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Dev Psych Reviewer

Developmental Psychology
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UNIT 1

THE LIFE SPAN PERSPECTIVE

The Importance of Studying Life-Span Development

In exploring development, we will examine the life span from the point of conception until
the time when life (or at least life as we know it) ends. You will see yourself as an infant, as a child,
and as an adolescent, and be stimulated to think about how those years influenced the kind of
individual you are today. And you will see yourself as a young adult, as a middle-aged adult,
and as an adult in old age, and be motivated to think about how your experiences today will influ
ence your development through the remainder of your adult years.

Characteristics of the Life-Span Perspectives

Traditional approach – emphasizes extensive change from birth to adolescence (especially during
infancy), little or no change in adulthood, and decline in old age
Life-span approach - developmental change throughout adulthood as well as childhood

1. Life Expectancy
2. The Life-Span Perspective
- views development as
 Lifelong
o no age period dominates development
 Multidimensional
o no matter what your age might be, your body, mind, emotions, and
relationships are changing and affecting each other
o Development has biological, cognitive, and socioemotional dimensions.
Even within a dimension, there are many components
 Multidirectional
o throughout life, some dimensions or components of a dimension expand
and others shrink.
 Plastic
o Plasticity means the capacity for change, meaning one’s characteristics
are malleable or changeable
 Multidisciplinary
o Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, neuroscientists, and
medical researchers all share an interest in unlocking the mysteries of
development through the life span
 Contextual
o All development occurs within a context or setting. Each of these settings
is influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors.
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 Normative age-graded influences are similar for individuals in a

particular age group. These influences include biological
processes, sociocultural factors and environmental processes
 Normative history-graded influences are common to people of a
particular generation because of historical circumstances
 Nonnormative life events are unusual occurrences that have a
major impact on the lives of individual people. These events do
not happen to everyone, and when they do occur, they can
influence people in different ways
- and as a process that
 involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss
o Baltes and his colleagues (2006) assert that the mastery of life often
involves conflicts and competition among three goals of human
development: growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss. As
individuals age into middle and late adulthood, the maintenance and
regulation of loss in their capacities takes center stage.
 Views development as a co-construction of biological, cultural, and individual factors
working together
3. Some Contemporary Concerns
 Health and Well Being
 Parenting and Education
 Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity
o Culture - encompasses the behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of
a particular group of people that are passed on from generation to generation
o Cross-cultural studies - compare aspects of two or more cultures. The
comparison provides information about the degree to which development is
similar (or universal) across cultures, or is instead culture-specific
o Ethnic - is rooted in cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion, and language.
Diversity exists within each ethnic group
o Socioeconomic Status (SES) - refers to a person’s position within society
based on occupational, educational, and economic characteristics.
Socioeconomic status implies certain inequalities
o Gender - refers to the characteristics of people as males and females. Few
aspects of our development are more central to our identity and social
relationships than gender
 Social Policy
o a government’s course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens
o Values, economics, and politics all shape a nation’s social policy
 Technology
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THE NATURE OF DEVELOPMENT

BIOLOGICAL, COGNITIVE, AND SOCIOEMOTIONAL PROCESSES

Biological Processes

 produce changes in an individual’s physical nature.

 ex: Genes inherited from parents, brain development, height and weight gains,
changes in motor skills, nutrition, exercise, the hormonal changes of puberty, and
cardiovascular decline

Cognitive Processes

 refer to changes in the individual’s thought, intelligence, and language

 ex: Watching a colorful mobile swinging above the crib, putting together a two-word
sentence, memorizing a poem

Socioemotional Processes

 involve changes in the individual’s relationships with other people, changes in

emotions, and changes in personality.
 Ex: a baby’s attachment to their mother

Biological, Cognitive and Socioemotional processes are bidirectional. An

individual’s mind and body are interdependent.
The interplay of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes produces the
periods of the human life span.

