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, Psychology 2480E, Health Sciences 2700A/B and the former Psychology 2044
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
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 lecture hours, 1 tutorial hour, 0.5 course
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 Tutorial TA: Ms. Bailey Brashears
Office WH: 234a Office: WIRB, 5th floor
Office Hours: Tues., 10-11am Office Hours: By appointment
Email: mbak7@uwo.ca Email: bbrashea@uwo.ca
Tutorial TA: Ms. Isu Cho Tutorial TA: Ms. Christine Moreau
Office: WIRB 5715 Office: WIRB, 5th floor
Office Hours: By appointment Office Hours: By appointment
Email: icho6@uwo.ca Email: cmoreau5@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Lectures: Mon. 9:30-11:30am, SSC-2028
Time of Tutorials: Wed. 9:30-10:30 OR 10:30-11:30
Location of Tutorials: UCC 59 OR STVH 3101
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. A copy 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 theoretical, methodological, and empirical foundations of Developmental Psychology. The goal of the tutorials is to provide students with experience generating and testing hypotheses. Students will plan and conduct a study on some aspect of development included in the course data set, and will serve both as research participants and researchers in this process. The project will culminate in a group presentation, and each student will submit three small writing assignments throughout the semester. The tutorial assignments build a variety of scholarly skills that are essential to researchers in psychology, including critical thinking, research design, and oral and written communication. More details about tutorial assignments will be provided by your tutorial leader4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, successful students will be able to
- Memorize main theories, concepts, principles, and findings of developmental psychology (mid-term and final exams).
- 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).
- Apply knowledge of research design and methods to test the hypothesis (method and results section of paper; research presentation).
- 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).
- Orally present prepared material in a formal academic setting using visual aids (research presentation).
- 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).
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 |
Feb. 4 |
Mid-Term Exam 2 |
20 |
Mar. 18 |
Final Exam |
20 |
Final Exam Period |
|
|
|
Tutorial Component (40%) |
|
|
Research Project |
|
|
Introduction (2-3 pp. plus title page and refs) |
10 |
Feb. 5 (11:55pm) |
Method and Results (2-3 pp. plus refs) |
10 |
Mar. 5 (11:55pm) |
Discussion (2-3 pp., plus title page, 150 word (max.) abstract, and refs) |
10 |
Apr. 2 (11:55pm) |
15-min group presentation |
10 |
Mar. 20, 27 or Apr. 3 |
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.
NOTE 3: If you wish to appeal a paper mark, you must submit your appeal in writing to your tutorial leader. The appeal should list your concerns and reasons for your concerns. Your tutorial leader will respond to your appeal in writing. If you wish to appeal the response, submit your paper and appeal documents to Dr. Zarbatany
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 Western's 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, each worth 20% of your final mark. Exams will consist of multiple choice questions. The first mid-term exam will be held on Feb. 4, and will cover lecture and reading material up to Jan. 28. The second mid-term exam will be held on Mar. 18 and will cover material from Feb. 11 to Mar. 11. The final exam will be held during the final exam period and will cover material from Mar. 25 to 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 & TUTORIAL SCHEDULE (tentative)
|
Lecture |
|
|
Tutorial |
|
Date |
Topic |
Reading |
Date |
Topic |
Assignment |
Jan. 7 |
Intro and Developmental Research Design |
Ch. 1 |
Jan. 9 |
Introduction and Overview of the Research Project
|
Complete Online Survey Due: January 15, 11:55pm |
Jan. 14 |
Prenatal Development |
Ch. 2 |
Jan. 16 or 18 |
Complete 1-hour Computerized Tasks in SSC 3133 |
Wed., Jan. 16, 10:30-11:30; 11:30-12:30 Fri., 4:30-5:30; 5:30-6:30; 6:30-7:30; 7:30-8:30 |
Jan. 21 |
Perceptual Development |
Ch. 3 |
Jan. 23 |
Conducting a Literature Search; generate possible research questions involving pairs of variables |
|
Jan. 28 |
Emergence of Action
Infant Cognition |
Ch. 4 (pp. 131-135 AND Figure 4.3 only)
Ch. 5 |
Jan. 30 |
Introduction, Research Questions and Hypotheses |
|
Feb. 4 |
Mid-Term Exam 1 |
|
Feb. 6 |
Research Methods |
Introduction (Title Page, Intro, Hypotheses) Due: February 5, 11:55pm |
Feb. 11 |
Attachment
|
Ch. 6 |
Feb. 13 |
Data Analysis: T-Tests and Correlations, Part 1 |
|
Feb. 18 |
Reading Week |
|
Feb. 20 |
Reading Week |
|
Feb. 25 |
Emotion, Temperament, and Personality |
Ch. 7 |
Feb. 27 |
Data Analysis: T-Tests and Correlations, Part 2
|
|
|
Lecture |
|
|
Tutorial |
|
Mar. 4 |
Language Development |
Ch. 8 |
Mar. 6 |
Discussion, Limitations, Future Directions, Abstract
|
Method and Results Due Mar. 5, 11:55 pm |
Mar. 11 |
Cognitive Development |
Ch. 9 Ch. 10 (omit pp. 372-380) |
Mar. 13 |
Overview of Oral Presentations |
|
Mar. 18 |
Mid-Term Exam 2
|
|
Mar. 20 |
Oral Presentations I |
|
Mar. 25 |
Moral Development |
Ch. 12 (omit pp. 431-444) Ch. 13 |
Mar. 27 |
Oral Presentations II |
|
Apr. 1 |
Family Influences |
Ch. 14 |
Apr. 3 |
Oral Presentations III |
Discussion Due Apr. 2, 11:55 pm |
Apr. 8 |
Peers Influences |
Ch. 15 |
|
|
|
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://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?Command=showCategory&PolicyCategoryID=1&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
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
- 2018 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.