1. Chapter One
Introduction

2. Child Psychology—Why Study
First and most important stage of life
Help psychologists understand origins of emotions, behaviors, thoughts, motivations, intelligence, personality, disorders, exceptionality
Most of you will be parents one day
If you screw up a child, there’s no fixing it

3. Processes Biological Processes Cognitive Processes
Child psychology is part of the field of developmental psychology, in that we are studying it because it is part of human development. Within the study of human development, we can look at separate but interrelated ongoing processes. These include:
Biological Processes
Cognitive Processes
Socioemotional Processes

4. Periods of Development
The human life span is divided up into periods, or stages, based upon age, developmental milestones, life events, and life expectancy
For the purpose of this course, the stages of human development are:
Prenatal
Infancy
Early Childhood
Middle to Late Childhood
Adolescence (not this course)
Early Adulthood
Middle Adulthood
Late Adulthood

5. Issues in Development Nature vs. Nurture Continuity vs. Discontinuity
Early vs. Late Experiences

6. Research Descriptive Research Correlational Research Observation
Survey
Standardized Tests
Case Study
Correlational Research

7. More Research Experimental Research Longitudinal Research
Cross Sectional Research
Quasiexperimental Research
Metanalyses

8. Issues in Research Child Subjects Bias --consent --researcher
--gender and cultural/ethnic

9. More Issues in Research
Ethics
--deception
--debriefing
--confidentiality
--reporting

10. Attendance for 9/2 On a sheet of paper, write the following:
Name (of course)
Where you were born
Where you lived in between ages of 0-11
What kind of neighborhood/home you lived in
Family Structure (parental units, siblings)
Parent(s)/Guardians’ job(s)
Your major
What you want to do with that major after you graduate