PSYA02H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10.1: Prenatal Development, Teratology, Preterm Birth
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PSYA02H3 Full Course Notes
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Developmental psychology: the study of human physical, cognitive, social and behavioural characteristics across the lifespan. Used to measure and compare samples of people at different ages at a given point in time. E. g. sample study to cognition from infancy to adulthood 1,5,10 and. Differences between people that result from being born in different time periods. E. g. people born in 1980s and 2000s experience different nutrition, parenting norms, medical advances etc. Longitudinal design: follows the development of the same set of individuals through time. E. g. select a group of infants and study their cognitive development periodically over the course of 20 years. When participants drop out of a study for some reason, such as losing interest or moving away. To account for both periods of slow and rapid growth, development is seen as a progression of abrupt transitions in physical or mental skills, interspersed with slower, more gradual change. Psychologists often describe this pattern of change as a series of stages.
