Psychology 355 – Fall 2010
Cognitive Development
MW 8:30-10:00, B239 East Hall
Dr. Susan Gelman
E-mail: gelman@umich.edu
Phone: 764-0268
Office: 2040 East Hall
Office Hours: Mondays 1-3 and by appointment
Course website is on CTools: Psych 355 F10
Course Description
This course will be devoted to children’s thinking and intellectual growth, from infancy through
adolescence. We will consider different theoretical accounts of how mental abilities develop, with
particular focus on recent psychological research. Topics include: memory, concepts, language, expertise,
reading, mathematics, and individual and cultural differences. The course is a lecture format, but
discussion is strongly encouraged.
Texts and Readings
Siegler, R.S., & Alibali, M.W. (2005). Children’s thinking (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Readings on C-tools under Resources. See attached bibliography for complete reference list.
Course Requirements
Readings .
All assigned readings are required, and can be found in the texts and C-tools.
Mini-Responses to Readings.
You will be asked to write a “mini-response” to 5 non-text readings throughout the semester. For each of
the readings you select, you should: (a) summarize the main points of the article in your own words (250350 words), (b) write a response/evaluation of it, bringing in other material from the text or lectures as
relevant (250-350 words), and (c) pose 1 or more discussion questions based on the reading.
• Each mini-response must be from a different section of the course. In other words, you must select
ONE EACH from five of the following six sets:
o Introduction (Rogoff et al.)
o Basic processes (Kelly et al.; Principe et al.; Powell)
o Concepts, categories, and language (Talbot; Bloom; Rhodes & Brickman; Senghas et al.;
Gordon)
o Core theories (DeLoache - scale errors; Onishi & Baillargeon; Gopnik – death of a fish)
o Reasoning, problem-solving, and academic skills (DeLoache –shrinking room; Dweck;
Halberda et al.)
o Context and culture (Gopnik – Mr. Ravioli; Bangerter & Heath)
• Each mini-response must be turned in on the date the reading is assigned, at the beginning of class.
Please submit a printed, double-spaced copy of your response. I will not accept late responses.
• Grading: Each mini-response will be graded from 0-3, for a total of 15 possible points.
• EXTRA-CREDIT OPTION: You may also earn extra-credit points by writing additional miniresponses. These will be graded as pass/fail. For each extra mini-response that receives a passing
Psychology 355 – Fall 2010
p. 2
grade, 1% point will be added to your final grade, up to 5% extra credit, total.
o The extra-credit mini-responses may be from any of the sections of the course, but also are
due on the date the reading is assigned, at the beginning of class.
Exams .
There will be three closed-book, in-class exams. They will cover the material presented in lectures,
readings, class discussions, and films, and will be non-cumulative. Exam format is typically a mixture of
short and long essays. A study guide will be made available within a week of each exam. Dates of the
exams are: October 4, November 8, and either December 13th or December 22nd (your choice).
Project .
You are required to complete one of the following projects during the term. The project is due Friday,
December 3rd, at 5:00 p.m.
Option 1: Research paper/Case study. If you select this project, you will: (a) review an area of research
in cognitive development, and (b) record and analyze the behavior of 1 child on a task in this area.
Your final paper will include 2 parts, corresponding to the research review and the case study.
• In your research review, please summarize and discuss at least two recent journal articles
(published in 2005 or later) that have not been assigned for this class. These articles need to be
published in a peer-review scientific journal.
• Sample topics include: acquisition of gender stereotypes; concepts of morality in adolescence;
children's drawings; cultural differences in school achievement; infant perceptual abilities; infant
IQ tests; childhood amnesia; learning to be bilingual; cognitive consequences of video games;
cognition in twins; children’s imaginary companions; developmental changes in the concept of:
time, number, maps, dreams... These are just suggestions of topics you may want to consider. You
should feel free to pursue a topic that is not listed above. However, if you do, please make sure to
discuss your project idea with me before you begin. I encourage you to follow your own interests
and be creative. Choose something that really interests you!
• The method that you use will depend on the particular topic you are examining. For example, if
you investigate children's drawings, you might gather drawing samples from a young child and
discuss how the drawings fit the patterns discussed in the literature. If you research moral
development, you might conduct and tape-record an interview with an older child or adolescent,
and discuss strengths and weaknesses of the task. You should plan to use a method that has been
described in one of the papers you read for your research review, although you may wish to modify
the task in order to test some new hypothesis.
• Due November 10th: a brief, 1-paragraph description of your project idea, a list of 2 readings you
plan to review, and written permission from your participant’s parent/guardian. You must have the
written permission of the child’s parent or guardian before recording the child’s behavior.
Option 2: Research paper/Experimental design. If you select this project, you will: (a) review an area of
research in cognitive development, and (b) propose and design a new research study that would
answer an important question within this area. Your final paper will include two sections,
corresponding to the research review and the research design.
• For this option, you will NOT actually carry out the research study.
• In your review, please summarize and discuss at least two recent journal articles (published in 2005
or later) that have not been assigned for this class. These articles need to be published in a peerreview scientific journal.
• Sample topics include: acquisition of gender stereotypes; concepts of morality in adolescence;
children's drawings; cross-cultural differences in school achievement; infant perceptual abilities;
Psychology 355 – Fall 2010
•
p. 3
infant IQ tests; childhood amnesia; the acquisition of bilingualism; cognitive consequences of
video games; cognition in twins; children’s imaginary companions; developmental changes in the
concept of time, number, maps, dreams. These are just suggestions of topics you may want to
consider. You should feel free to pursue a topic that is not listed above. However, if you do,
please make sure to discuss your project idea with me before you begin. I encourage you to follow
your own interests and be creative. Choose something that really interests you!
Due November 10th: a brief, 1-paragraph description of your project idea, and a list of 2 readings
you plan to review.
