EDHD320 Midterm Exam Study Guide
lifespan development - ANSWER ways people grow, change, and stay the same
throughout their lives
why study lifespan development - ANSWER -understand how humans develop
and grow
-figure out when we start learning certain objectives to make sure we develop
properly and determine developmental defects of kids
-understand lifetime patterns of change
-changes that occur early on influence how we experience later changes
-to understand a variety of social problems, make contributions to social policies
and seek to enhance life chances of diverse groups of individuals, families and
communities
five principles of lifespan development - ANSWER 1. multidimensional: physical
(body maturation & growth), cognitive (maturation of thought processes and
problem solving), socioemotional (changes in personality, emotions, social
skills, etc.)
2. multidirectional: gains and losses, growth and decline
3. plastic: changeability, resilience- adapt to adverse contexts/circumstances
4. influenced by multiple contexts: context- where and when person develops,
cohort- generation of people born at same time
5. multidisciplinary: contributions of many disciplines needed to understand how
people grow, think, interact w the world
basic issues in lifespan human development - ANSWER 1. Do people remain
largely the same over time or do they change dramatically?: continuous vs.
discontinuous development
2. What role do people play in their own development?: individuals active in
development- ex: infants who smile at adults more likely to elicit smiles and
"baby talk" from adults around them
,3. To what extent is development a function of inborn genetic endowments, as
compared with the environment in which individuals live?: nature vs. nurture
interaction
nature vs. nurture - ANSWER nature: genetic endowments/heredity,
maturational processes, evolution
nurture: physical and social environment
continuous vs. discontinuous development - ANSWER continuous: slow and
gradual change
discontinuous: abrupt change
scientific method - ANSWER process of posing and answering questions by
making careful and systematic observations and gathering information
steps of scientific method - ANSWER 1. identify research question to be studied
and formulate hypotheses
2. gather information
3. summarize information and determine whether hypothesis is refuted
4. interpret summarized information, consider findings in light of other research
studies, and share findings
Methods for gathering data - ANSWER 1. self-reports: interviews and
questionnaires--open-ended interview, structured interview, questionnaire
2. observations: naturalistic observation, structured observation
3. physiological measures
self-report advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER advantages: cheap,
collects more detail, gives full indication of person's experience
disadvantages: lots of bias possible, questions could easily be worded a certain
way to elicit specific responses, unpredictable answers, difficult to measure,
difficult to generalize to larger populations or communities
observations advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER advantages: allows data
to be quantitative, doesn't disrupt natural setting
disadvantages: can only be small scale, lacks validity
, study designs - ANSWER 1. case study: in-depth examination of a single person
(or small group)
2. correlational designs: examines relations among measured characteristics,
behaviors, events
3. experimental designs: procedure that uses control to determine causal
relationships among variables
correlational design advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER advantages:
collects more data than experimental research, opens up more research for
scholars, allows researchers to determine strength and direction of a
relationship so later studies can narrow down findings and possibly determine
causation experimentally
disadvantages: correlation research only uncovers a relationship; it cannot
provide a conclusive reason for why there's a relationship
experimental group vs. control group - ANSWER experimental group: group
whose experiences are manipulated by varying independent variable
control group: treated just like experimental group but do not receive
independent variable
experimental research advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER advantages:
can prove causal relationships, allows for drawing of conclusions about the
causal relationship among variables, high level of control on which variables to
isolate and study
disadvantages: subject to human error, can create artificial situations to fit the
needs of the researcher (skewed or corrupted data)--especially in business and
marketing
random assignment advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER computer-
generated or selection of subjects to be involved in a study
advantages: everyone has equal change of being in study, simplest form of data
collection, reduces bias, can be representative of entire population
disadvantages: complex and time-consuming, expensive, no guarantee of
universal conclusions, need large sample size, easy to misinterpret data
independent vs. dependent variables and advantages and disadvantages -
ANSWER independent variable: factor proposed to change behavior under
study
lifespan development - ANSWER ways people grow, change, and stay the same
throughout their lives
why study lifespan development - ANSWER -understand how humans develop
and grow
-figure out when we start learning certain objectives to make sure we develop
properly and determine developmental defects of kids
-understand lifetime patterns of change
-changes that occur early on influence how we experience later changes
-to understand a variety of social problems, make contributions to social policies
and seek to enhance life chances of diverse groups of individuals, families and
communities
five principles of lifespan development - ANSWER 1. multidimensional: physical
(body maturation & growth), cognitive (maturation of thought processes and
problem solving), socioemotional (changes in personality, emotions, social
skills, etc.)
