I find it hard to believe that a scientist of Saxe's level would serendipitously scan for ideas, but isn't it the way that the best ideas come at the strangest times. Think of the eureka moment that occurs in the shower or in the middle of the night. I would think that Saxe, the the perusal of published material, may come across something that would spark an epiphany, but I doubt that she goes in search of new ideas by reading the work of others.
The journals in which her own work is published such as Annual Review of Psychology, Psychological Science, and Brain Research would offer the most fitting articles for comparison to her own work, but it could be argued that common magazines such as Parents would offer insight into her study of infants. The observations of parents of infants on a daily basis offer valuable insight into the behaviors of their children in familiar environments. Although Saxe does maintain the play lab, I can't help but think that children would behave differently at home as they would from the lab. Only with regular visits to the lab would the infants become familiar with the atmosphere. I'll admit that I'm not a scientist, but am drawing these conclusions based on my experience with my own extended family. Much like an infant will cry when held by someone who is a stranger to them, I'm struggling to accept that the children in Saxe's study are completely at ease in the play lab and that is why I would consider common parenting magazines appropriate resources for Saxe in her research.
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I would have to completely agree with you on the children in the lab. It's like the Hawthorne effect; the patient will change if they known they are being studied. I'm sure the children behave differently around different adults. The magazines are more likely.
ReplyDeleteI know that child development studies are a big thing in psychological research. I have an undergraduate degree in psychology and my one professor was particularly interested in child development studies through naturalistic observation and in the lab. She told me that although studying children in a play lab is taking them away from their natural environment, you can extract valuable information from observing their actions.
ReplyDeleteThink of all the places young children are taken that could be very similiar to a play lab environment: a sandbox, a nursery, a babysitter's house, a child's gym, etc. A play lab will elicit the same results from a child as they would in their natural environment, as long as you make them feel comfortable. When interacting with the child, I believe they often take off the lab coat and play with them first before running a study.
The parents are often the bigger problem, because they are more inclined to change their behaviors when they know they are being watched. That's why I believe many researchers will observe behind a one-sided mirror, allowing the parent and child to interact one-on-one and to try to get the parent forget that someone might be behind the mirror.