Final Grade
The final course grade will be calculated as follows:
Exam #1:
20%
Exam #2:
20%
Exam #3:
20%
Project:
25%
Mini-responses:
15%
In order to receive credit for this course, you must turn in all assignments (including all 3
exams, the project, and all five mini-responses).
TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Textbook
(Siegler &
Alibali)
Dates
Topics
Readings
9/8 to 9/15
INTRODUCTION
8-Sep (W)
Introduction
Chapter 1
13-Sep (M)
Piaget's theory
Chapter 2
15-Sep (W)
Piaget's theory
9/20 to 9/29
BASIC PROCESSES
20-Sep (M)
Perceptual development
Chapter 5
Kelly et al.
22-Sep (W)
Memory
Chapter 7
Principe et al.
27-Sep (M)
Executive control and decision-making
29-Sep (W)
NO CLASS: PREPARE FOR EXAM
4-Oct (M)
EXAM 1
10/6 to 10/25
CONCEPTS, CATEGORIES, AND
LANGUAGE
6-Oct (W)
Concepts in infancy
pp. 268-282
11-Oct (M)
Categories and word-learning
pp. 195-207
13-Oct (W)
Social categories; moral reasoning
pp. 305-312
Bloom; Rhodes & Brickman
18-Oct (M)
NO CLASS: FALL STUDY BREAK
20-Oct (W)
Syntax: nativist and empiricist models
pp. 183-194,
208-225
Senghas et al.
25-Oct (M)
Language and thought
Rogoff et al.
Powell
Talbot
Gordon
Psychology 355 – Fall 2010
p. 4
10/27 to 11/3
CORE THEORIES
27-Oct (W)
Physics, space, and time
pp. 283-304
DeLoache
1-Nov (M)
Theory of mind and autism
pp. 313-340
Onishi & Baillargeon
3-Nov (W)
Biology, life, and death
8-Nov (M)
EXAM 2
11/15 to 11/29
REASONING, PROBLEM-SOLVING,
AND ACADEMIC SKILLS
10-Nov (W)
NO CLASS: Project topic is due 5 p.m.
15-Nov (M)
Problem-solving and causal reasoning
17-Nov (W)
Motivation and academic achievement
22-Nov (M)
Mathematical reasoning
24-Nov (W)
NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING BREAK
29-Nov (M)
Reading and writing
12/1 to 12/13
CONTEXT AND CULTURE
1-Dec (W)
Imagination, pretense, and creativity
3-Dec (F)
Project due: 5 p.m.
6-Dec (M)
Critical period and early experience
8-Dec (W)
Testimony & sociocultural variation
13-Dec (M)
EXAM 3 – 1st testing date option
22-Dec (W)
EXAM 3 – 2nd testing date option
Gopnik
Chapter 10
DeLoache
Dweck
pp. 381-399
Halberda et al.
pp. 400-421
Gopnik
Bangerter & Heath
Chapters 4, 12
Additional Readings (with due dates)
9/15: Rogoff, B., Sellers, M. J., Pirotta, S., Fox, N., & White, S. H. (1975). Age assignment of roles and
responsibilities to children: A cross-cultural survey. Human Development, 18, 353-369.
9/20: Kelly, D. J., Quinn, P. C., Slater, A. M., Lee, K., Ge, L., & Pascalis, O. (2007). The other-race
effect develops during infancy: Evidence of perceptual narrowing. Psychological Science, 18,
1084-1089.
9/22: Principe, G. F., Kanaya, T., Ceci, S. J., & Singh, M. (2006). Believing is seeing: How rumors can
engender false memories in preschoolers. Psychological Science, 17, 243-248.
9/27: Powell, K. (2008). How does the teenage brain work? Nature, 442, 865-867.
10/6: Talbot, M. (2006). The baby lab. The New Yorker, 82, 90-101.
10/13: Bloom, P. (2010). The moral life of babies. The New York Times Magazine.
10/13: Rhodes, M., & Brickman, D. (2008). Preschoolers' responses to social comparisons involving
relative failure. Psychological Science, 19, 968-972.
10/20: Senghas, A., Kita, S., & Özyürek, A. (2004). Children creating core properties of language:
Evidence from an emerging sign language in Nicaragua. Science, 305, 1779-1782.
10/25: Gordon, P. (2004). Numerical cognition without words: Evidence from Amazonia. Science, 306,
496-499.
10/27: DeLoache, J. S., Uttal, D. H., & Rosengren, K. S. (2004). Scale errors offer evidence for a
perception-action dissociation early in life. Science, 304, 1047-1029.
Psychology 355 – Fall 2010
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11/1: Onishi, K., & Baillargeon, R. (2005). Do 15-month-old infants understand false beliefs? Science,
308, 255-258.
11/3: Gopnik, A. (2007). Death of a fish. In: Through the children’s gate (pp. 254-265). New York:
Vintage.
11/15: DeLoache, J., Miller, K., & Rosengren, K. (1997). The credible shrinking room: Very young
children's performance with symbolic and nonsymbolic relations. Psychological Science, 8, 308313.
11/17: Dweck, C. (2007). Is math a gift? Beliefs that put females at risk. In: Why aren't more women in
science: Top researchers debate the evidence (pp. 47-55). Washington, DC US: American
Psychological Association.
11/22: Halberda, J., Mazzocco, M. M., Feigenson, L. (2008). Individual differences in non-verbal number
acuity correlate with maths achievement. Nature, 455, 665-669.
12/1: Gopnik, A. (2007). Bumping into Mr. Ravioli. In: Through the children’s gate (pp. 155-164).
New York: Vintage.
12/6: Bangerter, A., & Heath, C. (2004). The Mozart effect: Tracking the evolution of a scientific legend.
British Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 605-623.