Psychology 236 Section 05
Instructor: Laura Levine, Ph.D.
Central Connecticut State University
Spring semester, 2003
Life-Span Human Development
“Teach us to count our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom”
Course Goals
At the end of this course, students should be able to
1. explain the developmental theories of Freud, Erikson, Piaget and behaviorism
2. search the library using on-line facilities to find information in social science
journals
3. read and understand most of any research report in professional psychology
journals
4. interview and/or observe people of various ages about psychological issues
5. divide the life span into stages for both children and adults
6. apply theory and research to their own life stages and to others around them
Requirements and Procedures
Office Hours and Messages: Office hours will be held on Tuesdays and
Thursdays 2-3, and Wednesdays 1-4.
Office: 217 Marcus White
Phone number: 832-3109; E-mail: LevineL@ccsu.edu
Website: www.psychology.ccsu.edu/levine
Please don’t hesitate to contact me in person, by phone or by e-mail if you have
any questions or problems.
Attendance and Participation: The format of this class will be lecture/discussion.
Not only is attendance mandatory, but full preparation for participation is
expected. Readings and assignments should be carefully and thoughtfully
completed before each class. Class participation constitutes 10% of the final
grade.
Lateness Students are expected to be on time for class. Not only do students
miss class material and participation by being late, but they are also disruptive to
the rest of the class and to the professor. Leave your home/dorm early enough to
avoid parking problems, etc. Lateness will be affect your participation grade, as
well as the impression you make on your professor!
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Grading: Grades will be determined as follows
8 quizzes: 5% each
Final exam: 10%
Research paper: 10%
Child paper: 15%
Adult paper: 15%
Class participation: 10%
Quizzes: There will be eight quizzes, one on each stage of development. I have
moved to this format because research shows that more frequent assessment
improves student learning. No makeup quizzes will be given. If you miss a
quiz, your next quiz will count double. This option may only be used twice.
If you miss two quizzes in a row, the first one missed automatically
becomes a 0.
Final exam: The final exam will consist of essays covering material from the
whole course. Possible essays will be handed out before the exam.
Papers: Papers are assigned for several reasons: 1. to help students understand
how to search for articles on a topic in Psychology and other areas of study 2. to
help students apply what they learn to understand people they know 3. to
understand the information in class better through use of interviews and
observations 4. to improve writing skills.
Three papers are assigned. Each student will choose a topic within life-span
human development as the focus for these three papers. Study and discussion
groups will be formed from the students’ choices of topic. The student will choose
from among the following topics:
gender differences and sex-role expectations
cross-cultural, ethnic or socioeconomic influences on development
drugs and alcohol and their impact on development
cognitive development - how we understand and learn at different ages
the impact of the family on development
the “self” through the life-span: self-concept, self-esteem, etc.
Praxis experience – a weekly “real-life experience” in a community setting of the
student’s choice
Extra credit: There are three ways to earn extra credit:
1. Find a magazine or newspaper article or TV show relevant to this course.
Write a page with a summary of the article or show and your personal,
intelligent and informed reactions to the article and hand in both the article
and your paragraph for an extra point added to your final grade, up to three
points.
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2. Write an extra 5-7 page paper on any age period to substitute for the
student’s lowest grade. The format of this paper will be the same as the last 2
papers assigned, including an interview or observation of an individual.
3. Read articles provided in class and online at Dr. Levine’s website summarize each one and give your intelligent, informed reactions in a onepage paper. Each paper, if done appropriately, will add one point to your next
exam grade. Hand in papers at the time of the exam for which the article is
assigned. The password is ExtraCredit#1 (or 2,3,4, depending on what
section we are on.) and is case sensitive.
Policy on dishonesty: Any student found to be cheating on an exam or
plagiarizing any material from a written source or from another student will
receive an F for that paper and will be reported to the University Judicial
Officer. ANY USE OF WORDS WRITTEN BY SOMEONE ELSE WITHOUT QUOTATION
MARKS AND A FULL REFERENCE TO THE MATERIAL QUOTED IS PLAGIARISM. The
consequences for cheating and plagiarism are severe. You may be
suspended from school! Don’t jeopardize your college education.
Please contact me: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because
of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if
you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please
make an appointment with me as soon as possible.
General Education Requirements: This course fulfills three credits for Mode 6
Behavioral. This course cannot be taken in addition to Psychology 235 Child and
Adolescent Development.
Psychology Majors: This course is required of all Psychology majors. It cannot be
taken in addition to Psychology 235 Child and Adolescent Development.
Education Majors: Psychology cannot serve as a subject-matter major for
education majors.
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Psychology 236 Section 05
Life-Span Human Development
Central Connecticut State University
Spring semester, 2003
Instructor: Laura Levine, Ph.D.
Course Outline
Required Textbooks:
Feldman, Robert S. (2000) Development across the life span, 3rd edition. Saddle
River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Parrott, Les (1999) How to write psychology papers 2nd ed. N.Y.: HarperCollins.
