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DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology 336L Fall, 2013
Dr. Frank Manis: e-mail address: manis@usc.edu, Phone: 213-740-6567; Office: SGM 525A
LECTURE:
MW 10-11:50 THH212, MW 2-3:50 THH 212
OFFICE HOURS:
M 12-1 and MW 4-5, or make an appointment (M, W or F)
PREREQUISITE:
Psychology 100, equivalent to Psych. 100, or instructor’s permission
REQUIRED TEXT: The Dynamic Child, chapters 1-12, by Frank Manis (draft) and chapter 8
(adolescence) from Child Development, by Jeffrey Arnett & Ashley Maynard
WEBSITES:
My Virtual Child (MVC), Blackboard
TAs:
Derya Kadisapaoglu (10 AM) and Vanessa (2 PM)
Objectives of Course
1) Learn the basic theories and findings that form the foundation for the modern science of child and
adolescent development by means of reading and participation in class.
2) Engage in critical thinking about child and adolescent development through class discussion and
raising your own child on-line (see “My Virtual Child Website” section).
Reading assignments
There is a required textbook, which consists of 12 chapters of a book I am writing, called The
Dynamic Child. These 12 chapters will be available as pdfs on Blackboard. They are not available as a
separate printed copy. If you want a hard copy of all or part of these chapters, you’ll need to print it out
yourself. In addition, there is a single chapter on adolescence from a book called Child Development that
will be made available as a hard copy in the bookstore for about $20.
My Virtual Child Website and Reports (20% of course grade)
My Virtual Child (MVC) is an interactive website written by me (Frank Manis) and published by
Pearson. I’ll give you a free access code on the first or second day of class and explain how to log on.
You’ll be raising your own child on-line and writing about how your child’s development and behavior
relates to concepts from the course. This activity is worth 20% of your grade. This is part of the reason this
is called a Lab course (raising the child is a continuing lab activity for the class). We will be raising the
virtual children in small teams, so that you can compare your child to other students’ children, and
experiment with alternative ways to raise children.
The purpose of MVC is to help students experience child development from a parent’s point of
view. You and an imaginary partner will raise a “child” from birth to 18 years. You’ll write four 4-5-page
papers (20 points each) analyzing your child’s development in the four periods of infancy, early childhood,
middle childhood and adolescence. You’ll get a handout with scoring rubrics for the reports. Reports are
turned in as hard copies. We deduct 2 points every full day a report is late, including weekend days, to a
maximum of 10 points. This means you can turn the reports in later in the class and receive a maximum
deduction of 10 points. Late papers are due by 5 PM weekdays at the Psychology Department main desk in
SGM 501. Have it stamped (1 point off for a half-day late paper). My Virtual Child is copyrighted, so avoid
plagiarism by paraphrasing or quoting from the program, rather than copying word for word.
I’ll explain more in class, but here are the basics. You log on and indicate your gender and the
gender of your partner. You are told you have a baby girl or boy. You get to name the child and make
choices about how the child will look. You fill out a brief questionnaire about yourself. The responses are
used to construct a virtual child who somewhat resembles you physically, but more importantly, in terms of
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personality and cognitive ability. Each child’s story is told through vignettes, accompanied by images of
the child as s/he gets older. Each child will show typical developmental milestones, but also will develop
along a particular path according to his/her own unique “genetic” profile, the parenting choices you make,
and “random” environmental events. We will discuss your children in class, enabling you to see the variety
in child development among the group.
A fifth report is available as a bonus activity. It occurs at the end of MVC, and a copy will be
posted on Blackboard. Each of the two questions on this report is worth 4 points, for a total possible of 8.
In Class Exams (75% of course grade)
Exam Overview. This class has three in-class exams, including the final, and all of them count (i.e.,
none can be dropped). Please note the dates for exams, including the final. I will hold a review session and
extra office hours the Friday before each midterm, and on the Wednesday prior to the final exam.
Missing an exam without an excuse is grounds for receiving a “0” on it. Contact me as soon as
possible if you cannot be present to take the exam on the scheduled date due to illness, participation in an
athletic event, family or personal emergencies or religious observance. You need approval from me prior to
missing an exam, and we will need to schedule a make-up exam. If you are unable to notify me in advance,
but you become ill or have an emergency shortly before one of the first two exams, you should leave a
message on my answering machine (213-740-6567) or e-mail me (manis@usc.edu) as soon as possible.
