Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
Learning Objectives
Students should gain an understanding of:
– why it is necessary to have theories of
development
– what is meant by ‘cause’
– both the importance and complexity of
establishing cause
– causal modelling approach
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Development
Unfolding of a particular pattern, as a result of
variation in genes and variation in the
environment
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Development
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Developmental theories
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Theories
• Theories map explanatory concepts onto
observations of phenomena to be explained
through the use of bridging principles
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Theories
• Theories tell us how to select, organize and
interpret observations. They provide economical
summaries of observations.
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Theories
• Theories provide explanations of behaviour, and
explanations are necessary if we wish to predict
the behaviour of different individuals in different
contexts at different times
• Guide research
– empirical statements must be tested
– stimulate new observations
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Theories
• Evaluating theories
– Falsifiable
– Empirically sound
– Internally consistent
– It should be parsimonious
– It should integrate previous research
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Developmental Theories
• Issues specific to developmental theories
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Headline: “Working mums blamed for
children’s failures”
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Other plausible models
Child’s Child’s
Working Working
state state
mother mother
of mind of mind
Low achievement
child Low achievement
child
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Plausible models become complex
No talk
Working Working of
mother Child’s mother school
state
of mind
Child no
Mother Low achievement interest
Mother
unavailable child in school
unavailable
Low achievement
child
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Causal Modelling
• Establishing cause is a complex issue
• Vast number of factors that may contribute to
the effect
• Must define the problem properly
• Need a framework within which underlying
ideas about cause can be expressed
• Must distinguish causal relationships from
contingent ones (i.e. does being male cause
delinquency?)
14
Causal Modelling
• Morton & Frith (1995)
– Developed a framework within which causal
models could be expressed
– The framework is theory neutral
– Allows the comparison of alternative theories
about developmental psychology
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Causal Modelling
Biology
Cognition
Behaviour
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Causal Modelling
• The jump between gene and behaviour is too big
– identifying genetic basis doesn’t really explain
behaviour (almost everything is heritable)
– probability of outcome given the gene is low
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Causal Modelling
• Key points
– Distinguishes between various levels of
discourse
• biology, cognition, behaviour
– Allows both genetic and environmental factors
– Distinguishes between descriptive models
and causal models
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Ground Rules of Causal
Modelling
1. Start with biology
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Ground Rules of Causal
Modelling
6. Be cognitively economical
8. Avoid circularity
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Autism
• Some have outstanding drawing/memory
• Lower IQ
• Slow to learn language
• Theory of mind or executive deficit?
• Socially strange
• No imagination
• Good at hidden figures/proof reading
• Genetic link (i.e. co-occurence in twins)
• Occurs more in boys than girls
• Early onset
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Autism
•Twins biological
•More boys than girls
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Autism
•Twins biological
virus? •More boys than girls
faulty cognitive
•Theory of mind/EF
attachment? •No imagination
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Autism
genetic factor
brain
abnormality
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Autism
genetic factor
brain
virus
abnormality
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Autism
genetic factor
brain brain
virus
abnormality 1 abnormality 2
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Autism
cognitive
cause
lack of lack of
ToM imagination
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Autism
cognitive
cause
lack of lack of
ToM imagination
socially
strange
behaviour
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Autism
genetic
difference biological
brain brain
difference difference
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Causal Modelling
• Representing causal relationships
– help sort out thoughts, distinguish facts and
theories
– separate biological, cognitive and
behavioural elements
– a productive way of viewing and comparing
theories
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Summary
• Developmental theories
– necessary to organise facts & generate
predictions
– characteristics of a developmental theory
• Nature of ‘cause’
• Causal modelling approach
– biology, cognitive, behavioural
• Example: Autism
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