S 2015
Michael Lewis, Ph.D.
Geraldine V. Oades-Sese, Ph.D.
Institute for the Study of Child Development
Rutgers RWJ Medical School

Instructor: Michael Lewis, Ph.D. & Geraldine V. Oades-Sese, Ph.D.
Office: Institute for the Study of Development, Room A1200
Office Hours: Tuesdays, By Appointment
Tele#:
Email:
(732) 235- 7700 lewis@rwjms.rutgers.edu, sesege@rwjms.rutgers.edu
Course Time: Tuesdays, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Room XXX
Mode of Instruction: Lectures
Location: 89 French Street, New Brunswick, NJ
Prerequisites or other limitations: Advanced-Level Undergraduate or Masters Level Students
Permission Required: No
The purpose of this course is to explore issues in human development with an emphasis on infancy and childhood. This course integrates current theories, research and best practices. The content of this course is designed to provide students with (a) fundamental knowledge of early childhood development from a biopsychosocial and ecological perspective, (b) knowledge on how the environment and early childhood experiences affects health, and (c) knowledge on how to develop resilience and health enhancing interventions.
1. To understand various models of development including genetics, environmental, and interactional models such as the newest version of epigenetics
2. To understand how environmental and contextual variables influences development and health
3. To understand the relation between stress and psychological and physical health
4. To gain knowledge on interventions that promote resilience and enhance health
5. To develop a comprehensive health intervention
Week 1 Models of Development 9, 10
Week 2 Stress, Cortisol, Immunology, and Mental Health 1, 8, 11, 21
Week 3
Week 4
The Role of Temperament
Attachment & Social Systems
10, 20
10, 20

Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Language and Other Cognitive Processes
Child Abuse & Neglect
The Effects of Fetal Exposure to Teratogens
SPRING BREAK
Social Class, and Environmental Risks: Disparities in Health
Delivery
19
5, 6
Handouts
7, 13
Resilience
Models of Intervention
14, 15, 17, 24
16, 18, 22, 23
Meditation, Mindfulness, and Other Stress Reducing
Interventions
Special Population: Children with Autism
Handouts
3
Special Populations: Children of Divorce and Incarceration Handouts
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14 Special Population: Military Connected Children Final Exam/Paper
Due Handouts
Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: he National Academy Press.
Free download: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9824
Institute of Medicine & National Research Council. (2012). From neurons to neighborhoods: An update: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Free download: http://www.nap.edu/download.php?record_id=13119#
Francis, R. C. (2012). Epigenetics: How environment shapes our genes. New York: W. W. Norton and
Company.
1.
Badanes, L. S., Dmietrieva, J., & Watamara, S. E. (2012). Understanding cortisol reactivity across the day at child care: The potential buffering role of secure attachments to caregivers. Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, 27, 156-165.
2.
Bennett, D. S., Bendersky, M., & Lewis, M. (2002) Children’s intellectual and emotionalbehavioral adjustment at 4-years as a function of cocaine exposure, maternal characteristics, environmental risk. Developmental Psychology, 38(5), 648-658.
3.
Carmody, D.P., & Lewis, M. (2010). Regional white matter development in children with autism spectrum disorders. Developmental Psychobiology, 52(8), 755-763. Published online: 16 JUN 2010,
DOI: 10.1002/dev.20471.