Developmental period

 a time frame in a person’s life that is characterized by certain features

 periods in an individual’s life where unique life aspects occur

So, while both an 8-month-old and 8-year-old are considered children, they have different
motor abilities, social relationships, and cognitive skills. Their nutritional needs are different, and
their primary psychological concerns are also distinctive.

Periods of Development (most widely used classification)

 Prenatal
o Conception to birth
o Involves tremendous growth from single cell to an organism complete with a
brain and behavioral capabilities (9months)
 Infancy
o 18 to 24 months
o Extreme dependence on adults
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o Beginning of language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and

social learning (psychological activities)
 Toddler
o 1 ½ to 3 years
o Transitional period from infancy to early childhood
 Early Childhood
o 3 to 5 years
o Labeled pre-school years
o Child is busy learning language, gaining a sense of self and greater
independence, beginning to learn the workings of the physical
world,
o They learn to become more self-sufficient and to care for themselves, develop
school readiness skills (following instructions, identifying letters), and spend
many hours playing with peers.
 Middle and Late Childhood
o 6 to 10/11 years
o Labeled elementary school years
o Children master the fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, and
they are formally exposed to the larger world and its culture
o Achievement becomes a more central theme of the child’s world, and
self- control increases.
o World becomes one of learning and testing new academic skills and by
assessing one’s abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons
between self and others
 Adolescence
o 10/12 to 18/21 years
o developmental period of transition from childhood to early adulthood
o begins with rapid physical changes—dramatic gains in height and weight,
changes in body contour, and the development of sexual characteristics
such as enlargement of the breasts, growth of pubic and facial hair, and
deepening of the voice
o pursuit of independence and an identity are preeminent
o Thought is more logical, abstract, and idealistic
o More time is spent outside the family
 Early Adulthood
o Early twenties to the thirties
o a time of establishing personal and economic independence, advancing in a
career, selecting a mate, learning to live with that person in an intimate way,
starting a family, and rearing children
 Midlle Adulthood
o 40 to 60 years
o Aging becomes more noticeable
o A time of expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility; of
assisting the next generation in becoming competent, mature individuals; and
of reaching and maintaining satisfaction in a career
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 Late Adulthood
o Longest span of any development
o Separated into two:
Young-old Oldest old
-Have substantial -Considerable loss
potential for in cognitive skills
physical and
cognitive fitness
- Retain much of - More frail
cognitive
capacity
-Can develop strategies to cope with -Increase
gains andinlosses
chronicof stress
aging

Four Ages of Development

First Age: Childhood & adolescence

Second Age: Prime adulthood, 20-59
Third Age: 60 – 79 (lead more productive & active lives than predecessors)
Fourth Age: 80+ (health and well-being decline)

3 Developmental Patterns of Aging

 Normal
o most individuals
o peaks in middle age, stable in 50s to 60s, and then declines in early 80s
 Pathological
o Show greater than average decline as they age through the adult years
o Ex: development of Alzheimer’s in old age
 Successful
o Positive physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development is maintained longer

There are many connections between the periods of the human life span.

 Development in one period is connected to development in another period.

The Significance of Age

 Age & Happiness - adults are happier as they age (less societal pressures, more time for
leisurely pursuits)
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 Conceptions of Age
1. Chronological age
- number of years that have elapsed since birth
2. Biological Age
- Age in terms of biological health
- Determined by the functional capacities of one’s vital organs
- The younger the person’s biological age, the longer the person’s
biological age is expected to live, regardless of chronological age
3. Psychological Age
- An individual’s adaptive capacities compared with those of others the
same chronological age
4. Social Age
- Connectedness with others and the social roles individuals adopt

Developmental Issues

Is your journey through life marked ahead of time, or can your experiences change your
path?

