Research Findings in Developmental Psychology: Common Sense Revisited

Abstract

A total of 415 high school and college students completed the Childhood and Adolescence Research Test (CART), a 90-item true–false exam concerning research findings reported in developmental psychology textbooks. The results suggest that many of the research findings presented in these textbooks, like many of those presented in personality textbooks (Barnett, 1986), may already be known to individuals with limited training in psychology. An important implication of these findings for teachers of developmental psychology is noted.