Child Development
Psychology 356
T, Th
Spring, 2011
Professor: Dr. Pamela Schuetze
Office:
Phone: 878-4022
E-mail: schuetp@buffalostate.edu
Web Site: http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/schuetp/
Office Hours: T, Th
Prerequisite: Successful completion of PSY 101
Required Text: Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2007). The
World of Children with Mydevelopmentlab
online access (comes packaged with book in bookstore).
Overview: The development of the child is an exciting process,
beginning with the
rapid metamorphoses of cells at conception and
continuing through complex developmental processes of maturation, growth and
learning. Since each of us is a
constantly developing individual continually being influenced by factors both
internal and external to our self, this course will attempt to explain child
development from conception to age 12 using scientific discoveries and personal
insights.
Objectives: At the end of the semester, you should be able to:
1. To become familiar with the research methodology commonly used by developmental psychologists. To become familiar with the scientific method and examine the beliefs and limitations of this method of inquiry as it relates to developmental psychology.
Outcomes: Students will be able to differentiate between the major observational, correlational, and experimental designs used by developmental psychologists and to articulate the benefits and limitations of each.
2. To develop an understanding of the various types of development than a child experiences (i.e., physiological, cognitive, social, etc.).
Outcomes: Students will be able to articulate definitions for each type of development.
Course Requirements
Attendance: In order to meet the objectives of this course, your regular
attendance is critical. Having said
that, attendance is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged.
Grading Policy:
Assignments are graded according to the following curve: A = 480-510, A- = 459-479, B+ = 444-458; B =
428-443; B- = 408-427; C+ = 393-407, C = 377-392, C- = 357-376; D+ = 337-356; D
= 306-336, E= < 306. The final course
grade will be a weighted average of the following:
Final
Exam 100 points
My Virtual Child 100
points
Oral Presentation 10
points**
Total Possible Points 510
*Exams: Exams will cover material discussed both in
the textbook and in class. The lowest
grade on your first four exams (not including the final exam) will be
dropped. However, keep in mind that
because of this policy there will be no
makeup exams offered for missed exams.
Therefore, if you score poorly on the first exam and then miss the fourth
exam due to illness or a family emergency, I will average your first three exam
scores together. It is to your advantage
to take and do well on all exams. The
final exam is not optional unless your average on the first four exams is 90%
or above.
Exam 1. Foundations of Developmental Psychology
Exam 2. Infancy
Exam 3. Early Childhood
Exam 4. Middle Childhood
Final Exam. This exam is cumulative and will consist of
multiple choice and short answer questions on all material covered during the semester.
My Virtual Child. My Virtual Child is an online simulation of the
possible development of a child. It is
designed to represent the normative development of children, depict some common
experiences of children, and provide examples of common variations in child
personality, social behavior, physical development, and intellectual
abilities. The program is based on
theory and research in developmental psychology. Raising your “virtual child” will be a
semester-long process that will begin after a brief introduction to it in class
(see the syllabus for the in-class introduction). Your grade on this project will be based on 6
assignments, each of which will be worth 12 points, and your participation in two
Parent Forums (for a total of 28 points - see syllabus for dates) to completed
at various points throughout the semester.
You must turn in a hard copy of each assignment due
at the beginning of class on the due date, as indicated on the syllabus. E-mailed assignments will not be accepted
unless approved by me ahead of time and must be followed up with a hard copy as
soon as possible. Parent forum grades will
be based on participation in the parent forum (7 points) and completion of the
one page of notes that will be used during the parent forum (7 points).
1 point will be deducted from your assignment grade
for any portion of a 24 hour period that your paper is late. In other words, if your paper is handed in an
hour after the scheduled class (or turned into my mailbox during class), 1
point will be deducted from your grade.
If the paper is handed in the next day (>24 hours after the scheduled
class time during which the paper was due), 2 points will be deducted from your
grade. Therefore, if you must turn your
paper in late, it is recommended that you personally place the paper in my
hands or have one of the secretaries in the departmental office indicate the
date and time the paper was received. No exceptions will be made to this rule!
Extra Credit: You can earn up to an additional 15 points
for raising your “Virtual Child” through adolescence and completing the extra
credit questions. Your typed responses
to these questions are due at the final exam.
**Oral Presentation. You are required to give a 3 minute
presentation of a research article on child psychology from a psychology
journal. If you do not complete your presentation, you will lose an additional
20 points from your total points.
Details on the requirements for this assignment can be found on my
website. Briefly, your presentation
should include information on why the research study was important, how the
research study was conducted (who were the participants? What were the
participants required to do?, etc.), what the general findings were, and what
the results tell us about the particular topic being researched. The words for your presentation must be
original, not read from the article.
However, you may read from notes if that helps you feel more
comfortable. Your grade will be based on
your success in following the instructions, your effective use of your time,
and the inclusion of the appropriate amount of details. It is expected that you will be polite and
respectful to your peers as they present.
This means not leaving before or during their presentations and quiet
attention (no packing up of your things, no talking) to the presentation. Failure to respect your peers in this manner
will negatively impact your presentation grade.
