PSY207e Developmental Psychology

Question 1
Illustrate your understanding of the following FOUR concepts, by explaining each concept, and then applying each concept to a relevant real-life situation or example of your choice.
a) Gene-environment interaction (10 marks)
b) Factors influencing the effect of teratogens (10 marks)
c) Selective optimisation with compensation in older adults (10 marks)
d) Nature-nurture interaction in language development (10 marks)

 

Question 2
Ben is 4 years old and, his older sister, Myra, is 8 years old. They have made some farm animals out of Lego bricks with the help of their parents. One day, their mother accidentally knocks the farm animals off the table, and they break apart on the floor. Their mother immediately reassures Ben and Myra that she can put the Lego pieces back together.
a) Discuss, according to Piaget’s theory, the reactions that you would expect from Ben and Myra following this incident, and their response to the mother’s statement. (20 marks)
b) Ben is too young to build the farm animals using Lego bricks on his own. Examine what Vygotsky would say about Ben’s ability to learn to build farm animals using Lego bricks at his age. (10 marks)

Question 3
Fred has a few misconceptions about developmental psychology and human development. Firstly, he believes that developmental psychology is about studying how infants and children grow and develop, and that it focuses only on the first 12 years of life. Fred is also convinced that the family environment is the only factor that is important in guiding the development of children, and that any advantages or disadvantages that affect children in this environment have lifelong effects. He also believes that as people grow older, they become “poorer representations” of what they were in their prime years.

 

a) Apply the modern life-span perspective of development to illustrate how the view of developmental psychology and human development presented above is incorrect. (20 marks)

 

b) With the goal of tracking human development across the lifespan, describe and explain the advantages and disadvantages of using a cross-sectional research method versus a longitudinal research method. Support your discussion with a relevant example from the extant literature for each research method. (10 marks)