NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human
Development
Department of Applied Psychology
Psychological Research in Infancy (E63.2115)
Professor: Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda
Wed. 9:30-11:10
Fall Semester, 2009
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The focus of this course is on normative development and individual differences in infants’
perception and action, cognition, language, temperament, attachment and social relationships
across the first three years of life. Theoretical perspectives and questions concerning
endogenous and exogenous influences on the course of early development, and the predictive
validity of individual differences for current and later functioning will be explored. An in-depth
survey of current research methodologies and designs utilized in the study of infants and their
experiences will be provided. Emphasis will also be on the various contexts and settings in which
infant development unfolds, including families, day cares, and culture.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The goals of this course are to prepare students with a solid theoretical foundation in infant
development, and to enable students to understand the various methods that are used in the study
and assessment of children in the 0-3 age period. Students will come away with an appreciation
of how to ask questions about infant development, and how to recognize the benefits and
limitations of various methodological tools. Additionally, students will come away with a deep
understanding of the ways that culture and context shape the developing infant, through parents’
beliefs and practices, as well as through the demands, opportunities, and constraints presented by
cultural communities. Through both shared and independent readings, the preparation of a
classroom presentation, and classroom discussions, students are expected to develop skills in
critical thinking and research inquiry.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
Bremner, G., & Fogel, A. (Eds.) (2001). Handbook of Infant Development, Oxford: Blackwell.
Keller, H. (2007). The Cultures of Infancy, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
COURSE STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS
Each week all students will be responsible for the required readings. Topics for
discussion will focus on theoretical and conceptual issues, methodological approaches in
infancy, and contrasting perspectives on a theme. Students must be prepared to summarize and
critique chapters, as well as answer all discussion questions in class. There will be two exams,
and in-class presentations at the end of the semester. The final three weeks of class will be
devoted to in-class student presentations (and discussions of presentations). Presentations will
focus on the Keller book studies, which examine the cultural settings of infant development.
Students will prepare a power-point presentation of the main ideas/theories/research points of the
book. Talk length will depend on the number of students enrolled in the class. Presentations are
expected to reflect the quality of talks that are presented at Professional conferences, and will be
graded for their clarity, visual appeal, organization, depth, and take-home-messages.
ATTENDANCE
Students are expected to attend all classes. Students who miss a class must contact the Professor
in advance (if possible) or afterwards, with the reason for absence. Students are responsible for
any material that was missed. Additionally, students are expected to be to class on time, and to
not leave early, unless there is a valid excuse that has been cleared with the Professor.
GRADING AND EXAMS
Two exams will be given—one midway into the semester, and the second during final
period. The final exam will be non cumulative. It will include topics covered after the midterm
exam from both required books. Exams will include multiple-choice questions, fill ins, and short
answers. There will be no make-up exams without a doctor’s notice. There is no extra credit or
test do-over option for making up for a low grade.
Midterm Exam:
Final Exam:
In-Class Presention and Summary:
Participation:
35%
35%
20%
10%
MEETING WITH PROFESSOR: (5th floor East Building, 239 Greene Street; 212 998 5399)
Appointments can be arranged through email (Catherine.tamis-lemonda@nyu.edu).
Week 1: Wednesday September 9
INTRODUCTION TO INFANCY
Reflections on the Field of Infancy: Theoretical and Methodological Issues
Why study infants? Is infancy a "sensitive period"? Are infants canalized and/or buffered?
Normative trends versus individual differences. Stability and Continuity. Transactional models.
Domains of Infant Development.
Required readings:
Introductions to all Sections of Handbook: Perception & Cognition, Social, Emotional, and
Communicative Development, Risk Factors, and Contexts of Development
Fogel, The History (and Future) of Infancy
Week 2: Wednesday, September 16
PRENATAL & BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
W. P. Fifer, C. E. Monk, & J. Grose-Fifer, Prenatal Development and Risk (in Fogel)
Brain Development (in Fogel)
Student Presentation:
Mennella, J. A., Beauchamp, G. K. (1996). The human infants' response to vanilla flavors in
mother's milk and formula. Infant Behavior & Development. Vol 19(1), pp. 13-19
J. Mennella, J. A., Kennedy, J., Beauchamp, G. K. (2006). Vegetable acceptance by infants:
Effects of formula flavors. Early Human Development, Volume 82, Issue 7, Pages 463-468
Smith, B. L. , Wills, G., Naylor, D. (1981). The effects of prenatal stress on rat offsprings'
learning ability. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied. Vol 107(1), pp. 45-51
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Week 3: Wednesday September 23
VISUAL & AUDITORY PERCEPTION
What are infants’ skills in the sensory modalities of vision and audition? How have new methods
in the field of infancy changed views of what infants can perceive and understand?