Describe the illness or emergency to me briefly. I will need written documentation.
There are no make-ups for missing the final because of the tight time line on turning in grades. If
you become ill or otherwise indisposed and have to miss the final, meet with me to see if you qualify for a
grade of Incomplete. If you qualify, we will need to fill out an Incomplete Grade contract, as required by
the university. If you don’t fill out this contract, it is difficult to get a grade changed to Incomplete
retroactively (i.e., you must petition). If you miss the final without filling out this paperwork you will get a
D or an F in the class because of the losses to your point total.
What are the in-class exams like? They are a mixture of multiple choice and short answer
questions. About 20% of the material on the exams is from lectures and is not found in the readings (mostly
short answer questions), 50% of the material is covered in both class and readings (multiple choice and
short answer questions), and 30% is unique to the readings (multiple choice questions).
Study Guides. There is generally too much information in textbooks (including my own) to study
and remember. I will post study guides for every chapter consisting of questions from both lecture and
readings. You are responsible for knowing all of the study guide information for the exams. I recommend
forming a study group (which could be the same as your MVC group) early in the semester and working
with your group members to find the answers to the study guide questions and to review them before the
exam. You are welcome to “go solo” on this, of course. You are welcome to bring your study guide to your
TA or to me for assistance in studying. There are review questions in the textbook chapters. Answering
these informally as you study is a good way to consolidate the material in memory.
Videos
I use videos often to illustrate child behavior and promote discussion, and several will be used for
class exercises. Most are shorter videos (2-10 minutes). I can’t make all of the short videos available to
watch outside class. If you miss class, get the Powerpoint lecture outline from Blackboard. If you see from
the lecture outline that a short video was shown, get notes about it from another student or see me during
office hours for a recap. I will try to insert the short videos into the Powerpoint presentations available on
Blackboard, but I make no promises and some of them cannot be inserted. Longer videos (generally 30
minutes and up) are printed in italics in the schedule. These will be on 2-hour reserve at Leavey Library,
indicated by an (L). Right now there are several longer videos in the schedule. If any are added, I will
announce this in class and on Blackboard.
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Attendance and Participation in Lectures
This is a highly interactive class with a lot of class activities, assignments, etc. This means that
regular attendance, active note-taking and participation in the class are needed to get the most out of the
course. I design lectures as clarifications and extensions of the reading assignments. This means there will
always be some new information in the lecture that is not in the readings.
In a typical lecture/discussion, I won’t define terms from the book. To get the most out of lectures I
recommend skimming the reading(s) assigned for the day, and becoming familiar with all of the key terms.
Print out (or save on your computer) the Powerpoint slides (if provided) and bring them to class, as they
will often contain much-needed graphics, definitions and quotes. I generally pass out an outline in class and
most of the time I am able to get the outline onto Blackboard by midnight of the day before class, so you
can download it, save it and use it to take notes in class. I also recommend reviewing the lectures by
answering questions in the study guide that pertain to the lecture. Often these questions involve material
from both lecture and readings. If you miss class, you are responsible for obtaining missing information.
You can borrow another student’s notes or you can visit me during office hours for a recap.
Class participation activities
At random points in the class, I will have a short writing assignment or worksheet. The writing
assignments are of four types: What is the muddiest point in the reading/lecture topic? What is the most
important point in the reading/lecture topic? What personal connection do you have to the reading/lecture
topic? How does your ethnic or cultural background relate to the reading/lecture topic? These are worth 2
points each and there will be about 15 of them, of which you can count up to 10, for a total of 20
participation points. There are no make-ups, as you can miss up to 5 without losing points.
Policy on Electronic Devices Used in Class
My official policy is that the only device that should be turned on in class is device for taking notes,
such as a laptop, notebook computer or electronic pad. A recording device is also acceptable if you want to
tape the lectures. All cellphones, iPods, and other potentially noisy devises (as well as the sound on your
computer) should be turned off. If you have an emergency call/text/message/tweet/Facebook posting/etc
you must send or receive during class, please excuse yourself, go outside class, and do it there. I can’t
prevent you from going on the Internet to shop, check social media, etc., but think about your classmates
and how distracting these activities are. Out of respect for the learning process of all students, please do not
engage in any non-class related Internet activities. There are two common instances in which the Internet
may be helpful – checking something with your virtual child, or looking up information brought up in
lecture, to contribute to the class discussion. Choose these activities judiciously – don’t abuse the privilege
by routinely surfing the Internet for class-related content, as this is distracting to fellow students.
