Developmental (S+W)

Developmental (S+W)

1. Longitudinal studies =get to investigate changes and how these changes are influenced.

   • E.g.Freud study was a case study carried out over 2 years enabling the emotional development of a young boy to be investigated in great detail. Samuel and Bryant selected a sample of children aged from 5 years to 8.5 years old which again allowed the researchers to investigate developmental changes in the children.
     • Enables psychologists to investigate different areas of development such as cognitive in the Samuel and Bryant study and emotional development in Freud's study of Little Hans.

2. Provides useful information about how we can better understand how children learn and deal with emotional difficulties and therefore improve the lives of children.

   • E.g. the findings of the Samuel and Bryant study could be used to identify and help children with cognitive developmental difficulties and Bandura's findings have implications about how adults should act in the presence of children.

3. Tendency to generalise findings from often very limited samples as it often looks forgeneral patterns of development based on non representative samples.

   • Freud argued that all children experience psychosexual stages based on little Hans' case study. Samuel and Bryant generalised their findings aboutcognitive development from children in one town in the UK which ignores cultural differences relating to howchildren may learn in other parts of the world.

4. Validity of measuring children's behaviour and thoughts, questions if psychologists are actually measuring what they are attempting to measure especially as children may have qualiatively different thoughts to adults.

   • E.g.Bandura's study could be criticised for interpreting the children's behaviour towards the Bobo doll as aggression. Perhaps the children interpreted their own behaviour as play.
     • Similarly we can question Freud's interpretation of Hans' behaviour as the case study is really Freud's interpretations of Hans' father's interpretation of his son's own phobia. Again this seriously reduces the validity of the study.