Hughes – Lifespan Development
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jhughes@tcnj.edu
Office hours: Mo, Tu, Th 11am-12pm
Office: Social Sciences 112
PSY 220-01 and 220-02: DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFESPAN
Spring 2015 – Monday and Thursday 9:30-10:50am (section 01) and 12:30-1:50pm (section 02)
Social Sciences Rm. 105
Instructor: Dr. Julie Milligan Hughes
Required Text
Berk, L. E. (2014). Development through the lifespan (6th ed.) Boston, MA: Allyn &
Bacon.
Course Description
PSY 220 is a psychology foundation course with PSY 101 or equivalent as a prerequisite.
It is worth 1 course unit. This course examines the biological, psychological, socioemotional, and social/contextual changes that occur across the human lifespan. The
emphasis is on understanding the important theories, concepts, and controversies relating
to human development. This course is a prerequisite for advanced courses in the
developmental and other concentrations.
Course Requirements and Grading: Grades are assigned based on the evidence students provide that
they have mastered the material covered in this course. This evidence will be given through quizzes,
article discussion days, character analyses, and a final exam. There will be a total of 300 points available
in this class. Final grades will be assigned accordingly (I do not round up):
279 – 300 = A (93-100%)
270 – 278 = A- (90-92.9%)
258 – 269 = B+ (86-89.9%)
249 – 257 = B (83-85.9%)
240 – 248 = B- (80-82.9%)
228 – 239 = C+ (76-79.9%)
219 – 227 = C (73-75.9%)
210 – 218 = C- (70-72.9%)
198 – 209 = D+ (66-69.9%)
179 – 197 = D (60-65.9%)
0 – 178 = F (0-59.9%)
Student Evaluation
Point Value (Each)
# of Evaluations
Periodic Quizzes
48 (Quiz 4 = 42)
4
186 pts.
62%
Article Quiz-&-Discussions
6
3
18 pts.
6%
Character Analysis
30
1
30 pts.
10%
Cumulative Final Exam
66
1
66 pts.
22%
-
-
300 pts.
100%
Total
Contribution to Course Grade
Periodic Quizzes: Four non-cumulative quizzes will be worth 48 points each (with the exception of quiz
4 which is 42 points…186 points total). Each quiz will cover the material from two major developmental
stages. To help you study for these quizzes, I will provide “study points” on a slide at the start of each
lecture that will be based on the material I cover in class and material in that class’s assigned readings.
When I construct quiz items, I will only create items that relate to these points. (In other words, let the
“study points” guide your quiz preparation.) See the Course Schedule for the dates of each quiz. Each
quiz will contain roughly 48 (42) multiple-choice questions.
Hughes – Lifespan Development
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Article Quizzes & Discussions: I will assign three research articles for you to read over the course of the
semester. These articles will describe original research related to a particular developmental period, and I
will post each article on Canvas one week before it is addressed in class. For each article you should read
the article and come to class prepared to take a short multiple-choice quiz on the article’s hypothesis,
method, and findings. You should also come prepared to discuss the article’s main rationale, its
contribution to our understanding of development, and its relation to other course concepts. See the
Course Schedule for the dates of these quiz/discussions. Information about my assessment of student
performance is below.
1 point
2 points
3 points
Quiz grade (3 pts.)
1 question right
2 questions right
3 questions right
Discussion grade (3 pts.)
Present in class without
participation or shows
little comprehension of
or reflection on article
Demonstrates article
comprehension w/ little
reflection on relevance
to other course concepts
Demonstrates article
comprehension +
reflection on relevance
to other course concepts
Character Analyses: Over the semester, you will periodically visit Tumblr and follow one of 5
characters whom I have invented for teaching purposes. As we cover each major developmental period
these characters will get older (rapidly), will blog about their lives, and will interact with each other. In
their posts they will manifest several developmental milestones and concepts appropriate to their period.
You are required to keep track of these characters’ developments and you will submit one character
analysis (i.e., a completed worksheet) detailing how one of the characters has behaved in ways that typify
his or her particular age group. You’ll be assigned your particular character, whom you will follow all
semester long, in the first week of class. This analysis worksheet will be available to download on
Canvas at the start of class, but it is not due unil the last day of the semester.
Cumulative Final Exam: Our final exam, which is yet to be scheduled by TCNJ, will be cumulative.
The material covered on this final exam will be drawn entirely from the “study points” that I include on
lecture slides throughout the semester. The exam will be a mixture of multiple-choice and short-answer
items. It will contribute 66 points (22%) toward your course grade.
Hughes – Lifespan Development
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Course Policies
Professor availability:
Students are welcome to contact me outside of class time. You may come during office
hours without making an appointment. If you wish to see me at a time that is not during
my office hours, make an appointment with me first. I will not be available to respond to
emails in the evenings or over weekends & college holidays.
Electronics:
I expect you to turn your cell phones (etc.) off during class. Computers in class are
welcome unless they impair the learning of your classmates. Practice responsibility with
technology and your time.