Bonus Points
There are two bonus point activities, of which you can choose one or neither. You can earn up to 8
points for answering the bonus questions (fifth report) at the end of MVC as mentioned earlier. Or, you can
earn up to 8 points for conducting and reporting on a preschool observation. Instructions for the preschool
observation will be posted on the Blackboard website at about week 3-4.
Note on Academic Integrity
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty
include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work
will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by the instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own
academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own (which
includes looking at another student’s exam responses). All students are expected to understand and abide
by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00,
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and the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A
http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov. Students will be referred to the Office of Student
Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic
dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/.
All class notes, outlines, chapters from the Manis textbook, and My Virtual Child text is considered the
intellectual property of Dr. Frank Manis, and cannot be used, reproduced or sold for any purpose other
than learning in this course.
Note on disability accommodations
Any student requesting academic accomodations based on a disability is required to register with
Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accomodations
can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to the TA) as early in the
semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
Emergency Preparedness/Course Continuity
In case of emergency, and travel to campus is difficult, USC executive leadership will announce an
electronic way for instructors to teach students in their residence halls or homes.
Summary of Assignments
1. Exams 1 (100) + Exam 2 (100) + Exam 3 (100) = 300 points
2. Virtual Child reports: 4 @ 20 points each = 80 points
3. Class participation activities: 10 at 2 points each = 20 points
Total = 400 points
Bonus points: MVC Bonus Report or report on Preschool Observation (up to 8 points total)
Grading scale:
Points
Earned
372-400
360-371
348-359
332-347
320-331
308-319
292-307
280-291
268-279
252-267
240-251
Below 240
Percent
Earned
93-100%
90-92.999%
87-89.999%
83-86.999%
80-82.999%
77-79.999%
73-77.999%
70-72.999%
67-69.999%
63-66.999%
60-62.999%
Below 60%
Letter
Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
Calculating Grades: At any time during the course,
you can calculate your current grade by adding your
points, dividing by the total possible points you could
have earned so far, & multiply by 100. For example,
suppose you earned 85 out of 100 possible on Exam
1, got 17 out of 20 on Virtual Child Report 1 and
earned 8 points from participation of a possible 10
points at the time when Exam 1 is returned, for a total
of 110 out of 128 possible. At that time you would
have (110/128) x 100 = 85.9 for a B grade. If you
have bonus points at the end, they get added in
without changing the divisor.
Grade Tracker: Write down your grades in this table to keep track of your progress in this course.
Course Assignments
MVC Report 1
MVC Report 2
MVC Report 3
Possible Points
20
20
20
Your Points
5
MVC Report 4
Total My Virtual Child points
Total classroom participation points
Exam 1 (Sept 23)
Exam 2 (Oct 28)
Exam 3 (final) - Dec 13 (2-4 PM) or Dec 16 (8-10 AM)
Total Exam points
Total Non-Bonus Points for the Course
Bonus points (MVC Bonus Report or Preschool Obs.)
Total including bonus points
Final percent: (your total/400) x 100 = final percent
20
80
20
100
100
100
300
400
Max. of 8
Your total:
Final percent:
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE (any changes to topics, days and due dates will be announced)
Week
1
Date
8/26
Day
M
1
8/28
W
2
2
9/2
9/4
M
W
3
9/9
M
3
9/11
W
4
9/16
M
4
9/18
W
4
5
9/20
9/23
F
M
5
9/25
W
6
9/30
M
6
10/2
W
7
7
10/7
10/9
M
W
8
10/14
M
8
10/16
W
Topic
Overview of class; Theories of development; turn
in “About Me” cards (name, major/minor, interests,
experiences with children, cultural background);
download chapters 1-4 from Blackboard
Theories of development; Genes; video The Secret
World of Twins, Part I (50 min.)
