Psychology 2410B-001

Introduction to Developmental Psychology

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

1.0    CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

A survey of theory and research in developmental psychology including: learning, cognition, perception, personality, and social development in infancy and childhood.

Antirequisites:  Psychology 2040A/B, 2044, 2480E, Health Sciences 2700A/B and the former 3700A/B

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit.  So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.

Prerequisite:  At least 60% in a 1000 level Psychology course

2 lecture hours, 1 tutorial hour, 0.5 course

Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record.  This decision may not be appealed.  You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.


2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor: Dr. Lynne Zarbatany                                       

Office and Phone Number:  WH 322, 519-661-3664     

Office Hours: by appointment                            

Email: lynnez@uwo.ca                             

Tutorial  TA: Mr. Michal Bak

Office WH: 234a

Office Hour: Wed., 3:30-4:30, or by appointment

Email: mbak7@uwo.ca

 

Tutorial  TA: Ms. Nellie Kamkar

Office WH: 210

Office Hours: Fri., 12:00-1:00, or by appointment

Email: nkamkar@uwo.ca

      

Tutorial  TA: Ms. Samantha Goldsmith

Office WH: 215

Office Hours: by appointment

Email: sgoldsm@uwo.ca

      

Time and Location of Lectures: Mon. 9:30-11:30am, NCB-117

Time of Tutorials: Wed. 9:30-10:30 OR 10:30-11:30     

Location of Tutorials: UCC 53 OR SSC 3014 OR HSB-11

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you.  Please visit:  http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

Keil, F. (2013). Developmental Psychology: The Growth of Mind and Behavior. NY: W.W. Norton.

NOTE: You may purchase this in paper-back at the bookstore, or in electronic format. Two copies of the textbook will be placed on reserve at DB Weldon Library.

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

The goal of the lecture component of the course is to introduce the theoretical, methodological, and empirical foundations of the field of Developmental Psychology. The tutorials will provide students with experience generating and testing theory-driven hypotheses by planning and conducting a study on some aspect of development included in the course data set. Students will experience the role of research participant and researcher in this process. The project will culminate in a group presentation, and each student will be responsible for submitting three small writing assignments throughout the semester. The tutorial assignments will enable students to build upon a variety of scholarly skills such as critical thinking, research design, and oral and written communication that are essential to researchers in psychology. More details regarding tutorial assignments will be provided by your teaching assistant.


   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, successful students will be able to

  1. Memorize main theories, concepts, principles, and findings of developmental psychology (mid-term and final exams).
  2. Access relevant literature and generate a hypothesis based on an assessment and synthesis of existing literature on some aspect of human development included in our course data set (introduction to paper; discussion of findings; presentation).
  3. Apply knowledge of research design and methods to test the hypothesis (method and results section of paper; research presentation).
  4. Apply t tests or correlations to analyze data, and interpret findings in the context of existing research and theory (method and results and discussion papers; research presentation).
  5. Orally present prepared material in a formal academic setting using visual aids (research presentation).
  6. Write papers that demonstrate correct use of the English language and adherence to discipline-specific (APA) writing requirements (introduction, method and results, and discussion papers).
  7. Work collaboratively with others to achieve a goal (group presentation).

5.0     EVALUATION

Students will be evaluated based on lecture and tutorial components as follows:

 

% of Final Mark

Due Date

Lecture Component (60%)

 

 

Mid-Term Exam 1

20

Jan. 30

Mid-Term Exam 2

20

Mar. 13

Final Exam

20

Final Exam Period

 

 

 

Tutorial Component (40%)

 

 

Research Project

 

 

Introduction (2-3 pp. plus title page and refs)

 

10

Feb. 7 (11:55pm)

Method and Results (2-3 pp. plus refs)

10

Mar. 7 (11:55pm)

Discussion (2-3 pp., plus title page, 150 word (max.) abstract, and refs)

 

10

Apr. 7 (11:55pm)

15-min group presentation

10

Mar. 15, 23, 29

NOTE 1: Tutorial attendance is mandatory. You will lose 2% of your tutorial mark for every undocumented absence.

