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Developmental Psychology Studies Humans Across the Lifespan, American Psychological Association, 2022, APA.org, https://www.apa.org/education-career/guide/subfields/developmental

Developmental Theories
and Research Methods
PSYC24: Childhood & Adolescence- Week 1
Dr. McPhee

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 By the end of class, you should be able to…

…define developmental psychology and

the processes that influence it.

…identify the four overarching themes in

developmental psychology.

Learning …describe the scientific method.

Objectives …differentiate between correlational and

experimental designs.

…describe cross-sectional, longitudinal

and sequential designs.
3
 Close-up portrait of a beautiful sleeping baby on white, Olesia Bilkei, 2003-2022,

What is Development?
Shutterstock Inc., https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-portrait-
beautiful-sleeping-baby-on-88040917

The changes that occur across the

lifespan, from conception to death.

How and why do people change over

time?

1) Maturation

2) Learning

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 Four Overarching Themes in Developmental
Psychology
a) Continuity and b) Nature versus c) Active versus d) Holistic Nature
Discontinuity Nurture Passive Children of Development

5
The Scientific
Method
• Scientific Method: Testing a theory or
hypothesis using objective and replicable
methods.
• We can detect relationships in our
data through correlational designs
and experimental designs.

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How do we detect relationships in our data?
1) Correlational Designs: Are two variables related?
• Correlational Coefficient (r) ranges from +1.00 to -1.00

Positive Correlation No Correlation Negative Correlation

r>0 r=0 r<0

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 How do we detect relationships in our data?

2) Experimental Designs: How does change in one variable influence another

variable?

• Independent Variable: The variable that is being manipulated.

• Dependent Variable: The variable that is being measured.

• Confounding Variable: Another variable that may influence the dependent

variable.

• Random Assignment: Unbiased assignment of participants to conditions.

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The Scientific
Method
• Scientific Method: Testing a theory or
hypothesis using objective and replicable
methods.
• We can detect relationships in our data
through correlational designs and
experimental designs.
• Measures should be reliable and valid.
• To measure developmental changes
across time, we can use cross-sectional,
longitudinal or sequential designs.
9
 How do we measure developmental changes over time?
1) Cross-Sectional Design: Data from various age groups collected at
one point in time.

Age of
Age 4 Age 8 Age 12
Participant:

Cohort effects?

Year Data
2010 2010 2010
Collected:

All grown up! Age-progression software lets you see your child as an adult – and it’s surprisingly accurate, Jonathan O’Callaghan, 2014, Daily Mail.com, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2601373/Age-progression-software-lets-child-look-like-grow-up.html 10
 How do we measure developmental changes over time?
2) Longitudinal Design: Measuring the same individual across time.
Age of
Age 4 Age 8 Age 12
Participant:
Practice effects?
Selective attrition?
Lack of
generalization?

Year Data Collected: 2010 2014 2018

All grown up! Age-progression software lets you see your child as an adult – and it’s surprisingly accurate, Jonathan O’Callaghan, 2014, Daily Mail.com, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2601373/Age-progression-software-lets-child-look-like-grow-up.html 11
 How do we measure developmental changes over time?
3) Sequential Design: Different age groups studied over time.
Age of Participant: Age 4 Age 8 Age 12

Can examine Age 4 Age 8 Age 12

whether there are
cohort effects.

Year Data Collected: 2010 2014 2018 2022

All grown up! Age-progression software lets you see your child as an adult – and it’s surprisingly accurate, Jonathan O’Callaghan, 2014, Daily Mail.com, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2601373/Age-progression-software-lets-child-look-like-grow-up.html 12
 By the end of class, you should be able to…

…define developmental psychology and

✓
the processes that influence it.

Learning ✓
…identify the four overarching themes in
developmental psychology.

Objectives ✓ …describe the scientific method.

…differentiate between correlational and

✓
experimental designs.

✓
…describe cross-sectional, longitudinal and
sequential designs.
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