The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence
by Kathleen Stassen Berger
Chapter 1
Introduction
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 science
 Studies all kinds of people
 Studies 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
Five Characteristics of
Development
Multidirectional
 Multicontextual
 Multicultural
 Multidisciplinary
 Plasticity

PHOTODISC
Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1
More About Change Over Time

Butterfly effect
 Sometimes
a small event may culminate in a
major event (e.g., one alcoholic drink at the
wrong time during pregnancy).

No effect
 Sometimes
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
constructions create “shoulds” (e.g.,
ages one “should” marry)
 Social
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 question
 Develop a hypothesis
 Test the hypothesis
 Draw conclusions
 Make 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
The Experiment

Research method to establish cause
 Independent
variable = imposed treatment
or special condition
 Dependent
variable = specific behavior
being studied
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
Other Methods

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
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
Studying Changes Over Time

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 people
 Problems include; people drop out,
participants learn goals of study, is costly
Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1
Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1
Studying Changes Over Time

Cross-sequential research studies
several groups of people of different ages,
then follows those groups longitudinally.
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 principles
 Do
no harm
 Secure informed consent
 Keep information of participants confidential
 Report research findings honestly and
carefully
 Base generalizations on more than one study
Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1
What Should We Study?

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.
Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 1