DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: A TEACHING RESOURCE
Welcome to this resource pack aimed at supporting the teaching of
Developmental Psychology, an optional half-module which is part of the
Certificate of Higher Education in Psychology and the Certificate of Higher
Education in Applied Psychology. This half module is taught over 22 hours
and is worth 15 CAT points.
This resource aims to provide lecturers with ideas for the planning and the
delivery of the course and includes suggestions for structure of sessions,
reading, activities and web links. Any additional suggestions and further
ideas will be gratefully received and will be incorporated into revised
versions of this document.
If you prefer to have a paper copy of this resource, please contact us.
i.
COURSE TEXTS
Although lecturers are, of course, free to select whichever textbook they
prefer, the following have been identified as being particularly useful for
this course:
Bee, H. L. (2004) The developing child (10th ed.), Pearson/ Allyn and
Bacon A good general text book
Bennett, M. (Ed.), (1999) Developmental psychology: Achievements and
prospects, Psychology Press
Berryman, J. C. (2002) Developmental Psychology and You (3rd Ed.)
Routledge - A good source of quiz material
Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.). (2005) Developmental science: an advanced
textbook, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bremner, J. G. (1994) Infancy, Blackwell - A good general text book on
Infancy and early childhood
de Haan, M., & Johnson, M. H. (Eds.). (2003) The cognitive neuroscience
of development, Psychology Press.
DeFries, J. C., Plomin, R., & Fulker, D. W. (1994), Nature and nurture
during middle childhood, Blackwell
Flouri, E. (2005) Fathering and child outcomes, John Wiley.
Gardiner, H. W., & Kosmitzki, C. (2002) Lives across cultures. Crosscultural human development (2nd ed.) Allyn and Bacon.
Garton, A. F. (2004) Exploring Cognitive Development: The child as
problem solver, Blackwell
Goswami, U. (1998) Cognition in children. Psychology Press.
Greene, S. (2003) The psychological development of girls and women:
Rethinking change in time, Routledge.
Gross, R. D. (1995). Themes, Issues and Debates in Psychology, Hodder
Arnold - A good general text book
Gross, R. D. (2005) Psychology: the science of mind and behaviour (5th
Ed), Hodder Arnold. CD with book
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Harris, M., & Butterworth, G. (2002) Developmental Psychology; A
student's handbook, Taylor and Francis - includes CD - A good general
text book
Harvey, J. H., & Fine, M. A. (2004) Children of divorce. Stories of loss and
growth, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Karmiloff-Smith, A., & Karmiloff, K. (2001) Pathways to language. From
fetus to adolescent, Harvard University Press.
Kehily, M. J. (Ed.). (2004) An introduction to childhood studies, Open
University Press.
Lacerda, F., von Hofsten, C., & Heimann, M. (2001) Emerging Cognitive
Abilities in Early infancy, Lawrence, Erlbaum Associates.
Mandler, J. M. (2004) The foundations of the Mind. Origins of conceptual
thought, Oxford University Press.
Meadows, S. (1996) Parenting behaviour and children's cognitive
development, Psychology Press.
Messer, D. J. (1994) The development of communication. From social
interaction to language, John Wiley & Sons.
Mortimer, J. T., & Larson, R. W. (Eds.) (2002) The changing adolescent
experience. Societal trends and the transition to adulthood, Cambridge
University Press.
Oates, J. M., & Grayson, A. (2004) Cognitive and Language development
in children, Blackwells. A good general text book
Parkes, C. M., Stevenson-Hinde, J., & Marris, P. (Eds.). (1993)
Attachment across the life cycle, Routledge.
Rochat, P. (2001) The Infant's World, Harvard University Press.
Rogoff, B. (2003) The cultural nature of human development, Oxford
University Press.
Sugarman, L. (2001) Life-span development: frameworks, accounts and
strategies, Psychology Press.
Woodhead, M., & Montgomery, H. (Eds.). (2003) Understanding
childhood, an interdisciplinary approach, John Wiley. A good general
text book on childhood.
Useful journals
Name
Adolescence
British Journal of Developmental Psychology
Child Development
Contemporary issues in early childhood
Developmental psychology
Developmental science:
Infant Behaviour and Development
Infancy
Journal of youth and adolescence
Journal of research on adolescence
Publisher
Chadwick-Healey
BPS.
Blackwells.
Triangle
APA
Blackwell Publishers
Elsevier Inc.
LEA
Plenum
Blackwell
Please note that Instructor’s Manuals and Study Guides accompanying
major texts are available directly from the publishers free to lecturers who
are recommending a text for purchase by their students. Supplementary
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materials are generally available from the publisher’s website for the text.
Lecturers generally need to register and apply for a password.
