Psychology 105: Child Development
Fall '05
*Note:
This
syllabus is only a guide.
Dates may change as the course progresses.
Meeting
Time: Monday and Wednesday, 2:45 PM
Room:
Broad
Hall 214
Professor:
Mita
Banerjee
Office: Scott
210 Phone:
x72648 E-mail: Mita_Banerjee@Pitzer.edu
Office
Hours: Tuesday 10:30-11:30 AM, Thursday 3:00-4:00 PM, and by
appointment.
Text
and Readings: The textbook for this class is The Development of Children,
5th edition, by Cole, Cole and Lightfoot. MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET THE 5TH
EDITION, AND NOT EARLIER EDITIONS. There have been a number of changes
since the previous editions, and the chapters are different. The required
readings book to go along with the text is Human
Development in Multicultural Contexts, by Paludi. Both books are on sale at
Huntley Bookstore.
Goals
of the course: This course covers a broad range of topics in
developmental psychology. The course focuses largely on children, but
will encompass some discussion of adolescence and early adulthood. Topics
will be covered conceptually as well as chronologically, and will include
biological, social, cognitive and societal/cross-cultural aspects of
development. Each week, we will spend a portion of one class session
discussing the articles from the readings book and the general topic presented
in the text. IT IS THEREFORE ESSENTIAL
THAT EVERYBODY KEEP UP WITH THE READINGS, AND BE
PREPARED TO DISCUSS THEM. WE WILL HAVE POP QUIZZES
ON THE MATERIAL FROM THE READINGS IF IT SEEMS THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT
KEEPING UP.
Course
Requirements: This course will involve exams, papers, and an internship.
There will be two midterm exams during the semester, and a final exam to be
held during the official exam period. You will be expected to write a
final paper for the class, and a paper proposal/outline will need to be handed
in earlier. Also, you will be expected to participate in at least 40
internship hours over the semester. Grading will be as follows:
Class Participation (10%): Students
will be expected to attend class, and actively participate in class sessions.
Internships (10%): Students will be
participating either in Claremont
Tutorial Center Program, or in an array of other placements organized by the
Center for California Cultural and Social Issues. These internships include
placements working with homeless children, incarcerated youth, and at-risk
schoolchildren. Further information
regarding placements will be shared with you during the first few sessions of class. Students will be asked to commit to 40 hours
of internship placement over the course of the semester. These
internships offer a wonderful opportunity to gain first-hand experience working
with children, and to be able to put into a realistic framework many of the
concepts we will cover in class.
For each internships,
students will be expected to turn in two journal entries (2-3 pages each)
reflecting on the internship experiences during the semester. Grading will be 5% for the
journals (2.5 % each), and 5% for the teacher/supervisor evaluation.
Midterm Exams: Midterm I (10%) will
be given on October 10th. Midterm
II (15%) will be given on November 14th. The second exam is weighted
more to give you a chance to get used to my style of examination. MAKEUP EXAMS ARE
ONLY GIVEN IN EXTREME, EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.
Final Paper (20%):
Students
will write an 8-10 page paper on a specific applied topic in developmental
psychology—in this paper I want you to think about the application of child
development to real world issues. Some
possible topics you might want to research include therapeutic
interventions with homeless children; designing a developmentally-appropriate
toy for infants; the potential use of stem cell research in combating childhood
leukemia Topics need to be approved by me. The paper should review 5-8 journal articles on your specific topic that you
have found through library research. Your papers needs
to have a precise thesis and point of view.
Your papers should not simply summarize the articles, but need to show
some original thinking. You will be required to use APA (American
Psychological Association) style guidelines in writing this paper.
A proposal/outline (10%) of
your paper will be due November 2nd. The final paper is due December
7th. LATE PAPERS WILL BE HEAVILY
PENALIZED.
Final Exam (25%): A cumulative final
exam will be held on Wednesday December 14, 2:00 PM, Broad Hall 214.
There
will be absolutely no extra credit assignments.
Schedule of Readings
Class dates
Topic and assigned readings
T=text
R=readings
Sept.
5/7
Introduction to child development
T-Ch. 1
R-pp. 1-11, Morelli et al. (31-37)
Sept.
12/14
Socialization Contexts
T-Ch. 11
R- Shaw et al. (117-122); Vandell et al.
(123-126)
Sept. 19/21 Biological influences/ Prenatal development
T-Ch. 2, Ch. 3 R-Kagan et al. (37-41)
Sept. 26/28Schooling and intelligence testing
T-Ch. 13
R-Stetsenko et al (107-111)
Oct. 3/5 Early infancy
T-Ch. 4
R-Bornstein et al. (25-31)
Oct.
10/12
Later Infancy
T-Ch.
5, Ch. 6 R-Sagi et al. (41-44); Black et al. (80-84)
Midterm I, October 10
FALL
BREAK, NO CLASS OCTOBER 17
Oct.
19
Social development in early childhood
T-Ch. 10 R-Friedlmeier et al. (74-79); Farver et
al. (84-88)
Oct. 24/26 Social development in middle
childhood
T-Ch. 14
R-DeRosier & Kupersmidt (127-129)
Journal 1 due Oct. 24
Oct. 31/Nov. 2
Language/Cognitive Development
T-Ch. 8, Ch 9
R-Shu et al. (112-117)
Paper outline due Nov. 2
Nov. 7/9 Cognitive/Biological
Development
T-Ch.
12
Nov.
14/16
Early experience and later life
T-Ch. 7
R-Phillips et al. (70-73); Farver et al. (88-91)
Midterm II, November 14
Nov.
21
Biological/Social Aspects of Adolescence
T-Ch. 15
R-Peterson et al.(158-173); Brown Jr. et
al. (173-179)
NO CLASS NOV. 23, THANKSGIVING
Nov.
28/30
Psychological Achievements of Adolescence
T-Ch. 16 R-Yeh &
Huang (154-158); Friedlander et al. (237-241)
Journal 2 due Nov. 28
Dec. 5/7 Catch
Up Week
Final Paper due Dec. 7
FINAL
EXAM: WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 14, 2:00 PM, BROAD HALL 214