PSYCH101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Menarche, Spermarche, Erik Erikson

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Steve Spencer

Document Summary

Developmental psych: study of change and stability of human physical, cognitive, social and behavioural characteristics across the life span. Neuroscientists: examines changes in the nervous system that occur even before birth, and track them all the way through old age. Psychologists: study how social behaviour originates in the context of parent-offspring bonds and flourishes and expands to include extended family, close friends, enemies, romantic relationships, and broader social and cultural groups. This subfield of psych is absolutely essential because we do not enter into the world as adults, and our psychological qualities and abilities change drastically over time. Cross-sectional design: used to measure and compare samples of people at different ages at a given point in time. Longitudinal design: follows the development of the same set of individuals through time. Attrition: participants stop returning mail/phone calls, become ineligible, quit. Cohort effects: consequences of being born in a particular year or narrow range of years.