2. multidirectional: gains and losses, growth and decline
3. plastic: changeability, resilience- adapt to adverse contexts/circumstances
4. influenced by multiple contexts: context- where and when person develops,
cohort- generation of people born at same time
5. multidisciplinary: contributions of many disciplines needed to understand how
people grow, think, interact w the world
basic issues in lifespan human development - ANSWER 1. Do people remain
largely the same over time or do they change dramatically?: continuous vs.
discontinuous development
2. What role do people play in their own development?: individuals active in
development- ex: infants who smile at adults more likely to elicit smiles and
"baby talk" from adults around them
,3. To what extent is development a function of inborn genetic endowments, as
compared with the environment in which individuals live?: nature vs. nurture
interaction
nature vs. nurture - ANSWER nature: genetic endowments/heredity,
maturational processes, evolution
nurture: physical and social environment
continuous vs. discontinuous development - ANSWER continuous: slow and
gradual change
discontinuous: abrupt change
scientific method - ANSWER process of posing and answering questions by
making careful and systematic observations and gathering information
steps of scientific method - ANSWER 1. identify research question to be studied
and formulate hypotheses
2. gather information
3. summarize information and determine whether hypothesis is refuted
4. interpret summarized information, consider findings in light of other research
studies, and share findings
Methods for gathering data - ANSWER 1. self-reports: interviews and
questionnaires--open-ended interview, structured interview, questionnaire
2. observations: naturalistic observation, structured observation
3. physiological measures
self-report advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER advantages: cheap,
collects more detail, gives full indication of person's experience
disadvantages: lots of bias possible, questions could easily be worded a certain
way to elicit specific responses, unpredictable answers, difficult to measure,
difficult to generalize to larger populations or communities
observations advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER advantages: allows data
to be quantitative, doesn't disrupt natural setting
disadvantages: can only be small scale, lacks validity
, study designs - ANSWER 1. case study: in-depth examination of a single person
(or small group)
2. correlational designs: examines relations among measured characteristics,
behaviors, events
3. experimental designs: procedure that uses control to determine causal
relationships among variables
correlational design advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER advantages:
collects more data than experimental research, opens up more research for
scholars, allows researchers to determine strength and direction of a
relationship so later studies can narrow down findings and possibly determine
causation experimentally
disadvantages: correlation research only uncovers a relationship; it cannot
provide a conclusive reason for why there's a relationship
experimental group vs. control group - ANSWER experimental group: group
whose experiences are manipulated by varying independent variable
control group: treated just like experimental group but do not receive
independent variable
experimental research advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER advantages:
can prove causal relationships, allows for drawing of conclusions about the
causal relationship among variables, high level of control on which variables to
isolate and study
disadvantages: subject to human error, can create artificial situations to fit the
needs of the researcher (skewed or corrupted data)--especially in business and
marketing
random assignment advantages and disadvantages - ANSWER computer-
generated or selection of subjects to be involved in a study
advantages: everyone has equal change of being in study, simplest form of data
collection, reduces bias, can be representative of entire population
disadvantages: complex and time-consuming, expensive, no guarantee of
universal conclusions, need large sample size, easy to misinterpret data
independent vs. dependent variables and advantages and disadvantages -
ANSWER independent variable: factor proposed to change behavior under
study