Attendance:
This course will adhere to TCNJ’s policy on attendance, which you may read at
http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=8162. Note that you are responsible for
recovering information provided during missed class time. I will not share lecture notes
with students, although I will post my lecture slides on Canvas for students to download.
I suggest asking a classmate to share notes with you if you must miss a class day.
Assignment submission:
Assignments are due at the start of class on their due date. You must submit the
assignment electronically via Canvas. I will not accept hard copies or emailed
assignments. Plan ahead; I will not accept any technology-related excuses for late
assignments. If it is late, it is late.
Missed class day:
If you do not come to class on the day an assignment is due, you must still submit the
assignment to Canvas by the beginning of the class period. Otherwise it is late.
Missed quiz day:
You should make up the exam as soon as possible after the original exam date. The
department holds exam make-up days for this purpose, and they will be the only times
you will be allowed to make up exams. I do not recommend skipping an exam because
you are under-prepared; it will push you behind in other aspects of coursework. If you
must miss an exam, email me to learn specific procedures for retaking it.
Late work:
I accept late work with penalty. Assignments between one and three weekdays late are
penalized 15%. Assignments more than three weekdays late – and submitted by the last
day of our class (i.e., May 7) – are penalized 50%. All work must be turned in by the
start of class on May 7.
Canvas and email
Keeping with college policy, you are expected to check your TCNJ email for course
announcements at least twice a week. Also check Canvas periodically, especially if you
miss class, as I will post resources and announcements there after I have delivered or
distributed them in class.
Extra credit
I will not offer extra credit to students in this course.
Ethics and integrity:
Familiarize yourself with the Psychology Department Code of Conduct as it applies to
coursework and research. You are expected to uphold that code. Also consult
http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=7642 for a complete description of
academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes submitting another person’s work
as your own, submitting your own work more than once (i.e., to satisfy assignments in
more than one class), or lying to any faculty member about your performance. In
accordance with TCNJ’s policy on academic dishonesty, I absolutely do not tolerate
academic dishonesty. It is entirely dishonorable and quite beneath any student of this
class.
Student needs:
Please discuss any concerns you have regarding this course with me. This course adheres
to TCNJ’s Americans with Disabilities Act Policy
(http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=8082. Contact the Office of Differing
Abilities Services at (609) 771-2571, TDD: (609) 771-2451, for information about
support for students who have special needs.
Hughes – Development Across the Lifespan
Hughes – Spring 2015 Course Schedule
Date
January
February
March
April
May
26
29
2
5
9
12
16
19
23
26
2
5
9
12
23
26
30
2
6
9
13
16
20
23
27
30
4
7
8
Class content
Introduction to the class
Lifespan theory & research techniques
Prenatal development & birth
Infancy: Brain development and perception
Infancy: Cognition
Infancy: Emotional development & attachment
Language development in infancy and early childhood
Assignment Due or Quiz
Read before class (Berk)
35-38 (this is okay to read after)
15-26
80-86, 96-106
121-128, 140-147
152-161
185- 198
174-179, 248-251
Quiz 1: Theory & Prenatal/Infancy
Early childhood: Physical and cognitive development
Early childhood: Socioemotional development
Mid-childhood: Physical development & health
Mid-childhood: Cognitive development & intelligence
Mid-childhood: Self-understanding & peer relations
Mid-childhood: Gender & ethnic development
Article Day #1
223-243
258- 268, 273-278
291-299
299-315
330-336, 339-343 (no box)
337-339, 343- top of 345
Quiz 2: Early & Middle Childhood
Family contexts in adolescence and childhood
Adolescence: Physical, cognitive, and moral development
Adolescence: Changes in self and peer relationships
Adolescence: Media use and developmental challenges
Early adulthood: Health and cognition
Early adulthood: Socioemotional development
Article Day #2
278-281, 345-351, 414-416
363-373, 382-388, 405, 407-414
402-406, 417-421
421-426, 380-382
450-459
472- 483, 486-492
Quiz 3: Adolescence & Early Adulthood
Physical change in middle & late adulthood
Mid-adulthood: Cognitive change
Mid-adulthood: Socioemotional change
Late adulthood: Cognitive change
Late adulthood: Socioemotional change, dying & grief
No class meeting – last day of semester classes
Article Day #3
432-434, 502-508, 567- bottom of 571
517-525
538-553
566-567 (box only), 589-599
604-619, 640-653
Quiz 4: Middle & Late adulthood
Character Analysis
* The C U M U L U L A T I V E final exam will be given during our assigned final exam time.*
Learning Outcomes: This course fulfills the following Learning Outcomes: written Communication (1), scientific and quantitative reasoning (3), critical analysis and reasoning
(5), information literacy (6), psychological knowledge (12), and applying psychology (13).
Fourth Hour: This course meets for 3 hours per week. It is worth 1 unit (4 credits) because the students are assigned additional learning tasks that make the semester's learning
experience more deeply engaged and rigorous (f).