PSYC2030 Semester 1, 2015

Question 1:
Explain what the difference is between "qualitative" and "quantitative" developmental change in
psychological functioning and give example of each from the field of cognitive development.

1. Qualitative change is where you undergo a major change from something you were before to
something you are now. Qualitative focuses on changes in the way children think, behave, and
perceive the world differently as they mature. Qualitative change is always in stage. For example,
-Biologically: stages are fundamentally different
-Psychologically: acquisition of new skills
Example from the field of cognitive development: Not having self awareness to having self awareness

2. Quantitative refers to the changes children encounter as they acquire more knowledge and grow
physically. Quantitative change is adding or improving to something you already had.
Example from the field of cognitive development: IQ increasing from age/ Increasing vocabulary from age 4
to age 10.

Question 2:
Explain what a time-lag research design entails and consider its relevance to the discrepancy between cross-
sectional (X-S) and longitudinal (L) results of testing for change in adult intelligence (IQ) from youth
through old age.
Time-lag design combines X-S with L with T-L measurement of samples of different ages from the same
population. It test same age groups from different generations over a period of time. It also used to eliminate
discrepancies when comparing X-S and L results.
1. For discrepancy between cross-sectional (X-S) results of testing for change in adult intelligence (IQ)
from youth through old age:
-Cohort contrasts confounded with age

-Standardized tests could become obsolete

2. For discrepancy between cross-sectional (X-S) results of testing for change in adult intelligence (IQ)
from youth through old age
-Same people growing older given the same test can make them know answers. Repeating the same test
can make us “test-wise”

In X-S IQ declined with age; in L IQ increased with age. Overlapping information enables biases &
confounds to be identified. Mathematical formulae allow for “pure” measurement of normative age-linked
change using T-L, X-S and L information

Question 3:
Describe the study by Crowley et al. (2001), including coverage of: what they did; why they did it; what they
found; and what they concluded. What was a strength of this study and what was a weakness?

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 PSYC2030 Semester 1, 2015

1. What they did: Video cameras were placed at different exhibits in a museum. Interactions between parents
and children were recorded. Observing the explanations parents gave to their kids at science museum: (a)
more scientific/technical, or (b) less scientific technical.

2. Why they did it: Looking at doctoral degrees given to men and women and asking why more women were
in the soft sciences and more men were in the hard science.

3. What they found: Found that parents gave more scientific explanations to boys than to girls. Also, boys are
more being encouraged to think deeper. Found that there was no difference in sex on whether the child
engaged in the exhibits.

4. They concluded: parents more likely to involve sons in informal science activities. Leads to sparking
interest and open up more opportunities to pursue science.

5. Strength: naturalistic observation design, results uninfluenced by experimenters. less bias, meaning=real
world

6. Weakness: exact cause of behaviour cannot be determined- no control on outside variables

Question 4:
Describe the three steps that children progress through as they develop the ability to experience self-
evaluative emotions (like pride or shame). Explain children’s behavior at each stage and how that tells us
about their underlying experience of self-evaluative emotions.

1. First step is 'infants and young toddlers (-18mos)'. Experience pleasure simply when they produce an
outcome. But they don't experience self evaluating emotions. Cant represent standards of behaviour and
performance. Don't experience self evaluative emotions in a self reflective or self conscious sense (pride for
accomplishment)

2. Second step is 'toddlers and young pre-schoolers (18mos - 3.5 years)'. Begin to anticipate adult reactions
to accomplishments and failures. E.g., Looking to adults after achievements, social avoidant behaviour after
failure. Anticipation is a milestone for development of self-evaluative. They recognize their achievements
affect others reactions to them

3. Final step is 'preschoolers (3.5+ years)'. Start to understand that these emotions are based on judgments
about whether internalized standards of achievement have been met. This is the age when children begin to
look upset in response to own failure. E.g., have an internal sense of wanting to meet goals; will look upset
after failure, even when not around others.

Question 5:
What are WEIRD participants and what is problematic about studying only them?
WEIRD is an acronym and describes the vast majority of homogenous participants that take part in psyc
studies. It stands for Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic.

Arnett (2008) found that 70% of all psychology citations come from the US. A larger percentage than any of
the other 19 sciences compared in one extensive international survey. This means that 96% of the
psychological samples come from countries with only 12% of the population.

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 PSYC2030 Semester 1, 2015

The problem is it limits the generality of experimental findings to humans from other cultures. It infers that
the findings only represent a small proportion. For example, when we say "children do this etc." it is kind of
intimated that we are talking about everyone and this may or may not be that case, a lot of the time we are
talking about WEIRD participants.

Question 6:
Describe the three main periods of prenatal development. Include a description of the weeks associated with
each stage, and the changes occurring during each stage.

Zygote: 3 weeks. The fertilised zygote becomes a blastula and implants into the wall of the uterus.

Embryo: 3 weeks after conception to the start of the 3 rd month. All major organs and systems formed and the
embryo is recognisably human by the end of this period. Three layers to the embryo:
 Ectoderm: external layer. Becomes the spine, nervous system and skin.
 Mesoderm: middle layer. Becomes muscle and bone.
 Endoderm: inner layer. Becomes internal organs.

Foetus: 12-40 weeks. Systems are mostly differentiated so this period is about growth.

Question 7:
What is a teratogen, and why does its influence depend on the timing of exposure during pregnancy? Briefly
describe one teratogen and its potential influence/s on development.

A teratogen is a disruption to the ecology of the womb that interrupt the usual process of prenatal
development. The timing of the interruption is more important than the actual teratogen because of critical
periods in prenatal development.

Different organs and systems develop at different times, so a teratogen at a certain point in pregnancy can
influence some systems and not others.

Some agents are only harmful at certain times (e.g. Rubella in early pregnancy), and others have different
effects at different times (e.g. early cortisol predicts delayed cognition and late cortisol predicts accelerated
cognition)