Websites of general interest for tutors:
www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpsoc/bjdp
BPS Developmental psychology journal website;
www.sciencedirect.com
Scientific search engine – may need to register, but can usually gain
access to abstracts of papers through being a guest user.
http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=gal/home
Brain pictures to create handouts from;
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/intro/ibank/set1.htm - more brain
pictures to create handouts from
TV programmes
The following TV programmes may be useful for students to watch if they
have the time:
Child of our time
The human body
The house of tiny tearaways
Who rules the roost?
Teenangels
I.
GENERAL GUIDANCE
As with all Birkbeck FCE courses, assessment of learning is a continuous
process that has both developmental purposes and fulfils the academic
requirements of the course. Assessment can therefore be:

Formative – this is an ongoing process that can include an evaluation
of student question and answers, feedback from group discussions and
class and home exercises; it’s focus is on highlighting the student’s
strengths and supporting any areas that need to be developed.
Feedback is likely to be informal and qualitative.
Or

Summative – this is a much more formal process that needs to
meet the requirements of the regulations. Although feedback will
also comment on the student’s strengths and any areas for
development, it is more formal and is likely to include a qualitative
element (i.e. a “mark”) that compares the student’s performance
against a set of criteria.
For this course, the regulations require that students produce two pieces
of written work one written in class the second at home.
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Assessments written in class
One piece of work is to be produced in class in response to unseen
questions and under timed conditions in 60 minutes, for example,
essay or case study.
Assessments written at home
One piece of written work (1500 words) is produced at home at the
students’ own pace. Examples of appropriate work are:

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learning diaries or journals,
class presentations,
essays,
case studies,
laboratory reports or
analysis of a journal article, news paper article or film in which
students apply their understanding of the psychological topics under
discussion.
We would also advise lecturers to remind students that the 1500 word
limit for the home essay is strictly enforced that that students risk being
penalised if they go over this limit. The guidelines to tutors – see Marking
Criteria for Psychology and Coursework Guidelines for Certificate of
Higher Education Modules -state that word count for home assignments
have a 10% leeway in length, that is home assignments range from 13501650 words are not penalised. However, assignments which are between
1650 – 1800 words bear a 5% (that is 5 marks) penalty. Assignments
whose word length is over 1800 bear a 10% penalty (that is 10 marks). If
you suspect that a student has written a very long assignment, give them
the opportunity to re-write the assignment before you mark it to save
losing the marks.
II.
SETTING AND MARKING QUESTIONS
Together the two assignments need to assess whether the student has
achieved the learning outcomes for the course. So, it’s useful to think
about which outcomes each piece of work is assessing. For example, you
may want to ensure that students cover research methods and ethics in
each assignment and then focus each of the two pieces of work on other
aspects of the course separately. A list of suggested essay titles for this
course is available in “Guidelines for Coursework”. It’s worth noting that
although the questions may sometimes be similar to the questions on
other courses, it is important that students emphasise the relevant
theories and perspectives that are being addressed on this course.
It is worth reiterating that students who write detailed descriptions
without an evaluative element will not, unfortunately, be able to attain the
higher marks. For students to gain higher marks (60% plus) they need to
be able to demonstrate skills in evaluation and analysis. Critical
evaluation and analysis of the material is to be encouraged at all levels
but it is expected that this may be of a lesser or greater complexity. At a
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simpler level, students working at the pass/good pass range can be
encouraged to set out the development of an idea or theory or perhaps
the history of a field of study and so on. For students working at the
credit/merit level, discussing the evidence base of appropriate theories
and comparing and contrasting methods and theories is appropriate. For
distinction level work, it would be expected that students would write
confidently about the topic in question using all combination of the above
and by also bringing in additional (possibly contrasting or challenging)
ideas, theories and research to highlight the merits and/or limitations to
the main issue in the question.
It is worth noting that the wording of essay titles needs to bear this
requirement in mind – particularly where students put forward
suggestions of their own.
Another feature of essays that is important if students are to attain higher
marks is for students to present a coherent argument in their work. To
avoid students making a list of poorly related points, clearly lifted from a
text book, this element of essay writing can be encouraged both in study
skills work and in the wording of essay titles. Finally, students will rarely
get higher marks if they don’t include an adequate appropriately
formatted reference list.
Marking of coursework is guided by agreed marking criteria contained in
“Guidelines for Coursework”.
III.
REFERENCES AND PLAGIARISM
Although there isn’t a single method of referencing prescribed by the
Faculty, it is important that students are given an explanation on the
reasons for proper referencing and that they are shown an appropriate
style to use (for example, APA or Harvard).