Policies:
·
Students are expected to take exams as scheduled. Since the lowest grade on the four
noncumulative exams will be dropped, no
makeup exams will be offered. There
are absolutely no exceptions to this
rule.
·
You must be on time to take you exams.
Exams will not be administered to latecomers who arrive after any other
students have completed their exam and left the room.
·
Because of privacy regulation, I will not give out any grade
information over the phone or via e-mail.
Any discussions regarding grades must be conducted in person.
Cheating: In this class, cheating (or any other form of
academic dishonesty) will result in academic sanctions, up to and including the
awarding of an E grade for the course and referral of the offending student to
the Dean for possible disciplinary actions.
In many cases, it is not easy to tell if a student has been looking at
the next paper or not. In those cases,
the student will be warned once. If
the eyes wander again, it will be assumed that the student is cheating. While taking an examination, all papers,
notes, books, etc. must be closed and placed under your chair.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is one of the most serious, and
frequent, academic offenses committed by college students. Fundamentally, plagiarism is the act of
presenting the ideas, words, or concepts of someone else as if they were your
own ideas or words. This includes the
use of ideas or concepts in your words that you have derived from reading the
writings of others but have not specifically identified as coming from those
works. There is nothing wrong with
referring to another’s ideas, but failure to attribute those words to their
source is plagiarism. This includes
information that you obtain from your textbook to help you complete your
Virtual Child assignments.
Students with Disabilities: Any student who requires
accommodations to complete the requirements and expectations of this course
because of a disability is invited to make his or her needs known to the
instructor and to the office of students with disabilities, South Wing 120, ext.
4500.
Tentative Schedule:
Date Topic/Activity Assignments
Jan. 25 Introduction
to Course Review Syllabus
Jan. 27 Themes
in Child Development. Chapter 1
Feb. 1 Themes in Child Development Chapter 1
Feb. 3 Themes in Child Development Chapter 1
Feb. 8 Genetics Chapter 2
Feb. 10 Prenatal
Dev.; Intro to My Virtual Child Chapter 3
Feb. 15 Birth Chapter 3
Feb. 17 Exam 1 --------------
Feb. 22 President’s Day Recess No
Class!!
Feb. 24 Physical
Development in Infancy Chapter 4, Virtual Child
(VC) Assignment 1 due
March 1 Physical Development in Infancy Chapter 4
March 3 Cognitive Development in Infancy Chapter 5
March 8 Cognitive Development in Infancy Chapter 5
March 10 Socioemotional Development in Infancy Chapter
6, VC 2 due
March 15 Socioemotional Development in Infancy Chapter
6
March 17 Exam
2 -------------
March 22 Physical Development in Early Childhood Chapter 7; VC 3 due
March 24 Physical Development in Early Childhood Chapter 7
March 29 Spring Break No Class
March 31 Spring Break No Class
April 5 Cognitive
Development in Early Childhood Chapter
8; Parent Forum 1
April 7 Cognitive
Development in Early Childhood Chapter
8; VC 4 due
April 12 Socioemotional Development in Early… Chapter
9
April 14 Socioemotional Development in Early… Chapter
9;
April 19 Exam
3
April 21 Physical Development in Middle… Chapter 10, VC 5due
April 26 Cognitive Development in Middle…. Chapter
11, Parent Forum 2
April 28 Cognitive Development in Middle Chapter
11
May 3 Socioemotional
Development in Middle Chapter 12, VC 6 due
May 5 Exam 4 --------------------
Final Exam: Tuesday,
Lecture Note Outlines: Copies of the overheads that will be used
during lecture are available on my website.
You are encouraged to print them out in advance of lecture and bring
them with you to aid you in your notetaking.
Welcome
to My Virtual Child!
OVERVIEW OF MY VIRTUAL CHILD
Congratulations! You are the proud parent of
a virtual child! You will be raising this virtual child from birth to 12 years of age. Your virtual
child has a unique set of characteristics at birth, some of which were
influenced by your answers to the assessments you completed when you first
logged onto My Virtual Child. These characteristics will gradually emerge and
affect his or her behavior and development. In addition to these individual
differences, there are also universal aspects of development that all virtual
children will display. My virtual child covers physical, social, emotional, and
cognitive development at several age levels. This will give you an opportunity
to visualize "the whole child" at various points in development.
HOW MY VIRTUAL CHILD WORKS
As your virtual child progresses through each
age level, you will read about events occurring in his or her virtual life and
you will be asked to make decisions about your virtual child. Answer the
questions the way you think you would act as a real parent. You will have a "partner"
(which you can assume to be your spouse, unmarried partner, or whatever you
like). You and your partner are assumed to be the biological parents (a male
and a female) to make the programming of My Virtual Child as simple as
possible. You should assume that a week or more passes between each event or
question at a particular age level. The events that happen in your child's
life, and the decisions you make as a parent will gradually change your child's
inborn characteristics, and will shape other characteristics of the child that
emerge after birth. The virtual child’s behavior may vary across ages and
settings, although there are basic personality and intellectual traits that
remain generally consistent. In addition to the events and questions, you will
see typical assessments of your child's behavior at the end of many age levels
(pediatrician's report, developmental assessment, psychologist's report, and
various school report cards). Some terms and concepts may be unfamiliar to you.
