I spent my day wrestling with an article outlining the general aspects of the 'Dynamic Systems Theory' of Development. After figuring out how the library system works on campus, it having over 25 libraries rivaling in size the library of Congress, I got to finding my article. I found the article while reading over some information on the 'A not B' experiment dealing with object permanence and perseverance error in infants. The study was called 'Development as a Dynamic System' written by Smith and Thelen in 2003, published in the journal 'Trends in Cognitive Sciences'. The article dealt with the following problem of 'A not B'.
Understanding the A not B experiment is important for the research I will be doing, so I will explain it. The A and B are referring to 2 different boxes that you present an infant with. In the experiment the researcher will show the infant a fun toy to play with and place that toy obviously under box A. The researcher will then see where the baby tries to find the toy. For this part the infant will most likely look under box A, the box you showed the toy going under, and successfully locate the toy. The researcher will continue to repeat this process of showing the toy, hiding the toy, and having the infant uncover the toy under box A. Now, the critical part of the experiment comes when the researcher takes the toy and shows the baby that instead of going under box A, the toy is going under box B. The researcher then sees where the baby looks to find the toy. Does it look under box B where the researcher had just placed the toy, or does it look under box A, where the toy has been frequently located.
During this critical phase of the experiment something special occurs. If the infant is 10 months old, it is likely that it will choose box A as the box containing the toy, even though the toy was just shown to them to be located under box B. This error is referred to as 'perseverance error', or the 'A not B error', that is, failing to understand that an object has moved. Interestingly, if the infant is 12 months old, it is likely to look under box B for the toy. For some reason in those two months the infant acquired the ability to understand that the toy had moved from its frequent location under box A to its new location under box B. The question is what caused this change to occur?
There are a few different answers to this question. As these answers are complex and numerous, I will write about them in my next post. As a quick preview, according to the dynamic systems approach to development the change in the infant from being able to succeed in the 'A not B' test involves numerous independent systems continually interacting with one another incessantly creating varyingly stable states. These states are the emergent product of the ever-changing environment in which the infant is interacting with and the changing biological states from which it exists which influence each other in a circular manner. From this process of circular causality the infant develops the ability to succeed in the 'A not B' task. Now I am not even going to pretend to have a comprehensive grasp on this field of study, but I will do my best to further explain this theory and its implications in the next post. NEEDLESS TO SAY, it is fascinating stuff! For right now, let me just say its taking lots of time and energy to figure out.
Now, after deciding that I was too tired and hungry to continue reading in the library, I decided to make my way over to a coffee shop nearby. I go in, order a cup of coffee and some quiche, and go to sit down and read with my newly obtained coffee. After I sit down I notice my research coordinator also drinking some coffee. I step over to say hi and we ended up having an important conversation. She told me that she had been planning on scheduling an extensive meeting with me some time next week to go over my research goals for this summer. She explained to me that students visiting from other universities doing research in the lab generally have funding to do another independent research project accompanying the research assisting they will already be doing. For instance, the other student working in the lab from Stanford is doing a program with which she presents a paper and poster at the end of the summer about the research she is doing. Performing this extra research is what allowed her to receive funding from an outside organization. Apparently there are numerous organizations that will fund undergraduate research work over the summer. Applying and receiving these types of grants are what for the most part fund people's trip out to do research at the university.
This was all new news for me. I had no idea that part of the research experience coming out here involved previously applying for a grant to do another project while I was here. Well, she explained to me that she had been looking into different programs that I could apply for for funding, if it is not too late to do so. These programs would ask me to do a research project individually with professor Campos and write something formal about it (I don't know if they will be asking for publishable work, or just a research report). Professor Campos had this type of project in mind for me to be working on while I was out there, in particular, focusing on the moving wall experiment. What I now had to do was figure out something to do. I have about two weeks before Professor Campos returns to campus, and in this time I need to become extremely well-acquainted with the developmental literature associated with the lab, specifically, on the literature surrounding the moving wall experiment. My research coordinator told me that Dr. Campos would be more than likely more than willing to aid me in such a project, I just had to come up with an idea. She then told me that if I was lucky I may be able to receive some sort of outside funding to complete the project.
This was great news, the possibility of funding, but what was even more exciting was the possibility of doing independent research with someone as established in the field of developmental psychology as Professor Campos. I'm realizing that I may be soon presented with the opportunity to present original research to Dr. Campos regarding his own research and possibly conduct the research with his help. Wow.
So here is the task. I need to figure out everything that one could possibly know (well, maybe not everything, but at least as much as I can at this point in my education) about the moving room experiment and Dr. Campos's lab. Then, I need to find something that bugs me, a question that needs answering, and is worth spending the time to answer. Then, I need to design an experiment which could be feasibly conducted over the course of this summer in which I attempt to answer, or at least partially answer, the question that I have uncovered. Seems simple enough. In the words of Sarumon, "We have work to do." Although I'm scared of what I am going to have to accomplish in the next few days, I am incredibly excited for the potential that this summer could have. In a few weeks I could be presenting original research to Dr. Joseph Campos at Berkeley University to be conducting with him on a one-on-one level. Boom!
So, here goes nothing. Time to figure out this whole 'development' thing. I will keep you posted.
On a separate note, I went to my first farmer's market today! With this, it also means that I cooked my own real food today! Here are a few pictures of what the market was like:
I now have real food and can cook a real meal. Perfect for studying.
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