 Nature & Nurture

o the extent to which development is influenced by nature (an organism’s biological
inheritance, nurture to its environmental experiences) and by nurture (or
environmental experiences)
 (Nature): An evolutionary and genetic foundation produces
commonalities in growth and development
 (Nurture): Experiences run the gamut from the individual’s biological
environment (nutrition, medical care, drugs, and physical accidents) to the
social environment (family, peers, schools, community, media, and
culture)
 Epigenetic view - which states that development reflects an
ongoing, bidirectional interchange between genes and the
environment.
 Stability & Change
o The degree to which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change
 Many developmentalists who emphasize stability in development argue
that stability is the result of heredity and possibly early experiences in life.
- Some argue that warm, nurturant caregiving during infancy and
toddlerhood predicts optimal development later in life
 Developmentalists who emphasize change take the more optimistic view
that later experiences can produce change.
- The later-experience advocates see children as malleable
throughout development and believe later sensitive caregiving is
just as important as earlier sensitive caregiving
 Continuity & Discontinuity
o The degree to which development involves either gradual or cumulative
(continuity) or distinct stage (discontinuity)
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3 THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
The Scientific process

- The best tool we have to answer questions about the roles of nature and nurture, stability
and change, and continuity and discontinuity in development
- A four-step process:
(1) conceptualize a process or problem to be studied

(2) collect research information (data),

(3) analyze the data, and

(4) draw conclusions

Theory is an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain phenomena and facilitate
predictions.
Hypotheses are specific assertions and predictions that can be tested.

Key aspects of five theoretical orientations to development:

Psychoanalytic Theories
- describe development as primarily unconscious (beyond awareness) and
heavily colored by emotion
- behavior is merely a surface characteristic and that a true understanding of development
requires analyzing the symbolic meanings of behavior and the deep inner workings of the
mind
- early experiences with parents extensively shape development

1. Freud’s Theory (Sigmund Freud)

Because Freud emphasized sexual motivation, his stages of development are known as
psychosexual stages. If the need for pleasure at any stage is either undergratified or
overgratified, an individual may become fixated, or locked in, at that stage of development.
Our adult personality is determined by the way we resolve conflicts between sources of
pleasure at each stage and the demands of reality.

ORAL STAGE ANAL STAGE PHALLIC STAGE

(Birth to 1 1/2 years) (1 1/2 to 3 years) (3 to 6 years)
- infant's pleasure centers on - child's pleasure centers on - child's pleasure centers on
the mouth the anus the genitals

GENITAL STAGE
LATENCY STAGE (Puberty onward)
(6 years to Puberty) - sexual reawakening
- child represses sexual -interest
source of sexual
and pleasure
develops becomes
socialand someoneskills
intellectual outside the family
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2. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Eight stages of development unfold as we go through life. At each stage, a unique
developmental task confronts individuals with a crisis that must be resolved. This crisis is
not a catastrophe, but a turning point marked by both increased vulnerability and enhanced
potential. The more successfully an individual resolves each crisis, the healthier
development will be.

 Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust.

o Infancy (First Year)
o Can I trust the world?
 Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt.
o Late infancy to toddlerhood (1-3 years)
o Is it okay to be me?
 Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt.
o Early childhood (preschool years, 3 to 5 years)
o Is it okay for me to do, move, and act?
 Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority.
o Middle and late childhood (elementary school years, 6 years to puberty)
o Can I make it in the world of people and things?
 Stage 5: Identity vs. Identity Confusion.
o Adolescence (10 to 20 years)
o Who am I? What can I be?
 Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation.
o Early adulthood (20s, 30s)
o Can I Love?
 Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation.
o Middle adulthood (40s, 50s)
o Can I make my life count?
 Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair.
o Late adulthood (60s onward)
o Is it okay to have been me?

FREUD’S THEORY VS ERIKSON’S THEORY

FREUD ERIKSON
 Develop in psychosexual stages  Develop in psychosocial stages
 The primary motivation for human  The primary motivation for human
behavior is sexual in nature behavior is social in nature and
reflects a desire to affiliate with other
people.
 Our basic personality is shaped  Developmental change occurs
during the first five years of life throughout the life span
 Viewed early experience as being  Emphasized the importance of both
far more important than later early and later experiences
experiences
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Cognitve Theories
- emphasizes conscious thoughts.

1. Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory (Jean Piaget)

 states that children go through four stages of cognitive development as they
actively construct their understanding of the world. Two processes underlie this
cognitive construction of the world: organization and adaptation. To make sense of
our world, we organize our experiences. For example, we separate important
ideas from less important ideas, and we connect one idea to another.

Sensorimotor Stage

(Birth to 2 years of age)

The infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions. An infant progresses from reflexive, instinctual action a

Preoperational Stage

2 to 7 years
The child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words and images reflect increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the connection of sensory

Concrete Operational Stage

7 to 11 years
The child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets.

Formal Operational

11 years through Adulthood

The adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways.

2. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory (Lev Vygotsky)

 A sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction
guide cognitive development
 argued that children actively construct their knowledge
 Child’s development is portrayed as inseparable from social and cultural activities
 He maintained that Cognitive development involves learning to use the inventions
of society, such as language, mathematical systems, and memory strategies.
 According to Vygotsky, children’s social interaction with more skilled adults and
peers is indispensable to their cognitive development. Through this interaction,
they learn to use the tools that will help them adapt and be successful in their
culture.
3. The Information-Processing Theory (Robert Siegler)
 emphasizes that individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize
about it
 individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity for processing information,
which allows them to acquire increasingly complex knowledge and skills
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 states that thinking is information processing. In other words, when individuals

perceive, encode, represent, store, and retrieve information, they are thinking.
 Siegler emphasizes that an important aspect of development is learning good
strategies for processing information
 Emphasizes the importance of using the micro genetic method to obtain detailed
information about processing mechanisms as they are occurring from moment to
moment.
 Micro genetic method - seeks to discover not just what children know but
the cognitive processes involved in how they acquired the knowledge
 uses the computer as an analogy to help explain the connection between cognition
and the brain by describing the physical brain as the computer’s hardware, and
cognition as its software
 In this analogy, the sensory and perceptual systems provide an “input
channel,” similar to the way data are entered into the computer. As input
(information) comes into the mind, mental processes, or operations, act on
it, just as the computer’s software acts on the data. The transformed input
generates information that remains in memory much in the way a
computer stores what it has worked on. Finally, the information is retrieved
from memory and “printed out” or “displayed” (so to speak) as an
observable response.

Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories

 Behaviorism essentially holds that we can study scientifically only what can be directly
observed and measured.

1. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning (B.F. Skinner)

 Through operant conditioning, the consequences of a behavior produce changes
in the probability of the behavior’s occurrence
 A behavior followed by a rewarding stimulus is more likely to recur, whereas a
behavior followed by a punishing stimulus is less likely to recur.
 For Skinner the key aspect of development is behavior, not thoughts and
feelings. He emphasized that development consists of the pattern of
behavioral changes that are brought about by rewards and punishments.
2. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (Albert Bandura)
 holds that behavior, environment, and cognition are the key factors in
development
 Bandura emphasizes that cognitive processes have important links with the
environment and behavior.
 His early research program focused heavily on observational learning
 observational learning (also called imitation or modeling) is learning that
occurs through observing what others do.
 Bandura proposes that people cognitively represent the behavior of others and
then sometimes adopt this behavior themselves.
 Bandura’s Latest Social Cognitive Model
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The arrows illustrate how relations between behavior, person/cognitive,

and environment are reciprocal rather than one-way. Person/ cognitive refers to
cognitive processes (for example, thinking and planning) and personal
characteristics (for example, believing that you can control your experiences)

Behavior

Person/Cognitive Environment

Ethological Theory
- Ethology stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and
is characterized by critical or sensitive periods. These are specific time frames during
which, according to ethologists, the presence or absence of certain experiences has a
long-lasting influence on individuals

