Exam 1: Introduction to Developmental Psychology and Its Research Strategies

Which statement best describes the case study method?

A researcher studied the effects of a preschool enrichment program on the IQ of children starting at 2, 3, or 4 years of age.Each age group was assessed at the end of the first year of the program for short-term effects and then again five years later for long-term effects.Which research design does this study exemplify?

Which data-collection methods would be most impacted by individual and age-related differences in verbal skills?

Briefly describe the research method known as structured observation and explain when this method might be used.

What are investigators who prefer the cross-cultural approach often looking for in their research?

The confounding of age and cohort that can occur with the cross-sectional design is most likely to impact interpretation in a comparison between which of the following age groups?

Pat has developed a test to measure aggression.Pat gives the test to her developmental psychology class at the beginning of the term and again at the end of the term.Much to Pat's dismay, the results obtained at the end of the semester are completely different from those obtained at the start.What is a likely explanation for the difference in results?

Robert is interested in understanding how his pupils acquire the ability to count using their fingers.In order to answer his question, which research design should he use?

Studies have indicated that children who watch violent films demonstrate more violent behaviours.One hypothesis for this finding is that children who are more aggressive might begin with choose more violent films to view.What is this notion of existing aggression known as?

In comparison to correlational studies, what are two main advantages of the field experiment?

Isaac is interested in studying the effects of maternal drug use during pregnancy on the developing fetus.He proposes recruiting pregnant volunteers from a local neighbourhood where numerous drug addicts are known to live.He argues that because all participants would be volunteers, it would not be unethical to administer controlled doses of various drugs to the pregnant women.Under current ethical guidelines, would Isaac's research proposal be accepted?