Psych 350H Introduction to Child Psychology Honors Course Syllabus Time and location Tu Th 11 15 12 30 PM 206 Dickenson Course Instructor Dr Lisa Scott Ph D University of Massachusetts Department of Psychology 409 Tobin Hall 135 Hicks Way Amherst MA 01003 Phone 413 545 5965 Email lscott psych umass edu Web Page http people umass edu lscott Office hours By appointment please email me and I will be happy to set up a time to meet Required Text Child and Adolescent Development A Chronological Approach Bukatko Houghton Mifflin Company Publishers 2008 The textbook is available for purchase at the University bookstore Supplementary Readings Students will be required to read the following supplementary material All supplementary readings will either be provided in class or available on the class web page Cohen G L Garcia J Apfel N Master A 2006 Reducing the racial achievement gap A social psychological intervention Science 313 1307 1310 Graham S 2006 Peer victimization in school Exploring the ethnic context Current Directions in Psychological Science 15 317 321 Scott L S Pascalis O Nelson C A 2007 A domain general theory of the development of perceptual discrimination Current Directions in Psychological Science 16 197 201 Spelke E S Kinzler K D 2007 Core knowledge Developmental Science 10 89 96 Steinberg L 2007 Risk taking in adolescence New perspectives from brain and behavioral science Current Directions in Psychological Science 16 55 59 Recommended Resources The following are NOT required for the course and students will NOT be expected to know the material in them However students who have a particular interest in the topics of these books may find them informative and useful supplements to this course Hart B Risley T R Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children This book describes a longitudinal study of different types i e socioeconomic classes of families to show how differences in early environmental experiences affect language development Kopp C B Baby Steps The Whys of Your Childs Behavior in the First Two Years This is written for the general public and is a parenting guide for the first two years It has some nice charts that show what infants look like developmentally at different ages Kozol J Savage Inequalities Children in America s Schools Looks at neighborhoods and schools in poverty and compares them to more middle or upper class areas focuses on the quality of life for children developing in these areas Kotlowitz A There are no Children Here The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America Describes the lives of two boys living in a Chicago Housing Project Neurons to Neighborhoods The Science of Early Child Development This book describes the science behind early childhood development It covers topics such as the nature nurture debate cultural influences the importance of early relationships the development of self regulation the development of peer relationships etc Web sites The following web sites will be useful to you throughout the course I will use SPARK the new WebCT to post grades handouts and assignments I may have you find articles or books do literature searches the University Libraries web site will be useful for this purpose Throughout the course we will be discussing current events and policies related to developmental psychology the websites Tools for schools and the Family Research Council will be useful for these purposes The neuroscience for kids website is an excellent resource for basic neuroscience information I will refer you to this website throughout the course I may refer you to other web sites throughout the semester Spark https spark oit umass edu webct logonDisplay dowebct University Libraries http www library umass edu Tools for Schools http www ed gov pubs ToolsforSchools Family Research Council http www frc org insight Neuroscience for kids http faculty washington edu chudler neurok html Child Development Institute http childdevelopmentinfo com index htm Developmental Milestones http www cdc gov ncbddd autism actearly Ethical Standards in Research http www srcd org ethicalstandards html Pbwiki http pbwiki com Course Goals The primary goal of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to developmental psychology and to the scientific study of development It is intended that this course may serve as a foundation for future courses in Child Psychology Thus a broad range of topics will covered and no one topic will be covered in depth We will cover the major domains of development biological cognitive social and emotional development from the prenatal period chronologically covering each age of the child in turn This course is not designed to address how to rear children In fact no one way is likely to be optimal for all circumstances Instead the emphasis is on discovering the many different biological and experiential factors that influence behavior and its development Course Format The format of the course will be lecture with some in class activities and discussions The course is organized into 5 topics 1 Theory Concepts and Methodology 2 Infancy 3 Early Childhood 4 Middle Childhood and 5 Adolescence There will be some overlap between the material covered in lecture and the material covered in the book A large part of the lectures however will be used to supplement and elaborate upon material covered in the book Therefore students must complete the assigned readings as well as attend class in order to master the material covered in this course Course Requirements Students are required to attend class take notes do assigned readings and turn in all assignments The required examinations and all written and group assignments must be submitted in order to receive a passing grade in the course In most cases you are given at least 1week to complete assignments and exams thus the only legitimate excuses for not doing so include a death in the immediate family or an illness Please see the policies section below for a detailed description of how I handle late assignments and exams Credits and Workload Expectations For undergraduate courses 1 credit is defined as equivalent to an average of 3 hours of learning effort per week over a full term necessary for an average student to achieve and average grade in the course For example a student taking a 4 credit course that meets for 4 hours a week should expect to spend at least an additional 8 hours a week on coursework outside the