Approximately 50 short definitions are available as you roll over certain
terms. More complex concepts (such as temperament, personality type and
multiple intelligences) are explained in boxes that pop up at appropriate
points. Finally, to help you visualize some of the concepts in My Virtual
Child, brief videos are available at almost every age level.
WRITING/DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENTS
There are 13 sets of critical thinking
questions (three questions per set) built in to the program. However,
you will not be answering these online questions. Instead, I will be providing you with a
handout containing the questions you must answer. These question sets are
designed to be written up as brief papers or used as the basis for discussions
in class, and are designed to help you connect your virtual child’s development
with course concepts. Generally, you
will need to run through two or more age levels before answering the questions
I provide. Your answers should be neatly
typed and carefully proofread and spell-checked, as you would with any other
writing assignment. Your grade will be
based on the thoroughness and accuracy of your responses.
NAVIGATING THROUGH MY VIRTUAL CHILD
At any point, you can look at past events,
questions, and answers by clicking on the time line at the top of the screen.
Click on "Resume Questions" to go from the time line back to the
questions where you left off.
You can log off at any time; your information
and completed responses are saved automatically. Should you accidentally skip a
question, you will be prompted to go back. If you see a screen that says
"Time Passes", there are no questions at that point for your
particular child. Continue on.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M BEING A GOOD PARENT?
Many students wonder how they will know when
they have given the "right" response to the questions posed to them
as parents. The goal of the program is to convey the broad sweep of child
development from the point of view of a parent observing a child. The way this
is done is by showing you "snapshots" of a child's typical behavior
over a period of time (e.g., one year). The program is not fully interactive;
that is, the child in the scenarios rarely responds immediately to something
you do as a parent. Instead, the child gradually changes, in response to
parenting choices, innate temperamental or personality characteristics, random
environmental events, and general developmental principles. In other words, as
in real life, you won't find out whether you have made the "right"
choices as a parent until you see how the child turns out at various ages, in a
variety of contexts (e.g., home, school, peer group). Feedback about child
outcomes can be gleaned from your observation of the child's behavior, from
comments or reports from teachers and other professionals, and from other "outcome
data" (e.g., grades in school, success in peer relationships).
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR PARENTING MY VIRTUAL
CHILD
Although feedback about parenting choices is
not provided on a question by question basis, some guidelines for being a
"good" parent to your Virtual Child can be articulated. In many
cases, the "right" answer is the answer provided by developmental
research and theory, which often corresponds to common sense (e.g., comfort a
crying baby). In some cases, the "right" answer to a question will depend
on the child's developmental level or personality. In other cases, there is
more than one "right" answer. Generally speaking, the more extreme
answers (i.e., overly strict or overly lenient) will lead to more extreme
outcomes with regard to the child's behavior, but this may interact with your
child's temperament. Some Virtual Children are harder to get along with and to
control, as appears to be the case in real life. Occasionally someone (a
developmental examiner, a teacher, a psychologist, or your child him/herself)
will tell you directly how you are doing as a parent in terms of two
dimensions: warmth/affection and control/discipline. These dimensions are the
basis for four main parenting styles discussed in your book (authoritative,
authoritarian, permissive and neglecting). You and your classmates may
deliberately decide to vary methods and styles of parenting in order to see how
this affects your Virtual Children.
Have fun raising your Virtual Child!
My Virtual Child Assignment
Instructions: Answer the questions listed under each
assignment briefly, citing specific examples from your child. Type up the answers in 12 point font,
double-spaced, with a recommended 3-page length for assignments except where
noted. Assignments are worth 10 points
each. The assignments add up to 63
points with the additional 37 points coming from your participation in the 3
in-class Parent Forums (roughly 12 points each).
General guidelines: A good answer will address every part of the
question, and will describe the child’s behavior and provide 1 or 2 supporting
examples. In addition, wherever
possible, you should relate your descriptions and explanations of the child’s
behavior to the concepts, theories and research covered in class or in the book. Please avoid expressing an unfounded option –
try to base your arguments on research studies and conclusions, or a theory
that seems well supported by the research in the field. The questions are printed below.
Assignment 1:
Infant physical and cognitive development: main ages are 3 mos, 8 mos,
12 mos, and 18 mos (run through 19 months).
12 points
Assignment 2:
Infant social and emotional development: main ages are 8 ,12 and 18
months (run through 19 months). 12
points
Assignment 3: Early
childhood physical and cognitive development: main ages are 24 months through 3
years (run through 3 years, 11 months).
12 points
Assignment 4:
Early childhood social and emotional development: main ages are 24
months through 4 years (run through 4 years, 10 months). 12 points
Assignment 5:
Middle childhood physical and cognitive development: main ages are 24
through 8 years (run through 8 years, 11 months). 12 points
Assignment 6:
Middle childhood social and emotional development: main ages are 6
through 10 years (run through 10 years, 11 months). 12 points
Extra Credit Questions
Run through 18years, 1 month.