PSYC 4070 Chapter : Chapter 1 Introduction
Document Summary
Science of human development seeks to understand how and why people all kinds of people, everywhere, of every age change over time. Growth is multidirectional, multicontextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plastic. On the basis of theory, prior research, or a personal observation, pose a question: develop a hypothesis. Shape the question into a hypothesis, a specific prediction that can be tested: test the hypothesis. Design and conduct research to gather empirical evidence (data): draw conclusions. Use the evidence to support or refute the hypothesis: report the results. Replication often becomes the 6th step, needed before the scientific community accepts conclusions. Example of scientific method every year until the mid 1990s, thousands of 2-4 month olds died of. Nature refers to the influences of genes that people inherit. Nurture refers to environmental influences, beginning with health and diet of the embryo"s mother and continuing lifelong, including family, school, culture, and society.