This will also allow tutors an opportunity to briefly but clearly discuss the
issue of plagiarism. Plagiarism is becoming a very important issue in HE
and students need to be aware that there are strict rules that govern the
use of others’ work in their coursework. It cannot be presumed that
students are clear about what constitutes plagiarism and it is worth
reminding them that using others’ words/diagrams and idea with
acknowledging their source is not acceptable. Further details of Birkbeck’s
policy on plagiarism are given in the Guidelines for Certificate of Higher
Education Coursework.
STUDY SKILLS AND STUDY SKILLS RESOURCES
i.
INCORPORATING STUDY SKILLS
Developing students study skills is an outcome for all our courses. One
way to do this is to dedicate ten minutes or so of each session to the
broad area of ‘study skills’ For example in the first few sessions you may
want to discuss or use activities to explore how students might:
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
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

find and make use of various resources
find time to study out of class
keep notes in class and at home
what it would be useful for them to be doing out of class
You may find a way to incorporate these issues into the fabric of the topic
under discussion. A very useful tool is also to model study skills yourself
in class, for example, by demonstrating different ways of summarising key
points on the board, or, by flagging up opposing views when evaluating a
theory or concept.
A good way to get students to understand the concept of evaluating
material is to give groups of 3-4 students a number of adverts from glossy
magazines. Get them to evaluate how well the adverts tell the real story
behind the advertisements. Each group of students can then feedback to
the class on two adverts, one that was very good and one not so good.
After this as a class ask the students to apply these principles
You could also spend 10 minutes at the end of each class getting the class
to pull together what they have learnt on a topic in the form of an answer
to a question. This can be a very useful way of rehearsing for essay
writing, as is the simple technique of guiding students’ reading at home by
setting a “question to consider” (worded like an essay title) at the end of
every session. This technique of setting a question at the end of the class,
is also useful if students are going to write up a learning diary
A detailed Study Skills Resource pack including further advice,
handouts and activities is available for all lecturers. A copy of this
pack is available on request.
ii.
USEFUL GENERAL STUDY SKILLS WEBSITES
Of the many thousands of study skills websites on the web, the following
are particularly good and clear (more suggestions are detailed in the
Study Skills Resource Pack)
http://www.howtostudy.org/
Links to other useful sites.
http://www.studyskills.soton.ac.uk/
The University of Southampton’s comprehensive website on a range of
study skills and study issues.
http://www3.open.ac.uk/learners-guide/learning-skills/index.htm
The Open University’s website with a range of detailed guidance on study
skills issues.
http://www.classzone.com/books/research_guide/page_build.cfm?content
=web_research&state=none
A very useful guide to doing research on the web.
www.freeskills.com
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Although there are fee-paying courses available through this site, there
are also currently 650 free online tutorials on a range of IT skills from
introduction to word-processing to web development and database design.
http://sorbus.open.ac.uk/safari/signpostframe.htm
The Open University’s tutorial site on information gathering skills – Skills
in Accessing, Finding and Reviewing Information. Very user-friendly.
RESEARCH METHODS AND ETHICS
One way to cover this would be to introduce it early in the course and
then ensure that you address a little in each session, either as a separate
subject, or preferably interwoven as an example of the main topic under
discussion. As the course is now only 22 hours long, a handout of the
main research methods may be beneficial for students to read in their own
time.
Students who are either particularly interested in this aspect of the course
or are working towards the Certificate of Higher Education, should be
guided towards the Research Methods Courses. Further details of these
courses are available on our website.
ETHICS
It is important to cover the subject of ethics in each Birkbeck course, but
particularly in the developmental psychology course as the participants in
developmental studies make up a vulnerable group. Atypically developing
groups, another subject under discussion in this course, also form
vulnerable groups.
A possible exercise for dealing with ethics would be to provide students
with four research scenarios and the BPS Ethical Guidelines in week one
for consideration before the class at week 2. On week two discuss the
scenarios to ascertain what ethical issues might arise.
Under legislation which came into force in September 2005, any class
experiments conducted within Birkbeck courses, including the Certificate
of Higher Education courses, now require Ethics forms to be completed
and submitted to the Birkbeck Ethics committee before any research is
conducted. Therefore, a thorough grounding in ethical principles is
essential.
INTEGRATING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Many of our classes are characterised by the diversity of our students, not
least in the enormous variability in the level of support that each student
might need. Additionally, some students may have special educational
needs or a disability for instance handouts of the class notes. Balancing
these needs is never easy and yet remains of our most important
responsibilities.
There is a wide range of support available to tutors in meeting this
objective. Please contact one of the members of the psychology team if
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you need support and advice. The College also has a disability team, their
webpage and contact details can be accessed on our website. You may
also find the Birkbeck’s Disability Statement useful.
