The Science of Child Development Chapter 1: The Science of Child Development

Chapter 1: The Science of Child Development Chapter 1 contains four modules: Module 1.1 Setting the Stage Module 1.2 Foundational Theories of Child Development Module 1.3 Themes in Child-Development Research Module 1.4 Doing Child Development Research

Setting the Stage Historical Views of Children and Childhood Origins of a New Science

Module 1.1 Setting the Stage What ideas did philosophers have about children and childhood? How did the modern science of child development emerge? How do child-development scientists use research findings to improve children’s lives? Module 1.2 Foundational Theories of Child Development Module 1.3 Themes in Child-Development Research Module 1.4 Doing Child Development Research

Do you know the difference between each view? Historical Views of Children and Childhood Philosophers have long speculated on the nature of childhood Plato Aristotle Locke Rousseau Do you know the difference between each view? Philosophers have long speculated on the nature of childhood Plato argued that children are born with innate knowledge, while Aristotle saw knowledge as rooted in experience Contrasting views again seen during the Enlightenment, with Locke asserting that an infant is a “blank slate” while Rousseau believed children are born with innate sense of justice and morality

Historical Views of Children and Childhood Plato Children born with innate knowledge Sensory experiences trigger this knowledge Aristotle Innate knowledge does not exist Knowledge rooted in sensory experiences Locke Tabula rasa Knowledge shaped by reinforcement Rousseau Newborn endowed with sense of morality and justice Adults help children develop in their natural capacities Philosophers have long speculated on the nature of childhood Plato argued that children are born with innate knowledge, while Aristotle saw knowledge as rooted in experience Contrasting views again seen during the Enlightenment, with Locke asserting that an infant is a “blank slate” while Rousseau believed children are born with innate sense of justice and morality

Origins of a New Science Reform During Industrial Revolution Rural to urban transformation Child workers Reformers made the well-being of children a national concern during Industrial Revolution

Origins of a New Science Darwin Detailed, systematic observations (baby biographies) Application of child-development research Darwin’s ideas started interest in the origins of human behavior in children, as well as in behavioral changes over time Detailed, systematic observations of individual children—baby biographies—kept Child-development research used to promote healthy development

Origins of a New Science New Science Leaders G. Stanley Hall Binet Freud Watson and Skinner New Organization and Journal SRCD Applied Developmental Psychology

Foundational Theories of Child Development Biological Perspective Psychodynamic Perspective Learning Perspective Cognitive-Developmental Perspective Contextual Perspective

Module 1.2 Foundational Theories of Child Development Module 1.1 Setting the Stage Module 1.2 Foundational Theories of Child Development What are the major tenets of the biological perspective? How do psychodynamic theories account for development? What is the focus of learning theories? How do cognitive-developmental theories explain changes in children’s thinking? What are the main points of the contextual approach? Module 1.3 Themes in Child-Development Research Module 1.4 Doing Child Development Research

What is a theory? Organized set of ideas designed to explain and predict Leads to hypotheses that are tested, then confirmed or rejected In maturational theory, development reflects the natural unfolding of a pre-arranged biological plan In ethological theory, many behaviors are viewed as adaptive because they have survival value

Can you provide an example for each? Biological Perspective Important theorist and concepts Lorenz Critical period Imprinting Can you provide an example for each? A critical period is the time in development when a specific type of learning can take place; before or after the critical period, the same learning is difficult or even impossible Imprinting: creating an emotional bond with the mother

Psychodynamic Perspective Development is determined by how child resolves conflicts at different ages Freud Psychosexual development Components of personality Early experiences have enduring impact on development Freud’s components to personality—id, ego, and superego During psychosexual development, different parts of the body are the focus of pleasure Conflicts between what want and what should do

Psychodynamic Perspective Development is determined by how a child resolves conflicts at different ages Erikson Psychosocial development Stages with psychosocial crises Broadened the scope of personality to incorporate society and culture, not just sexuality Each stage is characterized by a psychosocial crisis, which is based on physiological development, but also on demands put on the individual by parents and/or society

Learning Perspective Early learning theories emphasized the importance of experience in development B.F. Skinner Operant conditioning Reinforcement and punishment Learning determines what child will be

Learning Perspective Other learning theorists suggested that children can learn by observing others Bandura Social cognitive theory Imitation or observational learning Social cognitive theory suggests that children’s sense of self-efficacy influences their behavior; more complex view of reward, punishment, and imitation Experience provides self-efficacy

The Cognitive-Developmental Perspective Development reflects children’s efforts to understand the world Jean Piaget Four-stage sequence Child as scientist and theorist Cognition more sophisticated with age Jean Piaget developed a four-stage sequence that characterizes children’s changing understanding of the world According to Piaget, children’s thinking becomes more sophisticated as they develop, reflecting the more sophisticated theories that children create

Contextual Perspective Development is determined by immediate and more distant environments, which typically influence each other Lev Vygotsky Importance of cultural context Culture: the knowledge, attitudes, and behavior associated with a group of people Lev Vygotsky believed that adults convey to children the beliefs, customs, and skills of their culture All people fit together to form child’s culture

Themes in Child Development Research Early Development is Related to Later Development but Not Perfectly Development is Always Jointly Influenced by Heredity and Environment Children Influence Their Own Development Development in Different Domains is Connected

Module 1.3 Themes in Child-Development Research Module 1.1 Setting the Stage Module 1.2 Foundational Theories of Child Development Module 1.3 Themes in Child-Development Research How well can developmental outcomes be predicted from early life? How do heredity and environment influence development? What role do children have in their own development? Is development in different domains connected? Module 1.4 Doing Child Development Research

Early Development is Related to Later Development The continuity-discontinuity issue: The continuous view: children stay on the same path throughout development The discontinuous view: children can change paths at any point in development Development is not completely rigid, nor completely flexible!

