Exam 1: Introduction to Developmental Psychology and Its Research Strategies

____ is a hallmark of the scientific method.

Dr. Bernstein kept a thorough record of her child's behavior and progress throughout the first year of life, with careful attention to the sounds and noises her baby made that seemed to lead up to later language usage. She also kept notes on how her own behavior affected her baby's vocalizing, in an attempt to learn how parent-child interactions influence language development. Later, in developing her own theory, she and her colleagues replicated the project on several dozen other children by observing them weekly throughout their first year of life. (a) What research methods were employed? What type of comparison was used? (b) Why was the research conducted on children other than Dr. Bernstein's? (c) If Dr. Bernstein observed that whenever she talked to her baby, the baby's rate of vocalizing increased, would this mean that her behavior "caused" the baby's? Why or why not?

What are disadvantages to the microgenetic approach?

A mother asks her doctor, "Is my baby normal in comparison with her age group?" The mother is concerned with her child's ____ development.

Those who borrow from many theories in their attempts to predict and explain human development are

In their study designed to assess the growth of moodiness and negativity as children transition to adolescence, Larson, Monetta, Richards, and Wilson used the ____ methodology.

Rita's parents are concerned about the fact that she is not speaking as well as her older brother did when he was two years old. At a visit to the pediatrician, Rita's parents learn that her speech delay is likely due to her frequent ear infections, which have at times impaired her hearing. This is an example of the concept of

Normative development consists of

A researcher videotaped preschoolers at a playground for a study of the frequency of cooperative behaviors. His research goal was

A researcher declares, "We must look carefully at how adults of various ethnic identities differ in their parenting styles." Her statement implies the importance of ____ for child development.

If a measure accurately measures what it is designed to measure, it is said to be

Students who study developmental psychology to learn the practicalities of becoming good parents will be especially interested in the research goals of

A major drawback of the case study method is that

Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's detailed reports about his clinical patients' life histories illustrates the ____ method.

The type of participant observation known as ethnography was borrowed from the field of

Despite its weaknesses, the cross-sectional design remains popular with researchers because it

A cohort is a group of people who

INTERVIEW is to QUESTIONNAIRE as ____ is to ____

Which of these is NOT among the several shortcomings of interviews or questionnaires?

Which of these is NOT a limitation of the naturalistic observation research method?