Additionally, the DEMOS project (funded by the Higher Education Funding
Council) website contains an online learning package aimed specifically at
academic staff and contains a lot of valuable information about issues
faced by disabled students in higher education. Their website can by
access on: http://jarmin.com/demos/sitemap.html
SESSION/COURSE/ SECTION EVALUATION
Clearly you will have a sense of how they are getting on from the nature
of students’ comments, but it can also be very useful to consider:



asking students to consider (and write down) their own aims and
objectives at the start of the course;
asking them to consider these midway through the course (whilst there
is time for you or they to make any necessary adjustments)
An open book quiz/exercise is useful at the end of each block in order
to consolidate student learning and also allow students to have proof of
their own learning
Finally, there is also the standard Evaluation form for students to
complete at the end of the course.
TEACHING METHODS, SYLLABUS & EXAMPLE COURSE OUTLINE
i.
TEACHING METHODS
The nature of this course is such that it lends itself particularly well to
using a wide range of teaching methods, for example:

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Tutor input (mini lectures)
Pre-reading with discussion of material covered – this becomes more
important with a shorter course of 22 hours.
OHP and video (if available)
Handouts with summary of major theories – this becomes more
important with a shorter course of 22 hours.
Class discussions
Class exercises
Small group work
Feedback to whole class from group work
Group discussions with feedback to the whole class
ii.
SYLLABUS
A full copy of the syllabus is available on our website.
iii.
EXAMPLE COURSE OUTLINE
The remainder of this document focuses on an example course outline
along with suggestions for discussion, activities and further reading and
research. Please note - This outline is based on a 22 hour course. The
blocks of study are arranged by the hours allotted to each topic rather
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than lectures to facilitate easier conversion of sections of study for
lectures which last longer than 2 hours (e.g. 2.5.hours per lecture). For
other configurations of the total 22 hour teaching requirement, these
weeks and sections of study will have to be adjusted.
This is not the definitive way to teach this module, purely an example that
may need to be changed depending on the interests of the tutor and the
group. Study skills should be included as appropriate, if handouts are
provided, the topics can be covered fairly quickly.
Hours
Topic
2
hours
Introduction to the course – What is
developmental psychology? Introduce
the concept of childhood throughout
the ages and across cultures.
Nature/nurture debate based on
infants being considered Tabula Rasa
(Locke 17th C). Recommended reading
list.
2
hours
The practical and ethical challenges of
researching with infants and children.
Approaches used in developmental
psychology
Infancy. Motor, perceptual and
attentional development
SS – Effective reading
and note-taking.
Handout summarising
research methods.
SS – Researching and
Information gathering.
Writing psychology
assignments
6
hours
Language and cognitive development.
Students to be given choice of
covering one of the following: learning
to read, write, or mathematics
6
hours
Social development. These lectures
will include attachment and loss, the
development of self concept, gender
identity and moral development.
2
hours
2
hours
Adolescence
These lectures require
students do prereading in order that
these topics can be
covered fairly quickly.
Home assignments
should be handed in
during this period. SS –
Preparing for Timed
Essays.
Timed essays can be
scheduled within this
module. Topics should
be given out 3 weeks in
advance.
Feedback on timed
essay
2
hours
Notes
[SS = study skills]
SS – Time
management,
evaluating/ critical
analysis exercise.
Ethical scenarios and
glossary of basis
concepts in Dev.
Psychology given out
Adolescence. The concept of childhood
across ages and cultures.
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SECTION 1. BASIC CONCEPTS AND METHODS
OUTCOMES
By the end of this section students should be:



familiar with basic concepts in the study of childhood and adolescence;
able to define research methodologies and give
advantages/disadvantages of their application within developmental
psychology;
aware of the particular problems and ethics of research with children.
This section of the course could be taught over 2 weeks. For
example:
2 hours:
 Introduction to the course (names and a few details of students and
tutor – get to know each other; course programme; course
requirements, etc.)
 Provide handouts with details, incl. deadlines for essays (to be
negotiated with students).
 Recommended reading list – highlight a few books you feel are suitable
for students.
 Introduce the concept of childhood throughout the ages and across
cultures. Is ‘childhood’ a purely western concept?
 Has childhood been perceived differently in the past
 How do other cultures view childhood?

Ask students to write down what they think these are. Keep these for
use in last lesion.
 Nature/nurture debate - possible illustration could be based on infants
being considered Tabula Rasa – blank slates (Locke 17th C).
2 hours:
 The practical and ethical challenges of researching with infants and
children. How do you find out what pre-verbal infants know? What
ethical considerations are involved with vulnerable groups? This is
particularly important due to the fact that all the research undertaken
within this area of psychology all participants make up vulnerable
groups.
