudiedusingthecross-sectionalmethod.Longitudinal.Cross-sectionalresearchusesparticipantsofdifferentagestocomparehowcertainvariablesmaychangeoverthelifespan.Thecross-sectionalmethodseekstocomparegroupsofpeopleofvariousages,onsimilartasks.So,forexample,across-sectionalstudymightinvolveadministeringcognitiveteststoagroupoftwo-year-olds,agroupoffour-year-olds,andagroupofsix-year-olds,andthencomparingthemeansofthegroups.Thisapproachcanrevealtheaverageageatwhichcertainskillsorabilitiesappear.However,thedatacollectedincross-sectionalstudiestelluslittleabouttheactualdevelopmentofanysingleindividual.Forexample,adevelopmentalresearchermightbeinterestedinhowourabilitytorecallnonsensewordschangesasweage.Theresearchermightchooseparticipantsfromdifferentagegroups,say5-10,10-20,20-30,30--40,andtesttherecallofalistofnonsensewordsineachgroup.Cross-sectionalresearchcanproducequickresults,butresearchersmustbecarefultoavoidtheeffectsofhistoricaleventsandculturaltrends.Forexample,the30-40-year-oldparticipantgroupdescribedinthestudyabovemighthavehadaverydifferentexperienceinschoolthanthe5-10-year-oldsarehaving.Perhapsmemorizationwasemphasizedinschoolforonegroupandnotanother.Whentheresearcherexaminestheresults,sheorhemightnotknowifthedifferencesinrecallbetweengroupsareduetoageordifferentstylesofeducation.9.2.2.LongitudinalMethod9.2.2.LongitudinalMethod9.2.2.LongitudinalMethod9.2.2.LongitudinalMethodToresearchthedevelopmentalprocess,manydevelopmentalpsychologistsusethelongitudinalmethod.Thelongitudinalmethodinvolvesfollowingasmallgroupofpeopleoveralongportionoftheirlives,assessingchangeatsetintervals.Asyoumightimagine,longitudinalresearchismoredifficulttoconductand,therefore,isconductedlessfrequentlythaniscross-sectionalresearch.Forexample,adevelopmentalresearchermightstudyhowagroupofmentallychallengedchildrenprogressintheirabilitytolearnskills.Theresearcherwouldgathertheparticipantsandtestthematvariousintervalsoftheirlives(forexample,everythreeyears).Longitudinalstudieshavetheadvantageofpreciselymeasuringtheeffectsofdevelopmentonaspecificgroup.However,theyareobviouslytimeconsuming.Andtheresultscantakeyearsordecadestodevelop.9.3.Heredity–EnvironmentIssues9.3.1.GeneticsManydevelopmentalpsychologistsinvestigatehowourgenesinfluenceourdevelopment.Specifically,researchersmightlookatidenticaltwinsinordertodeterminewhichtraitsaremostinfluencedbygeneticfactors(forexample,theBouchardtwinstudy).Our