Course Syllabus

Preliminary Lecture Topics and Reading Assignments

Spring 2009

This is a preliminary course syllabus. Topics and reading assignments are for illustrative purposes only. G & C readings below have not yet been updated for the 5th edition. Enrolled students will use the Syllabus section of the 2280 CourseWorks site for final reading assignments, as well as for access to some readings.

A | B | C || D | E | F

Introduction to developmental psychology:
History, theory, and methodology

Cole, Cole, & Lightfoot (CCL) Chap. 1. The study of human development.
CCL Epilogue (665-667)
Gauvain & Cole # 1. Bronfenbrenner. Ecological models of human development.
G & C #3. Werner. Children of the Garden Island.
Shonkoff & Phillips (Eds.) From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. The National Academy of Sciences, 2000. In Ch. 2. Rethinking nature and nurture, read pp. 39- 44 and skim pp. 50-56. (This book is available to read online.)
--G & C #21. Bandura, et al. Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models.
--G & C #2. Thompson. The legacy of early attachments.

Prenatal Development. Development of the nervous system.
Reproductive hazards.

CCL Chap. 2. The human heritage: Genes and environment.
CCL Chap. 3. Prenatal development and birth
CCL Chap. 4. Early Infancy: Initial capacities and the process of change. Pp. 114-120, 128-131
G & C # 7. Brown. Optimizing expression of the common human genome for child development.
Shonkoff & Phillips (Eds.) From Neurons to Neighborhoods. Read pp. 50-56 in Ch. 2. Rethinking nature and nurture. Read pp. 182-203 in Ch. 8. The Developing Brain.
Cowan. (1986). The Development of the Brain. in R.F.Thompson (Ed.), Progress in Neuroscience. New York: Freeman & Co. 66-77.
Alcohol-Related Birth Defects: Update special issue of Alcohol Research and Health. Vol. 25, No. 3, 2001, read the following:
- Maier & West, p. 168-174.Drinking Patterns and Alcohol-Related Birth Defects [PDF]
- Goodlet & Horn, p. 175-184. Mechanisms of Alcohol-Induced Damage to the Developing Nervous System [PDF]
- Mattson, et al., p. 185-191. Teratogenic Effects on Brain and Behavior [PDF]
Optional Readings:
--Alcohol Research p. 151. In This Issue [PDF] Read article summaries on p. 151 (through executive functioning).
--p. 153-158. Alcohol-Related Birth Defects: The Past, Present, and Future [PDF]
-- Vogel, G. (1997). Cocaine wreaks subtle damage on developing brains. Science, 278, 38-9.
-- Fein, et al. Environmental toxins and behavioral development.
--Scheibel, A. (1997) Embryological Development of the Human Brain. http://www.newhorizons.org/neuro/scheibel.htm
-- Nash, Madeline (1997) Fertile Minds. Time. Feb. 3, 1997 VOL.149 No.5. Available on CourseWorks.
-- Levine, Joe. Timing is everything. From the NOVA Odyssey of Life web site. Also see the associated activity.
Video clips from: How babies get made; The Mind: Development; Odyssey of Life.

Infant Development and the Effects of Early Experience

CCL. Chap. 4. Early Infancy: Initial capacities and the process of change.
CCL. Chap. 5. The Achievements of the First Year.
CCL. Chap. 6. The End of Infancy.
CCL. Chap. 7. Early Experience and Later Life.
Ricciuti. (1981) Interaction of adverse environmental and nutritional influences on mental development. J Am Dietet Assoc 79, 115-119.
Brown, J. & Pollitt, E. (1996) Malnutrition, poverty, and intellectual development. Sci.Amer. 274, 38-43.
Shonkoff & Phillips (Eds.) From Neurons to Neighborhoods. Read pp. 194-198 and 203-217 in Ch. 8. The Developing Brain.
G & C # 6. Halfon, et al. Brain development in early childhood.
G & C # 8. DeCasper & Fifer. Of human bonding: Newborns prefer their mothers' voices.
G & C # 9. Hewlett, et al. Culture and early infancy among central African foragers and farmers.
G & C # 16. Campos, et. al. Early experience and emotional development: The emergence of wariness of heights.
video clips, including:
- Behavior of animals and human infants in response to the visual cliff (Gibson & Walk)
- Greenough in The Mind: Aging
- Fifer and Werker in The Mind: Development
- Mother Love (Harlow)

Tuesday March 6: Midterm Portfolio due at beginning of class

March 8. MIDTERM EXAMINATION. 35% of course grade.
click here for study tips and a sample exam

Speech Perception and Language Development

CCL Chap. 8. Language Acquisition. (also reread pp. 121-123; 197-200, 221-222)
G & C # 13. Werker. Becoming a native listener.
Kuhl, P. (2004) Early language acquisition: Cracking the speech code. Nature reviews. Neuroscience. 5 (11), pp. 831-841.
Paley, V. (1981) Wally's stories. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Pp.116-126.
Video segments from Language Development (from ConceptMedia: Human Development: The first 2 1/2 years)

Cognitive Development from Infancy through Adolescence

CCL: re-read Piaget sections from chapters pre-midterm
CCL Chap. 9. Early childhood thought: Islands of competence.
CCL Chap. 12. Cognitive and biological attainments of middle childhood.
CCL in Chap. 16, pp. 621-629
G & C # 4. Piaget. Development and learning.
G & C # 25. Siegler. Cognitive variability: A key to understanding cognitive development.
Paley, V. (1981) Wally's stories. Pp. 13-16, 101-106, 114-116
video: Piaget on Piaget: The Epistemology of Jean Piaget

Development, Intelligence, and I.Q.

CCL Chap. 11. The contexts of early childhood development
CCL Chap. 13. Schooling and development in middle childhood.
CCL Chap. 2. The human heritage: Genes and environment. (review)
G & C # 7. Brown. Optimizing expression of the common human genome for child development. (review)
G & C #5. Vygotsky. Interaction between learning and development.
G & C #31. Neisser, et al. Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns.
Cole, M. (1985) Mind as a Cultural Achievement: Implications for IQ Testing. In Eighty-fourth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education.
-- Kamin, L. (1974) The Science and Politics of IQ., Hillsdale, N.J.: LEA.
-- Gould, S.J. (1981) The mismeasure of man. NY: Norton.
-- Flynn, J. R. (1987) Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 171-191.
-- Otto, S. P. (2001) Genetics of Intelligence. In International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, eds. N. J. Smelser and P. B. Baltes, pp. 7651-7658. Elsevier Science Ltd. Pergamon, Oxford.

Thursday April 26 : Final Portfolio due at beginning of class

Final Exam (45% of course grade)

Tues. May 8?? 1:10 - 4 PM

-- A dash precedes readings that supplement the lecture but are not required. Copies of these will be available on CourseWorks or in the Psychology Library.

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This page was modified on December 3, 2008