 Approaches used in developmental psychology, e.g. biological,
behavioural, social etc. These do not have to be discussed in a
comprehensive manner as they will have been covered in the
Foundations course.
Examples of class exercises, discussion and recommended reading
you might incorporate into weekly sessions:
Week 2: Research:
Example exercise:
Prepare a handout with questions such as:
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How would you investigate questions such as:
– How much infants can perceive?
– Whether watching violence on TV makes children more aggressive?
– What the effect of day care is on children?
– Whether infants interact socially with one another?
– How children learn to share?
– Whether boys or girls react differently to the stress of divorce?
– When children first learn to pretend?
– Is there any place for imaging studies within infant research?
These questions can be deliberately broad to get the students to think
about formulating research questions, choosing a method and considering
ethics.
Tie in with a lecture on research designs: Cross-sectional, longitudinal,
cohort; as well as research methods: experimentation (behavioural,
imaging techniques such as EEG/ERP, NIRS, fMRI,) observation, clinical
interview, survey, correlational techniques and case study.
Make handout beforehand.
Examples of topics for discussion:
1. The need for research and the need to protect children from
paedophiles – should children be filmed/videotaped? Under what
circumstances?
2. Do you believe that parents should have the right to give informed
consent for their children by proxy?
Example of recommended reading for students:
Bee, H. (1997) The Developing Child, Longman, Chapter 1;
BPS Code of Conduct (free from BPS – tutor can order for whole class)
Research Governance Framework (document can be downloaded from:
http://www.doh.gov.uk/research/rd3/nhsrandd/researchgovernance.htm )
Gross, R. (1995) Themes, Issues and Debates in Psychology. Hodder &
Stoughton. Chapter 10 – Psychology and Ethics.
Harris, M., & Butterworth, G. (2002). Developmental Psychology; A
student's handbook, Taylor and Francis
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SECTION 2. INFANCY
OUTCOMES
By the end of this section the students should be:


able to discuss pre-natal influences and describe the birth process;
able to discuss infant competence.
This section could be taught over 2 hours (maybe over spilling
slightly into a 3rd hour depending on interest of students)
2 hours:
 Pre-natal influences and the birth process (class discussions on effects
of smoking and drinking during pregnancy might be beneficial)
 Infant competences - motor development.
 How has the area of infant research been benefited by age-appropriate
methods of testing.
 Infant Perceptual and attentional development - are very clever e.g.
predicting actions, time keeping, colour categorisation, language,
proto-conversations, face processing etc.
 These topics are extensive; however some aspects of perceptual
development (e.g. detection of rhythm, recognising mother’s voice etc)
can be discussed within the language development.
 The Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck College
has recently (2005) won the research equivalent of the Queen’s award
for industry, for research into infant brain development.
Recommended reading (just a selection of these):
Bee, H. L. (2004). The developing child (10th ed.). Boston, Mass.:
Pearson / Allyn and Bacon.
Bennett, M. (Ed.). (1999). Developmental psychology. Achievements and
prospects. London: Psychology Press.
Berryman, J. C. (2002). Developmental Psychology and You. (3rd ed.).
London: Routledge.
Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.). (2005). Developmental science: an advanced
textbook. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bremner, J. G. (1994). Infancy. Oxford: Blackwells.
de Haan, M., & Johnson, M. H. (Eds.). (2003). The cognitive neuroscience
of development. Hove: Psychology Press.
Gross, R. D. (2005). Psychology: the science of mind and behaviour (5th
ed.). London: Hodder Arnold. Chapter 22 – Attachment and Separation:
The Effects of Early Experience.
Harris, M., & Butterworth, G. (2002). Developmental Psychology; A
student's handbook. Hove: Taylor and Francis. [CD with book]
Lacerda, F., von Hofsten, C., & Heimann, M. (2001). Emerging Cognitive
Abilities in Early infancy. London: Lawrence, Erlbaum Associates.
Mandler, J. M. (2004). The foundations of the Mind. Origins of conceptual
thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Parkes, C. M., Stevenson-Hinde, J., & Marris, P. (Eds.). (1993).
Attachment across the life cycle. London: Routledge.
Rochat, P. (2001). The Infant's World. London: Harvard University Press.
[A good easy read as Ed Ramsay would say!]
Stern, D. (1977). The first relationship. Cambridge, M.A.: Harvard
University Press. Chapter 3 - First relationships. [A good easy read as Ed
Ramsay would say!]
Examples of class exercises, discussion and recommended reading
you might incorporate into weekly sessions:
Example exercise:
Quiz:
Photocopy quiz from Berryman (1991 - pg. 38/39), distribute and give
time to complete. Perhaps allow to work in pairs. Discuss in whole class.
