Introduction

Slides prepared by Kate Byerwalter, Ph.D.,Grand Rapids Community College

The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence by Kathleen Stassen Berger

Chapter 1

Seventh Edition

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Science of Human Development

The study of human development:

Seeks to understand how and why people change and remain the same over time.

Is a scienceStudies all kinds of peopleStudies change over time

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Continuity and Discontinuity

Continuity refers to characteristics that are stable over time (e.g., biological sex).

Discontinuity refers to characteristics unlike those than came before (e.g., speaking a new language, quitting a drug).

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

The Complex Patterns of Developmental Growth

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Multidirectional Multicontextual Multicultural Multidisciplinary Plasticity

Five Characteristics of Development

PHOTODISC

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

More About Change Over Time

Butterfly effectSometimes a small event may culminate in a

major event (e.g., one alcoholic drink at the wrong time during pregnancy).

No effectSometimes what seems to be a large event

has little long-term impact (e.g., children in war-torn Bosnia).

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Contexts of Development

HISTORICAL In what ways do you differ from your

grandparents? Great grandparents?

Cohort: group of people of the same age

Social constructions create “shoulds” (e.g., ages one “should” marry)

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Contexts of Development

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (SES)

A combination of income and other factors (parental education, occupation, etc.).

The impact of SES depends on many factors.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Contexts of Development

CULTURE

Includes values, technologies, customs of a group of people.

In what ways does culture influence development?

PHOTODISC

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

An Example of Culture and Development

Co-sleeping: children sleep with parents

Research in this area has found varying results

e.g.: Children who co-sleep do develop independence, but are less likely to sleep through the night.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Three Domains of Development

Biosocial = brain and body

Cognitive = thought processes, perceptual abilities, language

Psychosocial = emotions, personality, interpersonal relationships

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Interaction of Developmental Domains

Research continues to highlight that development is complex–the 3 domains interact.

Research examples: amygdala activity, depression, violence, social skills, etc.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

What is “plasticity”?

Plasticity refers to the fact that human traits can be molded into different forms, and yet people maintain a durability of identity.

It means that some aspects of development have the capacity for change, others may not….

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Resilience─An Example of the Complexity of Development Resilience: the ability to overcome severe

threats to development

e.g.: The impact of poverty is lessened by supportive schools, families, neighborhoods, a stable residence, and by the child’s personality.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Collective Efficacy

This neighborhood in Washington, D.C. shows no signs of collective efficacy–neighbors showing concern for others and their environment.

SHEPARD SHERBELL/CORBIS SABA

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Developmental Study as a Science

Scientific method: a general way to seek evidence to answer a question

Formulate a research questionDevelop a hypothesisTest the hypothesisDraw conclusionsMake findings available

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Observational Research

Observation: systematically observe and record behavior

Can be laboratory or naturalistic

Example: A study on childhood obesity found that only 5% of kids walked or rode a bike to school.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Research method to establish cause

Independent variable = imposed treatment or special condition

Dependent variable = specific behavior being studied

The Experiment

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

The Experiment

Experimental group: is given a particular treatment

Control group: does not get the treatment

Read example in text about experiment on activity and obesity (p. 19).

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

The Experiment (cont.)

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Survey = information collected from personal interviews, questionnaires, etc.

Problems include representativeness of

group, and phrasing of questions

Case study = intensive study of one individual or situation

Other Methods

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Studying Changes Over Time

Design a study to answer the question: “How much does reading comprehension improve between 4 and 6 years of age?”

PHOTODISC

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Cross-sectional research: groups differ in age but share other important characteristics (ethnicity, SES).

Longitudinal research studies individuals over a long period of time.

Advantage is studying the same peopleProblems include; people drop out,

participants learn goals of study, is costly

Studying Changes Over Time

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Cross-sequential research studies several groups of people of different ages, then follows those groups longitudinally.

Studying Changes Over Time

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Ecological-Systems Approach

Developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner, this approach suggests that a person should be considered in all the contexts and interactions in his/her life.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Correlations

A correlation indicates the degree of relationship between two variables.

Positive correlation: the variables increase or decrease together.

Example: The more hours you work, the more money you will be paid.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Correlations (cont.) Negative correlation: as one variable

increases, the other decreases.

Example: The more clothes you buy, the less money you will have in your checking account.

Correlations range from 0 to +/- 1.00

CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Quantity and Quality Quantitative research: provides data

that can be expressed with numbers (e.g., ranks, scales).

Qualitative research contains descriptions of conditions, and participants’ ideas.

Both types are valuable.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Ethics and Science

General principlesDo no harmSecure informed consentKeep information of participants confidentialReport research findings honestly and

carefullyBase generalizations on more than one study

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1

Are scientists studying issues that are crucial to human development?

Part of ethics is making sure we choose topics of importance to children and to all people.

What Should We Study?