Researchers study involuntary behaviors to better understand what infants know about the world around them. When infants hear the voice of their mother, for instance, their heart rate increases – whereas if they hear the voice of a stranger, their heart rate decreases (Kisilevsky et al., 2003). Infants and young children also demonstrate involuntary responses to stimuli in the environment. For example, think about the last time you heard your name at a party – you likely turned your head to see who was talking without even thinking about it. These are behaviors in which people engage without much conscious thought or effort. For this reason, developmental scientists have designed research methods that assess involuntary or obligatory responses. As a result, infants cannot actively engage with the environment in the same way as older children and adults. One of the primary challenges in studying very young infants is that they have limited motor control– they cannot hold their heads up for short amounts of time, much less grab an interesting toy, play the piano, or turn a door knob. At the end of this section, we give an example of how interview techniques can be used to study the beliefs and perceptions of older children and adults – a method that cannot be used with infants or very young children. We will also discuss other methods such as the use of surveys and questionnaires. In this section, we highlight some of the methods that have been used by researchers who study infants and older children, separating them into three distinct categories: involuntary or obligatory responses, voluntary responses, and psychophysiological responses. Researchers, therefore, have developed many creative ways to collect information about infant and child development. Infants and children-especially younger children-cannot be studied using the same research methods used in studies with adults. This module describes different research techniques that are used to study psychological phenomena in infants and children, research designs that are used to examine age-related changes in developmental processes and changes over time, and unique challenges and special issues associated with conducting research with infants and children. Importantly, research in developmental psychology is more than simply examining how children behave during games of hide-and-seek – the results obtained from developmental research have been used to inform best practices in parenting, education, and policy. ĭevelopmental psychologists investigate questions like these using research methods that are tailored to the particular capabilities of the infants and children being studied. They can be opportunities for researchers to learn about how children think, feel, and behave. But why not… and when do these abilities first develop? Children's games are more than just fun.
At first glance, this behavior is puzzling: why would Pilar hide in exactly the same location where someone else was just found? Whereas older children and adults realize that it is likely best to hide in locations that have not been searched previously, young children do not have the same cognitive sophistication. Pilar let out a small giggle as Lucas ran over to find her – in the exact location where he had found his sister a short time before. Pilar raced to her hiding spot as her six-year-old cousin, Lucas, loudly counted, “… six, seven, eight, nine, ten! Ready or not, here I come!”. Report on the unique challenges associated with conducting developmental researchĪ group of children were playing hide-and-seek in the yard.Discuss different research designs, as well as their strengths and limitations.
0 kommentar(er)