OR
Quiz for infant competences
Devise own quiz about the competences of infants. [Most people are not
aware that infants are capable of many things by the age of 4-months-old
e.g. Theory of Mind, predicting actions, time keeping, colour
categorisation, proto-conversations to name but a few. The quiz could ask
whether students thought (in pairs) that young infants could do various
things and in the following class discussion the various snippets of
literature could be discussed briefly
Examples of topics for discussion:
IVF – assisted conception and multiple births; breast vs. bottle; smoking
and/or drug taking during pregnancy. Working mothers – day care
nurseries.
Discussion about infant competences.
NB: If students are interested in brain development they can be
directed to the Biological Basis of Behaviour course.
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SECTION 3. LANGUAGE AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
OUTCOMES
By the end of this section students should be:

familiar with and able to evaluate the research into language
acquisition and development as well as the research into cognitive
development.
This section could be taught over 6 hours.
6 hours:
NB: It is envisaged that aspects of the following topics (language,
cognitive and social development) are taught from infancy through to
childhood and adolescence
 How do children learn to speak? Is there an innate potential for
language?
 Is language unique to humans? Research with primates – comparative
psychology.
 Theories of language acquisition and development.




Cognitive development: Children’s thinking. The work of Piaget,
Vygotsky Bruner and Seigler.
Object permanence - What about infants? Do they really think ‘out of
sight out of mind’?
Conservation. McGarrigle and Donaldson’s work.
During the last 1 – 2 hours students should be given the option to
learn about one of the following three topics:
o Learning to read. This has become an issue that is perplexing
teachers in primary schools as the Government imposes
teaching methods for reading upon them. This will have an
impact on students who are parents of young children. This
section should enable them to understand both sides of the
issue. What is dyslexia? Current theories and debates.
o Learning to write and dysgraphia. This topic could also include
children’s drawings.
o Learning mathematics and dyscalculus.
Recommended reading:
Bee, H. (1997) The Developing Child. Longman.
Bennett, M. (Ed.). (1999). Developmental psychology. Achievements and
prospects. London: Psychology Press.
Berryman, J. C. (2002). Developmental Psychology and You. (3rd ed.).
London: Routledge.
Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.). (2005). Developmental science: an advanced
textbook. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
DeFries, J. C., Plomin, R., & Fulker, D. W. (1994). Nature and nurture
during middle childhood, p. Blackwells.
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Goswami, U. (1998). Cognition in children. Hove: Psychology Press.
Gross, R. D. (1995). Themes, Issues and Debates in Psychology. London:
Hodder & Stoughton.
Gross, R. D. (2005). Psychology: the science of mind and behaviour (5th
Ed.). London: Hodder Arnold. [CD with book]
Harris, M., & Butterworth, G. (2002). Developmental Psychology; A
student's handbook, Taylor and Francis [CD with book]
Hodder & Stoughton. Chapter 25: Cognitive Development. Chapter 26:
The Development of Language.
Karmiloff-Smith, A., & Karmiloff, K. (2001). Pathways to language. From
fetus to adolescent. London: Harvard University Press.
Mandler, J. M. (2004). The foundations of the Mind. Origins of conceptual
thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Messer, D. J. (1994). The development of communication. From social
interaction to language. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Oates, J. M., & Grayson, A. (2004). Cognitive and Language development
in children. Oxford: Blackwells.
Examples of topics for discussion:
1. Baby talk. Do you speak differently to your
baby/toddler/teenager/partner?
2. If you had no language, how do you think this would affect your
thought processes?
3. Inuit (Eskimo) children have a better recall of what kind of snow was on
the ground the day before than do children from warmer climes. Inuit
languages also include many more words for different kinds of snow than
languages used in warmer places.
What do these two statements tell us about language and memory? If the
Inuit had no language, do you think they would still remember the kind of
snow that fell the day before better than would someone from a southern
climate, simply because the Inuit have learned to pay more attention to
things that are meaningful in their culture?
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SECTION 4. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
OUTCOMES
By the end of this section students should be:
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familiar with topics pertinent to social development, for example:
attachment and loss, the development of self concept, moral
development, and gender development are examined;
able to discuss these topics with reference to the literature.
Teaching should cover development from infancy through to adolescence.
This section might be taught over 6 hours.
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Attachment and bonding. The work of Harlow, Bowlby, Ainsworth.
Differences in temperament e.g. strange situation – children/ still face
paradigm - infants.
Studies of Isolation (Genie, Koluchova twins).
Divorce and the family. This is a topic which affects every (extended)
family in one shape or another.
The new role of the family and extended family (families)
Child care
One parent families, and step families
The role of the father – is it important?
