PSYC 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Synaptic Pruning, Longitudinal Study

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1000
• Professor: Benjamin Giguere

Document Summary

Developmental psychology: is the study of human physical, cognitive, social and behavioural characteristics across the life span. Cross sectional design: is 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. Cohort effects: the differences between people that result from being born in different time periods. A longitudinal study fixes the problem of cohort effects. Longititudinal designs often suffer from the problem of attrition, which occurs when participants drop out of a study for some reason, such as losing intetest or moving away. Development is seen as a progression of abrupt transitions in physical or mental skills, interspersed with slower, more gradual change. A sensitive period: is a window of time during which exposure to a specific type of environmental stimulation is needed for normal development of a specific ability.