The study guide for Feldman’s textbook is recommended but not required.
The REQUIRED READINGS below should be completed by the date on which
they are listed; e.g. Feldman, Chapter 1, pp. 27-43 must be read before
February 5th, to be ready to discuss on that date.
January 22 Introduction to the course
January 24 Theories of human development: Behaviorism and social learning theory
REQUIRED READINGS: Feldman, Chapter 1, pp. 3-27.
January 27 Freud and Erikson
January 29 Piaget
January 31 theories, continued
February 3 Quiz #1
February 5 Research in human development
REQUIRED READINGS (RR): Feldman, Chapter 1, pp. 27-43.
February 7 Class meets at the CCSU library
RR: Parrott, Chapters 4-12, 17, 19-24
February 10 Research in human development, continued
February 12 Genetic influences on development
RR: Feldman, Chapter 2, pp. 45-70
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February 14 and 17 No classes – Presidents’ birthday weekend
February 19 Prenatal Development
RR: Feldman, Chapter 2, pp. 70-83
February 21 Quiz #2
February 24 Physical development in infancy
RR: Feldman, Chapter 3, pp. 106-114, Chapter 4
RESEARCH PAPER DUE: Analysis of research articles
February 26 Cognitive development in infancy
RR: Feldman, Chapter 5, pp. 150-170
February 28 Social development in infancy
RR: Feldman, Chapter 6
March 3 Quiz #3
March 5 Language development
RR: Feldman, Chapter 5, pp. 171-183 and Chapter 7, pp. 243-255
March 7 Visit to the Early Learning Program on campus
RR: Feldman, Chapter 7, pp. 214-242
March 10 Physical and cognitive development in early childhood
March 12 Social development in early childhood
RR: Feldman, Chapter 8
March 14 continued
March 17 Quiz #4
March 19 Physical and cognitive development of middle childhood
RR: Feldman, Chapter 9
March 21 Social development in middle childhood
RR: Feldman, Chapter 10
March 24-28 Spring break
March 31 continued
April 2 Quiz #5
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April 4 Physical and cognitive development in adolescence
RR: Feldman, Chapter 11
April 7 Social development in adolescence
RR: Feldman, Chapter 12
April 9 Continued
April 11 Quiz #6
April 14 Physical and cognitive development in early adulthood
RR: Feldman, Chapter 13
April 16 CHILD PAPER DUE
April 18 No class – Good Friday
April 21 Social development in early adulthood
RR:Feldman, Chapter 14
April 23 Quiz #7
April 25 Physical and cognitive development in middle adulthood
RR: Feldman, Chapter 15
April 28 Social development in middle adulthood
RR: Feldman, Chapter 16
April 30 Quiz #8
May 2 Physical and cognitive development in later adulthood
RR: Feldman, Chapter 17
May 5 Social development in later adulthood
RR: Feldman, Chapter 18
ADULT PAPER DUE: Interview/observation with an individual in the adult stages
of development
May 7 Death, dying and coping with loss
RR: Feldman, Chapter 19
FINAL: Monday, May 12 11:00-1:00
Although we will plan to follow this syllabus, circumstances during the semester
may require modifications.
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Descriptions of the group topics
1. Gender differences and sex-role expectations: You will examine the role of
gender in the development of children and adults. How do girls’ and boys’
experiences differ? How much do they have in common? How does society view
men and women?
2. Cross-cultural, ethnic or socioeconomic influences on development: How does
culture, ethnic background and/or an individual’s social and economic
background influence the way individuals develop? Does an African-American or
Latino or middle class family have a different experience in this culture than an
American Indian or Anglo-Saxon or working class family? How does this
influence individual development?
3. Cognitive development: (Cognitive=thinking, learning) How do our minds work
at different times in our lives? Do we remember things as well or in the same way
at age 2 and at age 90? Can we solve problems in the same way? One example
of a wonderful paper on this topic included a cognitive contest between the
student and his father to see whether various abilities were stronger at 20 or at
40.
4. The impact of the family on the individual: How is an individual’s development
affected by their family relations? Some possible topics might include the impact
of divorce, single parenting, fathering, etc.
5. The “self” through the life-span: self concept, self-esteem, etc.: How do we
understand ourselves at different times during our lives? How does self-esteem
change in adolescence, later adulthood, etc. How do we define ourselves in
middle adulthood? How do young children develop a sense of “self”?
6. The impact of TV, computers, electronic games, and other media on
development. Possible topics could be how violence or sexism on TV, etc. affects
development.
7. Praxis experience: If you choose this option you would volunteer at a setting
that has some connection with life-span human development. You would work in
the setting 10-15 hours during the course of the semester. Your papers would
then be based on how you saw some issues we’ve discussed reflected in the
people you are working with in this setting. You would still have to do library
research for these papers. The Praxis experience gives you a chance to try out a
situation that you might eventually want to choose for your career.