Jointly bringing up your child, even though divorced – e.g. shared
residency, joint custody and control. Is this a better option? For the
children usually yes, but often brings issues for the parents.
Parenting and child maltreatment
Gaining a concept of self. Baldwin (1861 – 1934) said that the concept
of self was a reference point for understanding other people, they were
inextricably linked.
Self concept in infancy and how it develops through childhood.
What impact does this have on the child’s relationships with others?
Moral development: Piaget, Kohlberg, Gilligan Aggression and
childhood You may want to address this by looking at aggression and
TV violence, for example drawing on the social learning theory
approach and the effects of the media.
Alternatively, you may want to look at bullying as a form of childhood
aggression. This might be set in the wider contexts of peer
relationships at this age.
Gender development e.g. the role of culture, incl. attitudes to sex
roles, and early influences on sex typing.
Sex role acquisition, gender constancy, gender schema theory.
Sex stereotypes in children’s books.
Overcoming sex stereotypes.
Recommended reading:
Bee, H. (1994) Lifespan Development, Harper Collins College Publishers.
Chapter 10: Social and Personality Development from 6 to 12.
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Bee, H. (2002) The Developing Child, Longman Bennett, M., Ed. (1999).
Developmental psychology. Achievements and prospects. London,
Psychology Press.
Dixon, B. (1989) Playing Them False: A Study of Children’s Toys,
Games and Puzzles. Trentham Books
Flouri, E. (2005). Fathering and child outcomes. Chichester: John Wiley.
Gardiner, H. W., & Kosmitzki, C. (2002). Lives across cultures. Crosscultural human development (second ed.). London: Allyn and Bacon.
Gilligan, C. (1977) In a Different Voice: Women’s Conception of Self and
Morality. Harvard Educational Review Vol. 47, 481-517.
Gilligan, C. (1980) In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and
Women’s Development. Harvard University Press.
Greene, S. (2003). The psychological development of girls and women.
Rethinking change in time. London: Routledge.
Gross, R. (2005) Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour. 5th ed.
Hodder & Stoughton.
Harris, M. and G. Butterworth (2002). Developmental Psychology; A
student's handbook. Hove, Taylor and Francis.
Harvey, J. H., & Fine, M. A. (2004). Children of divorce. Stories of loss and
growth. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kehily, M. J. (Ed.). (2004). An introduction to childhood studies.
Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Meadows, S. (1996). Parenting behaviour and children's cognitive
development. Hove: Psychology Press.
Mortimer, J. T., & Larson, R. W. (Eds.). (2002). The changing adolescent
experience. Societal trends and the transition to adulthood. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Woodhead, M., & Montgomery, H. (Eds.). (2003). Understanding
childhood, an interdisciplinary approach. Chichester: John Wiley.
Example Exercise, gender development:
Ask students to examine some children’s books and bring them in to class.
Get them to discuss using the following guidelines:
A brief look at some children’s books: Check the illustrations: look for
stereotypes, look for tokenism; who’s doing what? Check the storyline:
How are problems presented, conceived and resolved in the story? Are
the achievements of girls and women based on their own initiative and
intelligence, or are they due to their good looks or to their relationship
with boys or men? Are sex roles incidental or critical to characterisation
and plot? Could the same story be told if the sex roles were reversed?
Consider the effect on a child’s self-image: What happens to a girl’s selfimage when she reads that boys perform all of the brave and important
deeds?
Watch for loaded words: A word is loaded when it has insulting
overtones.
Look for sexist language and adjectives that exclude or ridicule women.
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Examples of topics for discussion:
1. To smack or not to smack?
2. How did your parents treat you and how might their behaviour have
influenced your attitudes about childrearing?
3. How might single parents compensate for their children’s lack of a
second role model?
NB Students who would like to study more on child abuse can be
directed to other courses in the Psychology and Psychotherapy
programme e.g.:
 Child Sexual Abuse
 Workshops in Child Psychotherapy
Students who would like to study more on abuse more generally
can be directed to other courses e.g.:
 Forms of Abuse
 Psychological Perspectives on Abuse
Students who would like to study more on Attachment Theory can
be directed to other courses in the Psychology and Psychotherapy
programme e.g.:
 Close Relationships: An Introduction to Attachment Theory
Students who would like to study more on what can go wrong in
families and on interventions in family relationships can be
directed to other courses e.g.:
 Family Therapy
 Domestic Violence
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SECTION 5. ADOLESCENCE
OUTCOMES
By the end of this section students should be able to:
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discuss topics pertinent to adolescence, such as physical and cognitive
changes; problems with parents; drug abuse and sexual behaviour.
This block could be taught over 2 - 3 hours with the last hour
being devoted to returning to the question of the concept of
childhood, discussed in week 1. The notes students had written in
week 1 could be returned and students asked to reflect on what
they had learned completing the form again.