Required readings:
Slater, A. Visual Perception (in Fogel)
Fernald, A. Hearing, Listening and Understanding: Auditory Development in Infancy (in Fogel)
Student Presentation:
Polka, L. & Werker, J. F. (1994). Developmental changes in perception of nonnative vowel
contrasts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. Vol 20(2),
421-435.
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Week 4: Wednesday, September 30
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT & ACTION
Required readings:
Ad W. Smitsman, Action in Infancy – Perspectives, Concepts, and Challenges: The
Development of Reaching and Grasping. (in Fogel)
Adolph, K. E. & Joh, A. S. (2007). Motor development: How infants get into the act. In A. Slater
& M. Lewis (Eds.), Introduction to infant development, (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University
Press.
Adolph, K. E. & Berger, S. E. (2005). Physical and motor development. In M. H. Bornstein &
M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Developmental science: An advanced textbook, (5th ed., pp. 223-281).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
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Weeks 5 Wednesday, October 7
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AND MEMORY
Required readings:
J.G. Bremner, Cognitive Development: Knowledge of the Physical World (In Fogel)
C. Rovee- Collier & R. Barr, Infant Learning and Memory (in Fogel)
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Week 6 Wednesday, October 14
SELF CONCEPT: THE IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT SELVES
Required readings:
P. Rochat, Origins of Self Concept (in Fogel)
(Also, begin readings for next week as we will start discussing those topics today!)
Student Presentation:
Brownell, C. (2007). “So big”: The development of body self-awareness in toddlers. Child
Development, 78, 1426-1440.
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Week 7 Wednesday, October 21
JOINT VISUAL ATTENTION & LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Required readings:
G. Butterworth, Joint Visual Attention in Infancy (in Fogel)
V. Reddy, Mind Knowledge in the First Year: Understanding Attention and Intention (in Fogel)
A. Lock, Preverbal Communication (in Fogel)
L. Camaioni, Early Language (in Fogel)
Student Presentation:
Akhtar (2001). Learning words through overhearing. Child Development, 72, 416-430.
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Week 8 Wednesday, October 28
MIDTERM EXAM
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Week 9: Wednesday, November 4
EMOTIONS AND TEMPERAMENT
Required readings:
D. C. Witherington, J. J. Campos, & M. J. Hertenstein, Principles of Emotion and its
Development in Infancy
T. D. Wachs & J. E. Bates, Temperament
Student Presentations:
Kagan, J. (1989). Temperamental contributions to social behavior. American Psychologist. Vol
44(4), pp. 668-674
Schwartz, C. D. E., Wright, C., I., Shin, L. M, Kagan, J., Rauch, S. L., Inhibited and uninhibited
infants "grown up": Adult amygdalar response to novelty. Science, Vol 300 (5627), pp. 19521953
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Week 10: Wednesday, November 11
ATTACHMENT AND THE PARENT-INFANT RELATIONSHIP
M. H. Bornstein & C. S. Tamis-LeMonda, Mother-Infant Interaction
D. van den Boom, First Attachments: Theory and Research
Eckerman, C. O., & Peterman, K., Peers and Infant Social/Communicative Development
Student Presentations:
Attachment and culture: Security in the United States and Japan.
Rothbaum, Fred1; Weisz, John; Pott, Martha; Miyake, Kazuo; Morelli, Gilda
American Psychologist. Vol 55(10), Oct 2000, pp. 1093-1104
Sagi, A., Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, M. H., Aviezer, O., Donnell, F., Koren -Karie, N., Joels,
T., Harel, Y. (1995). Attachments in a Multiple-Caregiver and Multiple-Infant Environment:
The Case of the Israeli Kibbutzim. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child
Development, Vol. 60, No. 2/3, pp. 71-91
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Week 11: Wednesday November 18
RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEERS
Chapter on Peer relationships (In Fogel)
S. Ozonoff & M. South, Early Social Development in Young Children with Autism: Theoretical
and Clinical Interpretations. (in Fogel)
Student Presentation:
Sagi, A. & Hoffman, M. L. (1976). Empathic distress in the newborn. Developmental
Psychology. Vol 12(2), pp. 175-176
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Week 12: Wednesday, November 25
INFANCY IN CULTURAL CONTEXT I:
Adolph, K. E., Karasik, L., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (in press). Motor skills. In M. Bornstein
(Ed.), Handbook of cross-cultural developmental science, Vol. 1, Domains of development
across cultures. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
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Weeks 13-15: (Wednesdays, December 2, 9, 16)
INFANCY IN CULTURAL CONTEXT II:
KELLER BOOK: CULTURAL MODELS OF INFANCY
Student Presentations on Book
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FINAL EXAM GIVEN DURING EXAM WEEK
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