Lectures #2 Notes Research Methods

9/07/16

Goal of developmental psychology is to explain the facts as explained

by their underlying mechanisms

Studying Development
Theory = an interrelated framework of statements that describes,

explains, and predicts behavior.

E.g. a good theory of motor development would describe motor abilities
and how they change over development and explain why those changes
occur when they do and predict when children will achieve certain motor
milestones
o Theories are tested according to the scientific method
i. Choose a question to answer
ii. Formulate a hypothesis
= a testable prediction derived from a theory
i
Develop a method for testing the hypothesis
ii
Use the data you obtain to draw a conclusion regarding the
hypothesis
Example of theory testing:
1 Question: why do babies learn to walk at 11-14 months
2 Hypothesis: Because that's when their muscle/body fat ratio enables
them to lift & control their legs
3 Method: Compare age
4 Interpret data: prediction supported/not supported
Importance of Appropriate measurement
In order to test hypotheses, it's critical to measure correctly
Reliability: the degree to which independent measurements of a

behavior or variable are consistent

Inter-rater reliability
Test-Retest reliability
Validity: the degree to which a test measures what it is intended to

measure
Internal Validity: observed effects attributed to the
variables that were manipulated or measures?
External validity: findings generalize to other
populations or other kinds of experimental measures
Methods for Gathering Data
1 Structured interview: ask all subjects the same question -->
advantage = direct; can ask kids
disadvantage: dangers of self report
-- shyness, bias, only works for linguistically able students
o
clinical interview: what gets asked depends on subject's
response to previous Q's; allows for follow up!

Naturalistic observation: observers try to be as unobtrusive as

possible ["fly on the wall"]
o
Advantage: can be natural; useful for understanding social
interactions
o
Disadvantage: sometimes must wait a long time to observe
behavior of interest & it can be hard to isolate which variables are
related

Structured observation = set up a situation of interest, then watch

what children do in that situation

Correlational studies
R=0 no correlation
Advantage: very flexible; can ask many types of questions, examine
historical data, and it is non invasive
Disadvantage: directionality of the causation is not addressed - which
variable causes the other to change??
Correlation is NOT = causation

Experimental studies: factor of interest is experimentally manipulated

for 2 or more groups, holding all other factors constant
o
CAN show causation, if done correctly

Independent variable: the variable being manipulated

Dependent variable: what you measure; what you hypothesize will change