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Child & Adolescent PsychologyWelcome to Seminar #8

+TONIGHT

Tonight we are going to look at research in child development through a research example on early childhood education.

Are we starting too early? Have we overemphasized structured learning at the expensive of natural learning through play?

+ Research Methods: How We Do Developmental PsychologyResearch Question: How effective are early education programs?

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+Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - ECLS

Showed test score improvement based on number of books in a child’s home.For example, in the sample of 20,000 children followed from K to 5th grade...

Children with at least 50 books in the home scored 5% higher than children with no books.

and children with 100 books scored another 5% higher than the 50-book-kids.

What is the explanation?

+Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - ECLS

Showed test score improvement based on number of books in a child’s home...For example, in the sample of 20,000 children followed from K to 5th grade...

Children with at least 50 books in the home scored 5% higher than children with no books.

and children with 100 books scored another 5% higher than the 50-book-kids.

The mere existence of books in the household is erroneously perceived as a cause, while it is more accurately an indicator of value of learning.

More who you are than what you do.

+ Research Methods: How We Do Developmental Psychology

Correlation Research: Detecting natural associationsCorrelation and causation

Allows us to predict but not tell whether changing one variable will cause changes in another

Correlation does not mean causation!

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+Correlation: Scatterplot variations

+ Correlation

Correlation Coefficient is a statistical measure of the relationship between two

variables.

When one trait or behavior accompanies another, we say the

two correlate.

Correlation coefficient

Indicates directionof relationship

(positive or negative)

Indicates strengthof relationship(0.00 to 1.00)

r = 0.37+

+ Correlation: Example

People that ate Frosted Flakes as children had half the cancer rate of those who never ate cereal.

Conversely, those who often ate oatmeal as children were four times more likely to develop cancer than those who did not.

Does this mean that Frosted Flakes prevents cancer while oatmeal causes it?

+ Correlation: Example

People that ate Frosted Flakes as children had half the cancer rate of those who never ate cereal.

Conversely, those who often ate oatmeal as children were four times more likely to develop cancer than those who did not.

Does this mean that Frosted Flakes prevents cancer while oatmeal causes it? There is a third factor: age.

+Correlation: Example“Researcher have found that infants

who had night lights in their bedrooms were more likely to become myopic when they got older.”Explanation?

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+Correlation: ExampleA research team in Taiwan found the

best predictor of the use of birth-control methods was the number of electric appliances in the home.Explanation?

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+Correlation: ExampleA research team in Taiwan found the

best predictor of the use of birth-control methods was the number of electric appliances in the home.Explanation?Mediating variable: education

and/or socioeconomic status perhaps

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+Education for Young Children Who Are DisadvantagedHead Start – a program designed to

provide children from low-income families the opportunity to acquire the skills and experiences important for success in schoolEvaluations support the positive influence of high-quality early childhood programs on both the cognitive and social worlds of disadvantaged young children

Does early intervention work?(Chambers, Chung, & Slavin, 2006; Ryan, Fauth, & Brooks-Gunn, 2006)

+Campbell & Reamey (1994) 111 familes, low SES, over 8-year period (newborn to school-age)

Intensity and duration of intervention significantly affected how well performed on tests of IQ. Early intervention has longer-lasting effect, while school-age interventions may be too late

EE Group outperformed (on IQ scores) all other groups, followed by EC, CE, and CC.

Birth – 5 6-8E: Received preschool intervention: cognitive, perceptual-motor, language, and social skills

EE: Received school-age intervention: Language development, literacy tasksEC: Received only preschool intervention

C: No intervention CE: Received only school-age intervention; no preschool interventionCC: Received neither intervention

+ Research Methods: How We Do Developmental PsychologyResearch Question: How effective are early education programs?

FINDINGS: Children in early education programs…

Are more verbally fluent, show memory and comprehension advantages, and achieve higher IQ scores than at-home children

Are more self-confident, independent, and knowledgeable about social world in which they live than those who do not participate

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+Putting research into practice

What can we do with this information?

What profession(s) might find these findings in developmental psychology useful?

+So given these findings, why does the US lag behind?No coordinated national policy on preschool educationDecisions about education have

traditionally been left to states and local school districts

No tradition of teaching preschoolersStatus of preschools in United States

is traditionally low

+The Purpose of Preschool: An International ViewThe Purpose of Preschool

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading

+A Combined ApproachMany high-quality programs include both

academic and constructivist approaches Experts like Lilian Katz worry about

academic approaches that place pressure on young children to achieve and don’t provide any opportunities to actively construct knowledge

Programs should encourage adequate preparation for learning, varied learning activities, trusting relationships between adults and children, and increased parental involvement

(Brewer, 2007) (Katz, 1999)

+Question???

How do you see child development research helping you in your career?

In what other areas of your life can child development research help you?

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Have a great week!