Psyc311: Lifespan Development Dr. Jen Wright

what is psychology? Psychology is the scientific study of human cognition, affect, and behavior.

what is developmental psychology? The scientific study of how human cognition, affect, and behavior develops. Development: changes over time –factors that lead to improvement (and decline) in processes –due to some sort of maturation/aging process –in response to environmental influences (positive/negative) ? What are some ways that cognition develops? ? What are some ways that affect develops? ? What are some ways that behavior develops?

why study developmental psychology? Because you learn a lot of fascinating things about human beings at different phases of their lives. Here are a few examples…

infants are built to track and mimic their environments.

question Why do you suppose infants (of multiple species) are hardwired to track and mimic other individuals in their environment?

language Infants are born with the ability to discriminate all sounds from all languages –But this phonemic sensitivity is lost as they learn their native language.

question Why do you suppose infants are hardwired to discriminate all possible phonemes? Why do you suppose they lose this ability within the 1 st year of life?

Naïve physics Infants have a surprisingly sophisticated understanding of how the physical world works.

understanding intentions They also have a pretty sophisticated understanding of how the psychological world works –e.g., they understand that there are goals and intentions and that only certain creatures can have them.

primitive morality ?

Yet, children also display a surprising lack of understanding about other things…

perspective taking

conservation of quantity (1)

conservation of quantity (2)

Maxi “false-belief” tasks ? ?

Appearance-reality tasks

Dual representation

They also sometimes display a disturbing lack of moral sensitivity…

my info Dr. Jen Cole Wright Office: 65 Coming, Room 104 Office Hours: MWF 10-11am & TR 12:15-1:30 and by appt Phone: –emergencies: (home) or (cell) Class website: C311_Spring10/homepage.htm

text Life-Span Development (chronological) –12 th edition –John Santrock Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Lifespan Development –2 nd edition –Andrew Guest

Course Overview Prerequisite: Psyc103 ~ Introduction to Psychological Science This course will give you a general understanding of the following: –Theories (current and historical) that underlie the study of human development –Research methodologies applied to the study of human development Lifespan approach – we’ll be covering several age groups: –Prenatal to early childhood (1 st 5 years) –Adolescence –Late adulthood

Course Requirements Attendance/Participation (40 points) Observation Journal Assignments (200 points) Group Research Projects (360 points) Exams (500 points) Extra Credit Service Opportunity (50 points)

Attendance/Participation (40 points) Attendance and participation are mandatory! –Lectures will include material not in the text. Taking Sides in-class debates –10 pts each

Observation Journal Assignments (200 points) You will complete two 1-2 page observation journal assignments –100 points each –2 separate 1-hour observations –Discussions of how observed behaviors relate to developmental issues discussed in reading/lectures. Note: If you do an observation journal for all three developmental periods, you may skip one exam.

Group Research Projects (360 points) As a group you will complete a research proposal. –develop a research question and hypothesis –locate and summarize one primary research article (per group member) relevant to the group research question –construct a research methodology to test your research hypothesis –write a 5-7 page research proposal with an Introduction, Methods, and Discussion section

There will be several drafts of this proposal –you will receive feedback from me and from your peers in a peer review exercise. Finally, you will present your proposals to the class and the best proposal will be selected. Research q/article sum/methodology45 1st draft of proposal75 2nd draft of proposal50 Peer review45 Group presentation70 Final draft of proposal75

Exams (500 points) There will be four exams over the course of the semester –three regular exams (100 points each) –one comprehensive final (200 points). MC/TF, essay format You will be responsible for information presented both in the readings AND in class.

Exam Retakes (available only for the three regular exams) –Students have the opportunity to earn back points for missed questions on one exam by engaging in an oral exam retake with me. Details about this will be given after the first exam.

Make-up Exams –Students will have the opportunity to make up one missed exam. –If the absence was a non-emergency, then permission from me must be obtained PRIOR to the scheduled exam AND written documentation from the appropriate authority (e.g., doctor, coach, etc.) must be provided. –If the absence was an emergency (e.g., sudden severe illness, death in family) then an approved absence must be obtained from the Absence Memo Office (67 George Street, ).

extra credit project (max 50 pts): You may turn one of your observation exercises into a volunteer service project and receive up to 50 points of extra credit. You will be expected to volunteer for an organization working with the relevant developmental period for 10 – 15 hours during the semester and to finalize the volunteer experience by writing up a 3-5 page essay that applies developmental concepts/theories learned in class to your volunteer experience.

grading # pts each total pts % of grade Class Participation 404% Observation Journals % Group Research Projects % Exams % 1200 Total Points 1100

please see syllabus for information on Additional assistance Academic integrity (Honor Code)

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