DEP 2004 Lecture 1:
Studying Human Development
Corresponds to Chapter 1 Text Readings
Erica Jordan, Ph.D., University of West Florida
Based on material from Human Development: A Cultural Approach (Arnett, 2011) and Human Development:
A Life-Span View (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008) unless otherwise noted.
Chapter 1 Guiding Questions

What is human development?

What key concepts are considered in human
development?

How do researchers study human development?

What factors must be considered when designing a
research study in the field of human development?
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What is human development?

Field of study investigating how people change and remain
the same over time.

Examines humans from before the cradle to the grave.

This field is multidisciplinary, meaning it takes into
account many different forces that may influence how
people develop.

Study of both typical and atypical development.
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Recurring Issues in Human Development
The focus of these issues is not “either-or.”
The focus of the issues can better be described as “to
what degree” does each factor influence development.

Nature and Nurture

Continuity and Discontinuity

Universal and Context-Specific Development
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Nature


The extent to which heredity (inherited traits or genes
influences the development of a person).
Nurture


The extent to which factors in the environment influence the
development of a person.
Many psychological characteristics (such as aggression)
have been found to be influenced by both heredity and
the environment.
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Continuity

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The extent to which development occurs as a smooth
progression or the extent to which a variable is relatively
stable over time.
Discontinuity

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The extent to which development occurs in abrupt shifts or
the extent to which a variable changes significantly over time.
When determining if a developmental phenomenon is
continuous or discontinuous, it often depends on the
way you choose to view the phenomenon.
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Universal Development


Concept that development occurs in a relatively similar
manner for all individuals
Context-Specific Development


Concept that development may vary significantly and does not
occur similarly for all individuals
All people tend to change in similar ways as they age
(universal). However, people in some cultures develop
some gross motor skills earlier (context-specific).
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Using Theories to Study Human
Development
What is a theory?

8

Organized set of ideas

Developmental theories are ideas that attempt to
explain development

Theories represent what we think we know so far
based on scientific evidence
There are many theories in the field of
human development…
Most fall under one of these major theoretical perspectives:
 Psychodynamic Theory
 Learning Theory
 Cognitive-Developmental Theory
 The Ecological and Systems Approach
 The Lifespan and Life-Course Perspective
These theoretical perspectives provide guidance for
research in the field of human development.
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Common Research Methods Used When
Studying Human Development

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Questionnaire
Interview
Observation
Ethnographic research
Case study
Biological measurement
Experiment
Natural experiment
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Questionnaires & Interviews

Self-Reported—participants answer questions about
themselves or about the topic of study in an interview or
survey/questionnaire format

Examples:

Potential problems:

Participants are not always accurate in their responses for a variety of
reasons





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Forgetting
Response bias (tell the researcher what is socially desirable or what they
believe the researcher wants to hear)
Misunderstanding/misreading the question
May not want to answer the question
Participants may also simply be unaware of certain behaviors
that they display
Observations (2 Types)
1. Naturalistic Observation—observing people in real-life
settings

Examples:

Potential problems (also see Table 1.4):


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Presence of the observer may influence participants’ behaviors
Some behaviors are rare
Many behaviors are difficult to record (so that they may be later analyzed)
because they are so complex and occur rapidly; video technology has
helped with this problem
2. Structured Observation—observing people in a lab or
another environment that has been structured/created by the
researcher

Examples:

Potential problems:



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Presence of observer
Novel (and often unnatural) environment
Many behaviors are complex and only certain behaviors can be coded
Ethnographic Research

Researcher immerses themselves (as much as possible) in
the group of people that they are studying

Advantages:


Disadvantages:

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Much more comprehensive and contextual data
Extremely time-consuming and demands lots of resources
Case Study

Detailed account of a small number of individuals

Advantages:

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Rich, detailed data
Disadvantage:
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Sample may not generalize to the population because it is so
small and has little variability
Can be costly
Time consuming
Biological Measurements

Examples:
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Measuring heart rate and respiratory rate during standardized
testing
Measuring an artists’ brain patterns when they are painting a picture
Measuring blood pressure to compare it to variables such as diet and
exercise frequency
Advantages:


Potential problems:

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Can provide precise and accurate measurements
Very specific
Can be very expensive
Requires the upmost precision to ensure that physiological responses are
occurring because of the variable of interest and are not due to some
other factor
Experimental Studies

Involve manipulating an independent variable
Participants are assigned to either an experimental group
or a control group

Advantage:



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Because variables are manipulated by the researcher, we can make
stronger claims about causation.
Some may occur naturally.
Disadvantage:

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Not all variables can be examined this way in an ethical manner.
What research design is it anyway?


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Cross-sectional
Longitudinal
Sequential
Please note that there are other
research designs, but we will only
discuss these.
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Longitudinal vs. Cross-sectional vs.
Sequential Design (An Example)

You are interested in the effects of divorce on children’s social
and academic functioning.

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Cross-sectional: You might collect data one time from a group of
children whose parents divorced and a group of children whose
parents did not divorce.
Longitudinal: You might follow a group of 20 children for a period of
50 years, collecting data from them a few times each year beginning
when they are 3 years old. Ideally, you would begin collecting data
before the parents of the children divorced.
Sequential: You might initially follow a group of children for 50 years,
collecting data from them a few times each year. A few years later,
you would collect data from a new cohort of children in addition to
collecting additional data from the first group of children. Both
groups would continue to be retested each year. This design also
helps to answer questions related to “cohort effects.”
Things to Remember…

Ethical Considerations

Reliability


Validity

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Does the measurement technique measure a variable consistently
in the same way? Do you always get the same answer after you
measure the variable?
Is the measurement technique accurate?
Correlational Studies

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Correlation does not equal causation! We cannot simply conclude
that one variable causes another just because they are related. We
can make inferences, but further studies are needed to draw
definitive conclusions.