Developmental psychology
Scope and prerequisites
Supported GRE topic 4 (IV). Read DV.1 for developmental theories and their evidence. Existing official questions are traced in bank_review_form.yaml; original tasks below are not ETS items.
Concepts and method
cohort 同龄群体: People sharing a birth period or historical experience. attrition 样本流失: Loss of participants during a study.
Development covers the lifespan and multiple domains, not just childhood milestones.
Cross-sectional studies compare ages at one time; longitudinal studies follow people over time.
Cohort effects can confound age comparisons. Longitudinal studies face attrition and repeated-testing effects.
Theories offer different accounts of change. Apply their specific mechanisms rather than treating a stage label as an explanation.
Development can change knowledge, strategy and social support at different rates. Piaget's account emphasizes changes in reasoning; Vygotsky's account emphasizes learning supported by social interaction. Attachment concerns a relationship and patterns of security, not a permanent label inferred from one separation. Age averages do not establish a deadline for each child. Compare repeated observations, task demands and cultural context before deciding what changed. See DV.1 for theories and methods.
Worked reasoning
Comparing 20-year-olds and 70-year-olds on computer use cannot isolate age: they had different exposure opportunities. Following one group helps examine change but may lose participants unevenly, creating attrition bias.
Children solve a sorting task with an adult's hints but not alone. How could a sociocultural explanation account for the difference?
The hints provide scaffolding within a range where supported performance exceeds independent performance. They may direct attention or model a useful strategy. Record the actual hint and later test without it; success with help does not yet establish independent mastery or identify a universal stage.
Independent transfer
A study compares adolescents and adults once, then calls the difference a developmental change. Give the design, a competing explanation and a complementary design with its limitation.
Attempt independently, then use the matching skill sheet solution.
Review and source limits
Avoid this error: Average developmental patterns do not imply identical timing or outcomes for every person. Teaching scope comes from teaching.yaml and the source/key/crop review in bank_review_form.yaml. Detailed current diagnostic criteria require an authenticated manual; neither historical ETS practice nor this educational reference certifies them.