The myth of normative development

Forbes, Samuel H., Aneja, Prerna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1271-0697 and Guest, Olivia (2024) The myth of normative development. Infant and Child Development, 33 (1). ISSN 1522-7227

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

Over the past decade, the field of psychology has come under increasing fire for the replicability of purported findings, for the transparency of the methods used, and for the generalisability of the claims. In general, these criticisms have focused on the methodological and statistical aspects of published work. Herein, we highlight the importance of diversity of both our participant samples in empirical studies and of our researchers within developmental psychology as a barrier to generalisability. Far beyond being a purely methodological question, for example, of heterogenous sampling, ignoring the importance of context and environment in development implies risking failing to comprehend pivotal facets of development. Importantly, we discuss the harms done to our science's theoretical contributions as a direct result of defining and maintaining misplaced “norms” or “normative” developmental scenarios. Finally, we outline how even small steps by individuals can be impactful, such as ceasing to request unsubstantiated comparisons to the Western “norm” in peer review.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: child development,cross-cultural research,generalisability,structural bias,developmental and educational psychology ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3200/3204
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 26 Jan 2023 18:30
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 18:15
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/90828
DOI: 10.1002/icd.2393

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item