1. Konrad Lorenz and “Imprinting”

 Imprinting—the rapid, innate learning that involves attachment to the first
moving object seen
 Lorenz (1965) studied the behavior of greylag geese, which will follow their
mothers as soon as they hatch. Lorenz separated the eggs laid by one goose into
two groups. One group he returned to the goose to be hatched by her. The other
group was hatched in an incubator. The goslings in the first group performed as
predicted. They followed their mother as soon as they hatched. However, those
in the second group, which saw Lorenz when they first hatched, followed him
everywhere, as though he were their mother.
 Imprinting needs to take place at a certain, very early time in the life of the animal,
or else it will not take place. This point in time is called a critical period.
2. John Bowlby
 Bowlby stressed that attachment to a caregiver over the first year of life has
important consequences throughout the life span.
- If this attachment is positive and secure, the individual will likely develop
positively in childhood and adulthood. If the attachment is negative and
insecure, life-span development will likely not be optimal.
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Ecological Theory
- emphasizes environmental factors

1. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (Urie Brofenbrenner)

 holds that development reflects the influence of several environmental systems.
 The theory identifies five environmental systems:
- Microsystem
- the setting in which the individual lives
- the most direct interactions with social agents take place
- The individual is not a passive recipient of experiences in these
settings, but someone who helps to construct the settings.
- Mesosystem
- involves relations between microsystems or connections between
contexts
- ex: the relation of family experiences to school experiences
- Exosystem
- consists of links between a social setting in which the individual
does not have an active role and the individual’s immediate
context.
- Ex: The mother might receive a promotion that requires more
travel, which might increase conflict with the husband and change
patterns of interaction with the child
- Macrosystem
- involves the culture in which individuals live
- Chronosystem
- consists of the patterning of environmental events and
transitions over the life course, as well as sociohistorical
circumstances.
- Ex: divorce, career opportunities for women
-
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THEORY ISSUES

Continuity/discontinuity, early Biological and Environmental

versus later experiences Factors
Psychoanalytics Discontinuity between stages— Freud’s biological determination
continuity between early interacting with early family
experiences and later experiences; Erikson’s more
development; early experiences balanced biological-cultural
very important; later changes in interaction perspective
development emphasized in
Erikson’s theory
Cognitive Discontinuity between stages in Piaget’s emphasis on interaction
Piaget’s theory; continuity between and adaptation; environment
early experiences and later provides the setting for cognitive
development in Piaget’s and structures to develop; information-
Vygotsky’s theories; no stages in processing view has not addressed
Vygotsky’s theory or information- this issue extensively but mainly
processing theory emphasizes biological-
environmental interaction
Behavioral and Continuity (no stages); experience Environment viewed as the cause of
Social Cognitive at all points of development behavior in both views
important
Ethological Discontinuity but no stages; critical Strong biological view
or sensitive periods emphasized;
early experiences very important
Ecological Little attention to Strong environmental view
continuity/discontinuity; change
emphasized more than stability
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4 RESEARCH ON LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT

Generally, research on life-span development is designed to test hypotheses, which
in some cases are derived from the theories just described. Through research, theories are
modified to reflect new data, and occasionally new theories arise.

