Exam 1: Introduction to Developmental Psychology and Its Research Strategies

Explain what is meant by the term cohort effects.Identify the research design that is most likely to confound age effects and cohort effects.

Devon is excited because she found a very strong correlation between sexual activity and intelligence.If Devon's results are accurate, what can she conclude about sexual activity and intelligence?

Nancy is a developmentalist and she tells her friend that she believes it is important to study children in laboratory settings.She further states that there is no need to study the child's social relationships.Are Nancy's views consistent with the holistic view of development?

If a researcher wanted to know how a child behaves in his or her everyday environment, which research technique would be most appropriate?

Dr.Lauterbach predicts that as the temperature of a room increases, individuals are more likely to act aggressively.What does Dr.Lauterbach's prediction exemplify?

Researchers studying the effects of alcohol consumption assessed the physical coordination skills of 21-year-old men.Prior to the assessment, each participant was randomly assigned to drink a beverage with either 4, 2, or 0 ounces of alcohol.In this study, what is the independent variable?

Whose theory of human nature implies that the newborn infant acquires all its traits and knowledge from his or her experiences?

Suppose that the plasticity principle did not apply to development.How would this change our understanding of a child's abilities?

Aliya has been living in an Inuit community for the past three years to understand how the Inuit culture affects different aspects of development.Based on this example, which research method is Aliya using?

Which research goal establishes the facts of development?

Discuss the roles of maturation and learning in human development.

What is one advantage of the longitudinal approach to developmental research?

Which theorist proposed the notion that children are selfish egoists?

A researcher videotaped preschoolers at a playground for a study of the frequency of cooperative behaviours.What was the researcher's goal?

What is the independent variable in an experiment?

A researcher who uses a true experimental design would also use random assignment to place participants into each of the treatment and control conditions.Why is this necessary? How does this allow the researcher to assign cause-and-effect to the findings of the study?

Researchers studying the effects of alcohol consumption assessed the physical coordination skills of 21-year-old men.Prior to the assessment, each participant was randomly assigned to drink a beverage with either 4, 2, or 0 ounces of alcohol.In this study, what is the dependent variable?

Identify the main differences between natural (or quasi-) experiments and laboratory experiments.

One philosophical view suggests that children are "selfish egoists" who must learn to rechannel their naturally selfish interests into socially desirable outlets.What is this philosophical view, and which psychological theory does it underpin?

Random assignment to either the control or experimental group is an important aspect of experimental procedures.Why is random assignment used?