NOTE 2: All written assignments will be submitted electronically on the course website and run through Turnitin for plagiarism checks. Further instruction will be given regarding paper submission processes.


Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:


70%     1000-level and 2000-level courses
72%     2190-2990 level courses
75%     3000-level courses
80%     4000-level courses
   
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf ):

A+  90-100      One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A    80-89        Superior work that is clearly above average
B    70-79        Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C    60-69        Competent work, meeting requirements
D    50-59        Fair work, minimally acceptable
F    below 50    Fail



6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

There will be three non-cumulative exams in this course, and each exam will be worth 20% of your final mark. Exams will consist of multiple choice questions. The first exam will be held on Jan. 30, and will cover lecture and reading material up until Jan. 23. The second mid-term exam will be held on Mar. 13 and will cover material from Feb. 6 to Mar. 6. The final exam will be held during the final exam period and will cover material from Mar. 20 until the end of term.

NOTE: I strongly urge you to take the exams as scheduled. If you miss a scheduled exam for any reason, the make-up exam will consist entirely of short-answer and/or essay questions that require considerably greater depth of knowledge than MC questions.

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

 

Lecture

 

 

Tutorial

 

Date

Topic

Reading

Date

Topic

Assignment

 

Jan. 9

Intro and Developmental Research Design

 

Ch. 1

 

Jan. 11

Introduction and Overview of the Research Project

 

Complete Online Survey

Due: January 17, 11:55pm

 

Jan. 16

 

Perceptual Development

 

Ch. 2 Ch. 3

 

Jan. 18, 19 or 20

 

Complete 1-hour Computerized Tasks in SSC 3133

Wed.,  4:30-5:30; 5:30-6:30;        6:30-7:30; 7:30-8:30

Thurs., 4:30-5:30; 5:30-6:30

Fri., 4:30-5:30; 5:30-6:30

 

Jan. 23

Emergence of Action;

Infant Cognition

Ch. 4 (pp. 131-135 AND Figure 4.3 only)

Ch. 5

 

Jan. 25

 

Conducting a Literature Search;  generate possible research questions involving pairs of variables

 

 

Jan. 30

 

Mid-Term Exam 1

 

 

 

Feb. 1

Introduction, Research Questions and Hypotheses

 

 

 

Feb. 6

 

 

Attachment

 

 

 

Ch. 6

 

 

Feb. 8

 

Research Methods

Introduction (Title Page, Intro, Hypotheses)

Due: February 7, 11:55pm

 

Feb. 13

 

Emotion, Temperament, and Personality

 

Ch. 7

 

Feb. 15

 

Data Analysis: T-Tests and Correlations

 

 

Feb. 20

 

Reading Week

 

 

Feb. 22

 

Reading Week

 

 

Feb. 27

 

Language Development

 

Ch. 8

 

Mar. 1

 

Discussion, Limitations, Future Directions, Abstract

 

 

 

Mar. 6

 

Cognitive Development

Ch. 9

Ch. 10 (omit pp. 372-380)

 

 

Mar. 8

 

 

Overview of Oral Presentations

 

 

Method and Results

Due Mar. 7, 11:55 pm

 

Mar. 13

 

Mid-Term Exam 2

 

 

Mar. 15

 

Oral Presentations I

 

 

 

Mar. 20

 

 

Moral Development

Ch. 12 (omit pp. 431-444)

Ch. 13

 

 

Mar. 23

 

 

Oral Presentations II

 

 

Mar. 27

 

Family Influences

 

Ch. 14

 

Mar. 29

 

Oral Presentations III

 

 

Apr. 3

 

Peers Influences

 

Ch. 15

 

Apr. 5

 

NO TUTORIAL

Discussion

Due Apr. 7, 11:55 pm

8.0     STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link:  http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com

Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.



9.0    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2016/pg117.html

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html


10.0        OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar web site:  http://registrar.uwo.ca

Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:

    http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2016 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.