The nature-nurture issue: Development is Jointly Influenced by Heredity and Environment The nature-nurture issue: Older view: development influenced primarily by nature or nurture Current view: nature and nurture interact with each other to influence development Ask: What roles do biology and environment play in this? Major goal of child development research is to understand joint contributions of heredity and environment.

The active-passive child issue: Children Influence Their Own Development The active-passive child issue: Older view: children viewed as passive recipients of their environments Current view: children interpret their experiences and often influence the experiences that they have Passive: Locke Active: Rousseau Can you think of ways in which both may apply to children’s cognitive development?

Cognitive development affects social development and vice versa Development in Different Domains is Connected Development in different domains of children’s lives is always connected Cognitive development affects social development and vice versa Different degrees of connectedness across developmental domains

Doing Child Development Research Measurement in Child-Development Research General Designs for Research Designs for Studying Age-Related Changes Ethical Responsibilities Communicating Research Results

What general research designs are used in child-development research? Module 1.1 Setting the Stage Module 1.2 Foundational Theories of Child Development Module 1.3 Themes in Child-Development Research Module 1.4 Doing Child Development Research How do scientists measure topics of interest in children’s development? What general research designs are used in child-development research? What designs are unique to the study of age-related change? What ethical procedures must researchers follow? How do researchers communicate results to other scientists?

Measurement in Child-Development Research Decision Points How to measure phenomenon of interest How to design study How to respect rights of human subjects How to communicate results to other researchers

Measurement in Child-Development Research Approaches Systematic observation Sampling behavior with tasks Self report Physiological response measurement Systematic observation: naturalistic observation and structured observation Sampling behavior with tasks Self reports include questionnaires and interviews (note response bias) Measuring children’s physiological responses (e.g., heart rate, cortisol measures, brain activity measures) is less common but can be very powerful

Evaluating Measurement in Child-Development Research Measurement Methods Reliability Validity Representative Sampling Populations Samples Measures should be both valid and reliable Samples of children who participate in research should be representative of the population of interest

Can you interpret the correlation coefficient on the next slide? General Designs for Research Research Design: Correlational Studies View of relations as these exist in real world Expressed as a correlation coefficient, r, that ranges from -1 to 1 Positive correlation vs. negative correlation Can you interpret the correlation coefficient on the next slide?

Three Interpretations of a Correlation Coefficient See page 25 for detailed explanation

Look for the independent and dependent variables on the next slide. General Designs for Research Research Design: Experimental Studies Experiments systematically manipulate key variables selected by investigator Field experiments Quasi-experiments Look for the independent and dependent variables on the next slide. The manipulated factor is the independent variable; the behavior measured is the dependent variable In field experiments, the researcher manipulates independent variables in a natural setting

Example of an Experiment See page 26

Designs for Studying Age-Related Changes Research Designs: Age-Related Changes Longitudinal design Microgenetic study Cross-sectional design Longitudinal-sequential studies Longitudinal design: the same individuals are tested repeatedly Microgenetic study: children are tested repeatedly over a span of days or weeks Cross-sectional design: children of different ages are tested Longitudinal-sequential studies are hybrids of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies

Longitudinal Study Same children observed/tested repeatedly at different points in their lives Microgenetic studies Advantages: answers continuity questions Disadvantages: practice effect; selective attribution; cohort effects

Cross-Sectional Study Advantages: convenience Disadvantages: continuity not addressed Children of different ages tested at one point in their development Developmental changes identified

Longitudinal-Sequential Study Advantages: addresses continuity; deals with practice and cohort effects Disadvantages: more expensive and time-consuming Different sequence of children tested longitudinally

Designs for Studying Age-Related Changes Research Designs: Meta-analysis Synthesize results of many studies to estimate relations between variables Determine whether finding generalizes across many studies that used different methods Findings from studies are often inconsistent Meta-analysis is a tool that allows researchers to synthesize the results of many studies to estimate relations between variables Meta-analysis is a particularly powerful tool because it allows scientists to determine whether a finding generalizes across many studies that used different methods

Ethical Responsibilities Why are ethics important in research? Minimize risks to research participants Describe the research to potential participants Avoid deceiving participants Keep results anonymous or confidential

Communicating Research Results Research results reported in scientific journals Results of individual studies in text will be reported in the Focus on Research features of the text Converging evidence from many studies is necessary