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FIRST PAPER ASSIGNMENT
The first paper will be a library research paper. Each group (or individual) will find
two journal articles on their topic, describe the hypothesis and methodology of
these papers, and then “make up” a research project of their own, describing the
hypothesis and basic methodology they would use.
This should consist of three pages, written in a “lab report” style, each with the
following sections:
FIRST PAGE: ARTICLE #1
Author or authors, last name first, first initial (Year of publication). Title of article.
Name of journal, Volume, pages. (DO NOT WRITE “VOLUME” or “PAGES” or
“PGS”)
HYPOTHESIS: Describe the hypothesis or purpose of this research. What did
the authors wish to prove or show?
VARIABLES: What are the major variables found in the hypothesis?
METHOD:
Subjects: Who did the author study?
Measures: How did the author study the subjects; e.g., interviews, observations,
etc.? Describe these briefly.
Research design: Was this study experimental or correlational or neither?
Explain why.
Developmental research design: Was this study cross-sectional, longitudinal, a
combination of both or neither one? (In other words, did the researchers compare
different age groups or not?). Explain why.
General overview of the results: In general, non-statistical terms, what did they
discover?
SECOND PAGE: ARTICLE #2
Same as above
THIRD PAGE: YOUR OWN DESIGN FOR A STUDY
HYPOTHESIS: Describe the hypothesis for a study you would be interested in
carrying out. (YOU WILL NOT ACTUALLY BE DOING THIS STUDY.)
VARIABLES: What variables are found in this hypothesis
METHOD:
Subjects: Who would you study? How many people, what age, etc.
Measures: In what way would you test this hypothesis with these subjects:
interviews, questionnaires, naturalistic observations, etc.?
Research design: Would this study be experimental or correlational?
Developmental research design: Would this study be cross-sectional,
longitudinal, a combination of both, or neither?
Obviously there are no results to report.
For this assignment each group (or individual) will hand in a copy of each article
with the paper itself.
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SECOND AND THIRD PAPER ASSIGNMENTS
The second and third papers are similar to each other, but not to the first paper.
You will use the skills you learned from the first assignment in order to find and
examine the articles you will use to write these two papers. You will not hand
copies of the articles in with these papers. Each paper will be 5-7 pages long.
The second and third papers will involve interviewing or observing individuals in
reference to the topic area the student has chosen. The first paper will involve an
individual between birth and 18 years of age, but not in college. The second
paper will involve an individual 18 years old or older. The interview or observation
should be related to information that the student will find in the textbook and
library research that is relevant to the specific topic chosen. (If the student
chooses to take part in the Praxis program of volunteer activity, these two papers
will be based on that experience and can be on individuals of any age.)
The first section of each paper should be a “review of the literature”. After you
have chosen your specific topic for this paper you should look for information on
this topic in the library. At least 3 references should be used. These should be
journal articles or book chapters. On-line sources are not acceptable unless they
are articles from professional journals. You will first introduce the general topic of
your paper. You will then summarize briefly the most relevant articles that show
what others have found out about this topic in the past. Finally, describe the most
important issues that you will apply to your interview or observation.
The second section of each paper will be an interview or observation of an
individual you have chosen. Think of this as a “case study”. You will see how one
or more individuals correspond or don’t correspond to what you’ve read. Your
interview or observation will relate to the important issues you’ve described from
the articles you read. Finally, in the third section, you will reflect on the important
issues from your reading and how they relate to your individual’s responses
about these issues.
Here’s an example of how these papers might be carried out: If I was in the
group focusing on ethnic influences on development, for the second paper I
might choose to observe the language of a bilingual preschooler who lives down
the street from me. I would relate what I observed to articles on bilingualism in
children. For the third paper I might interview a 75-year-old woman who had
immigrated from Italy about her experiences in the transition to this country and
relate these findings to articles on the stresses that elderly immigrants
experience.
.
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Our Agreement
This syllabus represents an agreement between you, the student, and me, the
professor. For this endeavor to be mutually beneficial and ultimately successful,
throughout the course of this semester we must agree to fulfill our respective
responsibilities: you are expected to make a determined effort to learn, to
develop your skills and to prepare for participation, examination and assignments
on a timely basis, including reading assignments before the class when the
readings will be discussed. I promise to make a concerted effort to facilitate your
learning, to enhance your skill building processes and to assess your work fairly
and on a timely basis.
Your class added the following responsibilities and expectations:
For you, the student
For me, the teacher
Signed,
____________________
Laura Levine, Ph.D.
____________________
Your signature
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Student information
Psychology 236
Spring, 2003
Name___________________________Year in school__________________
Age________Major_____________________________Phone____________
E-mail (required)____________________________
Previous courses in psychology, human development, child development, etc.
Reasons for taking this course
What I hope to get out of this course
And another thing I’d like you to know about me (REQUIRED TO ANSWER - I
would like to get to know a little about you)
A question I would like answered about some aspect of human development by
the end of this course