Methods for Collecting Data

1. Observation

 For observations to be effective, they have to be systematic. We have to have

some idea of what we are looking for. We have to know whom we are observing,
when and where we will observe, how the observations will be made, and how
they will be recorded.
 Our observations are made in:
o The Laboratory - a controlled setting where many of the complex factors of
the “real world” are absent
 Problems:
1. It is almost impossible to conduct research without the
participants knowing they are being studied
2. The laboratory setting is unnatural and therefore can cause
the participants to behave unnaturally
3. People who are willing to come to a university laboratory
may not accurately represent groups from diverse cultural
backgrounds
4. People who are unfamiliar with university settings and
with the idea of “helping science” may be intimidated by
the laboratory setting
o The Everyday World or Naturalistic Observation - observing behavior in
real-world settings, making no effort to manipulate or control the
situation
 conducted at sporting events, child-care centers, work settings,
malls, and other places people live in and frequent
2. Survey and Interview
 can be used to study topics ranging from religious beliefs to sexual habits to
attitudes about gun control to beliefs about how to improve schools
 may be conducted in person, over the telephone, and over the Internet.
 Problem: the tendency of participants to answer questions in a way that they think
is socially acceptable or desirable rather than to say what they truly think or feel
3. Standardized Test
 A test with uniform procedures for administration and scoring
 allow a person’s performance to be compared with the performance of other
individuals.
 Problem: they assume a person’s behavior is consistent and stable, yet personality
and intelligence—two primary targets of standardized testing—can vary with the
situation.
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4. Case Study
 an in-depth look at a single individual
 provides information about one person’s experiences; it may focus on nearly any
aspect of the subject’s life that helps the researcher understand the person’s mind,
behavior, or other attributes
 performed mainly by mental health professionals when, for either practi cal or
ethical reasons, the unique aspects of an indi vidual’s life cannot be duplicated
and tested in other individuals
 Problems:
o The subject of a case study is unique, with a genetic makeup and personal
history that no one else shares; thus we must be careful with generalization
o Involve judgments of unknown reliability. Researchers who conduct case
studies rarely check to see if other professionals agree with their
observations or findings
5. Physiological Measures
 Hormone levels are increasingly used in developmental research
o Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal gland that is linked to the
body’s stress level and has been measured in studies of temperament,
emotional reactivity, mood, and peer relations
 Neuroimaging is increasingly being used, especially functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI), in which electromagnetic waves are used to construct
images of a person’s brain tissue and biochemical activity
 Electroencephalography (EEG) is a physiological measure that has been used
for many decades to monitor overall electrical activity in the brain
 Heart rate has been used as an indicator of infants’ and children’s development of
perception, attention, and memory; also as an index of different aspects of
emotional development, such as inhibition, stress, and anxiety
 Researchers study eye movement to learn more about perceptual development
and other developmental topics.

Research Designs

3 Main Types:

1. Descriptive Research
 aims to observe and record behavior
 By itself, descriptive research cannot prove what causes some phenomenon, but it
can reveal important information about people’s behavior
2. Correlational Research
 goes beyond describing phenomena to provide information that will help us to
predict how people will behave
 the goal is to describe the strength of the relationship between two or more events
or characteristics.
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o The more strongly the two events are correlated (or related or associated),
the more accurately we can predict one event from the other
o Correlation coefficient - which is a number based on a statistical analysis
that describes the degree of association between two variables
 The higher the correlation coefficient (whether positive or
negative), the stronger the association between the two variables.
A correlation of 0 means that there is no association between the
variables. A correlation of −.40 is stronger than a correlation of +.20
because we disregard whether the correlation is positive or
negative in determining the strength of the correlation.
 Problem: Correlation does not equal causation
3. Experimental Research
 An experiment is a carefully regulated procedure in which one or more factors
believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated while all other
factors are held constant
 Includes two types of changeable factors:
o Independent
 a manipulated, influential, experimental factor
 a potential cause
 can be manipulated independently of other factors to determine its
effect
 an experiment can include one or several
o Dependent
 a factor that can change in an experiment, in response to changes
in the independent variable
 measured for any resulting effect as researchers manipulate the
independent variable
 Can include one or more experimental groups and one or more control groups
o Experimental group
 a group whose experience is manipulated
o Control group
 a comparison group that is as similar to the experimental group as
possible and that is treated in every way like the experimental
group except for the manipulated factor (independent variable)
 serves as a baseline against which the effects of the manipulated
condition can be compared
o Random assignment means that researchers assign participants to
experimental and control groups by chance.
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Time Span of Research

