Psychology 2040A-650
Child Development
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 2044, 2410A/B, 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 this course has an antirequisite that you have previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in this one.
0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Alexandra TwymanOffice: SSC 7440
Office Hours: By e-mail
Email: atwyman3@uwo.ca
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
Berk, L. E. (2013). Child Development. 9th edition. Pearson.4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to provide students with a broad introduction to the theories of developmental psychology, as well as the methodological approaches that support the scientific advancement of the field. Focusing on the developmental periods of infancy, childhood and adolescence, this course will provide a holistic view of how young people change and grow from a biological, cognitive, and socioemotional perspective. Students will also learn about how the development of individual children can be influenced by a number of contextual factors, including families, peers, communities and cultures.5.0 EVALUATION
Your entire grade will be determined via 3 non-cumulative, equally weighted, multiple choice exams.
Exam 1 will cover chapters 1,2,3 & 4 and supplementary lecture material from unit 1.
Exam 2 will cover chapters 6,7,8, & 9 and supplementary lecture material from unit 2.
Exam 3 will cover chapters 10, 11, 13, 14, & 15 and supplementary lecture material from unit 3.
Each exam will be worth one-third of your overall course grade.
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
Exam #2 (Chapters 6-9) Saturday July 9th, time and location TBA
Exam #3 (Chapters 10, 11, 13-15): During final exam period (August 2nd to 5th)
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
All Supplementary lecture material will be delivered through OWL. On each Monday of each week of the term, class materials and class discussions will be posted on our class website. You are expected to read the assigned reading each week, to login to Owl each week for supplementary materials, and each week to respond to posted questions and or post your own questions. Discussions will start on the Monday for the topic (ie Starting Monday, May 9th, you will be reading and discussing chapter 1). That topic will close on Sunday at noon. You are expected to keep up, week by week, with the class material. As would be expected for an in-person class, you are expected to keep your posts professional.
I will be monitoring the class forums, and responding to student e-mails within 48 hours during regular business hours.
Unit 1: Foundations of Developmental Psychology Chapter 1: History, Theory and Applied Directions Chapter 2: Research Strategies Chapter 3: Biological Foundations: Prenatal Development, and Birth Chapter 4: Infancy: Early Learning, Motor Skills, and Perceptual Capacities
Exam 1 on Saturday, June 4th on all unit 1 material- book chapters and supplementary lecture material, with equal exam coverage per topic.
Unit 2: Cognitive Development Chapter 6: Piagetian, Core Knowledge, and Vygotskyian Perspectives Chapter 7: Information Processing Perspective Chapter 8: Intelligence Chapter 9: Language Development
Exam 2 on Saturday, July 9th, on all unit 2 material- book chapters and supplementary lecture material, with equal exam coverage per topic.
Unit 3: Social and Emotional Development
th Chapter 15: Peers & Media (up to pg 636) (about 10 exam questions) Chapter 13: Development of Sex Differences and Gender Roles (about 10 exam questions) Chapter 10: Emotional Development (about 20 exam questions) Chapter 11: Self and Social Understanding (about 20 exam questions) Chapter 14: The Family (about 20 exam questions)
Exam 3 during final exam period (sometime between August 2nd to 5th). Based on all unit 3 material – book chapters and supplementary lecture material. Please notice that approximate weightings of each topic for the third exam in this chart. These exam questions will include topics both from the lecture material as well as the book. The important point here is to spend about half the amount of study time on the topics in chapter 15, for example, as you would on one of the other topics, such as chapter 10 material.
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
The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/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
- 2015 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