Labor Day
Genes and Environment; video The Secret World
of Twins, Part II (35 min.) (L); How to log on and
start My Virtual Child
Prenatal Development & Birth; short videos (L)
Reading
Manis Ch. 1
Assignments Due
About Me card
Manis Ch. 1
&2
Form My Virtual Child +
Study Groups
Manis Ch. 2
Prenatal Brain Development; video The Baby’s
Brain (50 min) (L); take group photos
Infant Brain and Perceptual Development; video
The Baby’s World (20 min.) (L); Romanian orphan
study; Discuss MVC at 0, 3 & 8 months
Infant Physical and Motor Development; video
The Baby’s World (30 min.) (L); practice quiz
Exam 1 Review 12-2 PM; office hours 2-5 PM
Manis Ch. 3
Turn in Ch. 2 sample
study guide answers to
TA for guidance
Log on & name your
Virtual Child
Begin running MVC
Manis Ch. 3
Manis Ch. 4
Manis Ch. 4
Run MVC through 18
months
Exam 1 (Chapters 1-4) – 100 points
Infant Cognitive Development – Piaget’s theory
(home videos); alternatives to Piaget (videos);
Discuss MVC at 12 & 18 months; download
chapters 5-9 from Blackboard
Infant Learning, Memory and Language; language
video exercise
Attachment; temperament; Discuss MVC at 24 &
30 months
Environmental factors; autism (video)
Early Childhood Physical Dev.: handedness &
autobiographical memory; child maltreatment
Early Childhood Cogn Development – Piaget,
theory of mind (video), numbers; discuss MVC at
age 3 years
Early Childhood Cogn Development –Information
Manis Ch. 5
Manis Ch. 5
Run MVC through 30
months
Manis Ch. 6
Manis Ch. 6
Manis Ch. 7
Manis Ch. 8
Manis Ch. 8
MVC Report 1 due
(20 pts)
Weeks 8-9: optional
(bonus) Preschool
Observation
6
processing, eyewitness memory; Vygotsky; discuss
MVC at 4 years
9
10/21
M
Early Childhood Social Development –
development of gender; classify MVC’s
personality type
Manis Ch. 9
Run MVC through 4
years
9
10/23
W
Manis Ch. 9
MVC Report 2 Due
(20 points)
9
10
10/25
10/28
M
M
Early Childhood Social Development – parenting
styles and techniques; spanking video; practice
quiz
Exam 2 Review 12-2 PM; office hours 2-5 PM
10
10/30
W
11
11
11/4
11/6
M
W
12
11/11
12
Exam 2 (chapters 5-9) – 100 points
Middle Childhood Physical Development –
physical activity, sports, obesity; brain
development; download chapters 10-12 from
Blackboard
ADHD; learning disabilities (dyslexia)
Middle Childhood Cognitive Development – Piaget
and Information Processing
Manis Ch. 10
M
Middle Childhood Cognitive Development –
Language, reading and intelligence
Manis Ch. 11
11/13
W
Manis Ch. 12
Run MVC through age
11
13
11/18
M
Manis Ch. 12
MVC Report 3 due
(20 pts)
13
11/20
W
Middle Childhood Social Development –
understanding the self & others; moral dev.; family
relationships; Do Parents Matter? (15 min.) (L)
Middle Childhood Social Development – peers and
the media; video The In Crowd (30 min.) (L) with
worksheet
Adolescent Physical Development
14
11/25
M
Adolescent Cognitive Development
14
15
11/27
12/2
W
M
NO CLASS-THANKSGIVING BREAK
Adolescent moral reasoning class activity;
adolescent religious and political attitudes; discuss
MVC outcomes
12/4
W
Adolescent Social and Emotional Development;
what matters in development; course evaluation
12/11
W
Final Review 12-2 PM; office hours 2-5 PM
12/13
2-4 PM
12/16
8-10
AM
Fri
Final Exam (Ch. 10-12 & Adolescence) (MW
2-3:50 section) – 100 points
Final Exam (Ch. 10-12 & Adolescence) (MW
10-11:50 section) – 100 points
M
Manis Ch. 10
Manis Ch. 11
Adolescence
Phys Dev
Reading
Adolescence
Cogn Dev
Reading
Run MVC through age
18
Adolescence
Soc Dev
Reading
Adolescence
Soc Dev
Reading
MVC Report 4 due
(20 points); Bonus
report due