4.
Dennis, T., Bendersky, M., Ramsay, D., & Lewis, M. (2006). Reactivity and regulation in children prenatally exposed to cocaine. Developmental Psychology, 42(4), 688-697.
5.
Felitti, V. J. (2009). Adverse childhood experiences and adult health. Academic Pediatrics, 9, 131-
132.
6.
Felitti, V. J., & Anda, R. F. (2009). The relationship of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) to adult medical disease, psychiatric disorders, and sexual behavior: Implications for healthcare. In
R. Lanius & E. Vermetten (Eds.), The Hidden Epidemic: The impact of early life trauma on health and
disease. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
7.
Francis, D. D. (2009). Conceptualizing child health disparities: A role for developmental neurogenomics. Pediatrics, 124, S196-S202.
8.
Kestler, L., & Lewis, M. (2009). Cortisol response to inoculation in 4-year-old children.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 743-751.
9.
Lewis, M. (1997). Altering fate: Why the past does not predict the future. New York: Guilford Press.
10.
Lewis, M. & Rudolph, K. (Eds.) (2014). Handbook of Developmental Psychopathology, 3 rd Ed. New
York. Springer.
11.
Lewis, M., & Worobey, J. (Eds.).(1989). Infant Stress and Coping. Special issue, New Directions for
Child Development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
12.
Louis, B., & Lewis, M. (2001). Effective Identification of Children for Gifted Education
Programming. Gifted Education Press Quarterly,15 (3), 2-5.
13.
Mayes, L., & Lewis, M. (Eds.) (2012). The Cambridge handbook of environment in human development: A
handbook of theory and measurement. England. Cambridge University Press.
14.
Masten, A. S., & Coatsworth, J. D. (1998). The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments: Lessons from research of successful children. American Psychologist, 53,
205–220.
15.
Masten, A. S., Best, K. M., & Garmezy, N. (1990). Resilience and development: Contributions from the study of children who overcome adversity. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 425–444.
16.
Oades-Sese, G. V., Cohen, D., Allen, J., & Lewis, M. (2014). Little Children, BIG Challenges:
Building resilience in young children the Sesame Street way. In S. Prince-Embury & D. Saklofske
(Eds.), Resilience interventions for youth in diverse populations (pp. 181-201). New York: Springer.
17.
Oades-Sese, G. V., Esquivel, G. B., Kaliski, P. K., & Maniatis, L. (2011). A longitudinal study of the social and academic competence of economically disadvantaged bilingual preschool children.
Developmental Psychology, 47(3), 747-764. doi: 10.1037/a0021380
18.
Oades-Sese, G. V., Kitzie, M., Velderman, C., Rubic, W., Rutstein, S, & Waltuck, M.
(2013).Cultural considerations for building social-emotional and academic resilience in Hispanic bilingual preschool. In S. Prince-Embury (Ed.), Translating resiliency theory for application with children,
adolescents and adults. New York: Springer.

19.
Oades-Sese, G. V., & Li, Y. (2011). Attachment relationships as predictors of language skills for at-risk bilingual preschool children. Psychology in the Schools. Special Issue: Resilience in the School, 48(7),
707-722.
20.
Slater, A, Lewis, M, Anzures, G, & Lee, K. (Eds.).(2011). Introduction to infant development, Canadian
edition. Canada: Oxford University Press.
21.
Thoits, P. A. (2010). Stress and health: Major findings and policy implications. Journal of Health and
Social behavior, 51, S41-53.
22.
Watamara, S. E., Coe, C. L., Laudenslager, M. L., & Robertson, S. S. (2010). Child care setting affects salivary cortisol and antibody secretion in young children. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 35, 1156-
1166.
23.
Watamara, S. E., Kryzer, E. M., & Robertson, S. S. (2009). Cortisol patterns at home and childcare: Afternoon differences and evening recovery in children attending very high quality fullday center-based child care. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30, 475-485.
24.
Werner, E., & Smith, R. (1989). Vulnerable but invincible: A longitudinal study of resilient children and
youth. New York, NY: Adams, Bannister, & Cox.
Final Exam/Paper: Topic TBA
Please make arrangements with colleagues to obtain notes and handouts from any missed class. A grade reduction of 10% per day will be given for late assignments.
20% Class Participation
60% Final Exam/Paper
20% Attendance
Grades: A, B+, B, C+, C, and F
Academic Integrity Policy:
Any violation of academic honesty is a serious offense and is therefore subject to an appropriate penalty.
Refer to http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml
for a full explanation of policies.
Students with Disabilities:
Rutgers University welcomes students with disabilities into all of the University’s educational programs.
In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, a student with a disability must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an

intake interview, and provide documentations: https://ods.rutgers.edu/students/documentationguidelines . If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus’s disability services office will provide you with a Letter of Accommodations. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. To begin this process, please complete the Registration form on the ODS web site at: https://ods.rutgers.edu/students/registration-form .