Chapter 1 Exercise 1: This exercise is designed both to help you select a laboratory and to begin writing your thesis or research paper. You may find papers or journal articles to review by using the guidelines in this book, or they be handpicked and assigned. Reading five papers is a fair bit of work, but it’s worth it. With every paper you read, you learn more about the research process. Reading research papers can be likened to visiting a museum in that fresh glimmers of knowledge and insight arise each time you view a painting or sculpture. Just as when comparing various artists, similarly when comparing various research teams, one finds that they employ vastly different styles. *Do this exercise for one study only*
Paper Title: Caregiver Depression and Early Child Development: A Mixed-Methods Study From Rural China
- What’s the question that the researchers are exploring?
- The questions researchers explored in this study is whether or not there is a correlation between depression in Caregivers and the delay of development in children as well as what might be the reasons for depression in said Caregivers.
- Why is this an important question that needed to be addressed?
- The question is important and needs to be addressed because it gives an understanding of how the cognitive development of a child (a child’s working memory, attention and the ability to perform every task) can possibly be affected by those who raise them. It shows how a child’s performance might be a reflection of their caregiver. The article mentions children mimicking depressive parental behavior for example, withdrawing rather than interacting in interpersonal challenges.
- How did the researchers solve the problem? In other words, what did the research team find that is new?
- In a rural community in China’s Qinling Mountains, cognitive development was measured using the validated survey BSID-111. The researchers were able to find a significant link between caregivers with depression and delays in social-emotional cognitive development. It also found that caregivers suffering from lack of social support and poverty were more likely to see delays in cognitive development within their children than if they had support and financial stability. Past studies with depression focused more on the individual’s emotional state, however this study focused more on environmental factors caregivers dealt with which then affected their child’s development.
- What are some of the limitations and future directions of the study? What ideas do you have for future studies?
- Their study faced a number of limitations, one being the data that was used. The data was used from a cross-sectional study which prevented them from making connections between depression in caregivers and child development outcomes. The study was only conducted in one northwestern province in China which limited the results across other situations. Future studies might be able to look into whether children of caregivers with depression also develop those same feelings of depression.
Chapter 11 Exercise 3: Find three to four research summaries in the news or media. Find and read the corresponding original articles. Is the summary consistent with the research findings? In what ways and in what ways not? If not, rewrite the summary(ies) here.
Article #1: “Preterm infants fare well in early language development”
In this study, Northwestern researchers compared healthy preterm and full term infants at the same maturational age, or age since conception. The results showed a strong connection between language and cognition in preterm infants. In the original article, Maturation constrains the effect of exposure in linking language and thought: evidence from healthy preterm infants, they capitalize timed developmental shift in full term infants to assess whether it also appears in preterm infants and whether it reflects infants’ maturational status or the duration of their postnatal experience. Studies showed that this developmental shift is evident in preterm infants and unfolds on the same maturational timetable as in their full-term counterparts, making the summary consistent with the research findings. They clearly explain the connection between the developmental shift in preterm infants and maturational timetable in both articles.
Article #2: “Stereotypes can hold boys back in school, too”
Study: “Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s interests” Lin Bian, 2017
Although this news article shares the ultimate message as the research paper, that being: stereotypes can limit children in their pursuit of different hobbies or academic subjects, the research paper goes further into how girls are more likely to avoid activists they feel are for “really really smart” children. On the contrary, the news article introduces the concept that girls are actually excelling in academia and reporting better scores than their male counterparts, even in traditionally tough subjects, however still are underrepresented in science and math fields.
Article 3: “Babies who hear two languages at home develop advantages in attention”
Study: “The impact of bilingual environments on selective attention in infancy”
The summary on the recent study found in the beginning of the news article, although arguably general, provides a good foundation of what the overall study is about. It states the result, which is that infants who are exposed to multiple languages often have a better attentional control than those who are only exposed to one. The summary also gives the importance of what the finding means. That is, that an environment where there is exposure to multiple languages gives infants an advantage for attention and possible lifelong benefits. The article itself goes into detail about the study itself. I think that it effectively summarizes each part in the study. It puts the introduction, the studies and their methods, the results and the discussion in simpler terms. It doesn’t take away from the paper, but rather makes the information found in it more accessible.