1. Cross-Sectional Approach
 a research strategy that simultaneously compares individuals of different ages.
o The groups can be compared with respect to a variety of
dependent variables: IQ, memory, peer relations, attachment to
parents, hormonal changes, and so on.
o can be accomplished in a short time
 Advantages: the researcher does not have to wait for the individuals to grow
up or become older
 Disadvantages:
o It gives no information about how individuals change or about
the stability of their characteristics.
o It can obscure the increases and decreases of development—
the hills and valleys of growth and development
2. Longitudinal Approach
 a research strategy in which the same individuals are studied over a period of
time, usually several years or more.
 Advantages:
o provide a wealth of information about vital issues such as stability and
change in development and the influence of early experience on
later development
 Disadvantages:
o are expensive and time-consuming
o The longer the study lasts, the more participants drop out—they move,
get sick, lose interest, and so forth
o The participants who remain may be dissimilar to those who drop out,
biasing the outcome of the study
3. Cohort Effects
 A cohort is a group of people who are born at a similar point in history and share
similar experiences as a result, such as living through the Vietnam War or
growing up in the same city around the same time
o These shared experiences may produce a range of differences among
cohorts
 Cohort effects are characteristics determined by a person’s time of birth, era, or
generation rather than the person’s actual age
o can powerfully affect the dependent measures in a study ostensibly
concerned with age
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GENERATIONS, THEIR HISTORICAL PERIODS, AND CHARACTERISTICS

Generation Historical Period Reasons for Label
Millennials Individuals born in First generation to come of
1980 and later age and enter emerging
adulthood (18 to 25 years of
age) in the twenty-first
century (the new
millennium). Two main
characteristics: (1)
connection to technology,
and (2) ethnic diversity.
Generation X Individuals born between Described as lacking an
1965 and 1980 identity and savvy loners
Baby Boomers Individuals born between Label used because this
1946 and 1964 generation represents the
spike in the number of
babies born after World
War II; the largest
generation ever to enter
late adulthood in the United
States.
Silent Generation Individuals born between Children of the Great
1928 and 1945 Depression and World War
II; described as conformists
and civic minded

Conducting Ethical Research

The American Psychological Association (APA) has developed ethics guidelines for its
members. The code of ethics instructs psychologists to protect their participants from mental and
physical harm. The participants’ best interests need to be kept foremost in the researcher’s mind.
APA’s guidelines address four important issues:

1. Informed consent.
 All participants must know what their research participation will involve and
what risks might develop. Even after informed consent is given, participants
must retain the right to withdraw from the study at any time and for any
reason.
2. Confidentiality.
 Researchers are responsible for keeping all of the data they gather
on individuals completely confidential and, when possible,
completely anonymous.
3. Debriefing.
 After the study has been completed, participants should be informed of its
purpose and the methods that were used. In most cases, the
experimenter also can inform participants in a general manner
beforehand about the
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purpose of the research without leading participants to behave in a way

they think that the experimenter is expecting.
4. Deception.
 In some circumstances, telling the participants beforehand what the
research study is about substantially alters the participants’ behavior and
invalidates the researcher’s data. In all cases of deception, however, the
psychologist must ensure that the deception will not harm the participants
and that the participants will be debriefed (told the complete nature of the
study) as soon as possible after the study is completed

Minimizing Bias
1. Gender Bias
- For most of its existence, our society has had a strong gender bias, a
preconceived notion about the abilities of women and men that prevented
individuals from pursuing their own interests and achieving their potential
- has had a less obvious effect within the field of life-span development
- when researchers find gender differences, their reports sometimes magnify those
differences
2. Cultural and Ethnic Bias
- There is a growing realization that research on life-span development needs to
include more people from diverse ethnic groups
- Given the fact that individuals from diverse ethnic groups were excluded from
research on life-span development for so long, we might reasonably conclude
that people’s real lives are perhaps more varied than research data have
indicated in the past.
- Researchers also have tended to overgeneralize about ethnic groups
 Ethnic gloss is using an ethnic label such as African American or Latino in a
superficial way that portrays an ethnic group as being more homogeneous
than it really is
o can cause researchers to obtain samples of ethnic groups that are
not representative of the group’s diversity, which can lead to
overgeneralization and stereotyping
- More attention also needs to be given to biculturalism because the complexity of
diversity means that some children of color identify with two or more ethnic
groups
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