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Psychosocial development Erickson and Freud
Erikson’s theory: components of ego identity. Role diffusion.
Freud’s theory – id, ego and superego
Biological and cognitive changes: How do the physical and cognitive
changes in adolescence affect feelings and behaviour?
The nature of adolescence and adolescent problems.
Peer relationships.
Social transitions - The impact of poor emotional problem solving on
behaviour
Re: Childhoods across the different cultures of the world.
 Is ‘childhood’ a purely western concept?
 Has childhood been perceived differently in the past
 How do other cultures view childhood?
 Child labour e.g. bonded labour, rural labour, and unpaid domestic
labour.
 Child prostitution
 The rights of the child
 Do rights and responsibilities go hand in hand when discussing children
e.g. UN rights of the child vs. African Charter on the rights of the child.
End of Course Administration
 course evaluation forms, check books in book box. If class being
moderated then students have to complete coursework folders and
essays have to be collated etc. Ask for verbal feedback on course and
facilities, which you can later incorporate into your ORSA.
 Where next? What courses are available for the applied and straight
psychology Certificates of Higher Education?
Recommended reading
Berryman, J.C., Lamont, A. and Joiner, R. (Eds) (2002) Developmental
Psychology and You. BPS Blackwell. Chapter on Puberty and
Adolescence.
Bee, H. (2002) The Developing Child. Longman.
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Bee, H. (2001) 3rd ed. Lifespan Development. Allyn & Bacon. Chapters
10 & 11.
Coleman, J and Hendry L. (1999) The Nature of Adolescence. 3rd ed.
Routledge
Meadows, S. (1996). Parenting behaviour and children's cognitive
development. Hove: Psychology Press.
Mortimer, J. T., & Larson, R. W. (Eds.). (2002). The changing adolescent
experience. Societal trends and the transition to adulthood. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Woodhead, M., & Montgomery, H. (Eds.). (2003). Understanding
childhood, an interdisciplinary approach. Chichester: John Wiley.
Examples of class exercises, discussion and recommended reading
you might incorporate into sessions:
Example exercise:
Talk to a number of 15-17 year olds of both sexes about adolescent
experience (or develop a simple questionnaire that they can complete
anonymously – be sure to note their gender)
Questions you might put to students include:
- Do you consider adolescence to be a period of stress and turmoil relative
to childhood? If so, what kinds of problems arise and what do you think
are the reasons for them?
- Do you think that most people experience feelings of uncertainty about
who they are and what they stand for (identity crisis) during adolescence?
- If you have a personal problem, are you more likely to discuss this with
your parents or with a friend of your own age? Why?
Record the answers and consider whether there is support for any of the
theories and research findings discussed in the literature. Look to see if
there are any clear differences between male and female respondents.
Tutors: Develop this exercise to your own taste – students can devise
their own questionnaires/interview schedules in small groups. However, if
you are going to take this option you will have to be aware of the ethical
permission and implications of your research. Please contact Birkbeck
about the ethical permission you may require.
You will also need to get the permission of the adolescents to use the
information they give you in an anonymous manner.
Examples of topics for discussion:
1. Identity: answering the question: ‘Who am I?’
2. Problems of adolescence: drug use and misuse; the generation gap;
sexual behaviour; teenage pregnancy.
3. What do adolescents and their parents argue about? (answers likely to
be: chores, money, appearance, drugs, family relationships, school,
curfew, dating, friends, sex, etc.)
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Example exercise, childhood across the world:
Ask students to discuss childhood with friends and colleagues (or
themselves) of other cultures (especially if born in a different country) so
that they can discuss these experiences in class (with permission of
course!)
Questions you might put to them include:
- What was your childhood like?
- Did you have to pay for your schooling?
- What was relationship with your elders like e.g. was there a high regard
for authority figures such as school teachers etc.?
- Did you have to work e.g. were you expected to do different chores
around the house/ outside the home etc.?
Tutors: Develop this exercise to your own taste but be aware of any
ethical considerations (see earlier comments)
You will also need to get the permission of the interviewees to use the
information they give you in an anonymous manner.
Examples of topics for discussion:
1. Designer babies are often in the news, what are they talking about?
2. If society goes down this route, will there be any impact on
atypically developing children e.g. how will disability be seen/ will
disabled people be devalued in society?
3. How important is the role of fathers after divorce?
4. Should groups like fathers for justice be taken seriously? If so why?
5. What is childhood anyway? Is it a western concept?
6. Is the western view of childhood really the best (e.g. do
responsibilities come along with rights e.g. African rights of the child)?
Eileen M. Mansfield (based on Rick Gilby’s original draft)
February 2007
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