DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
PSY 344 (sec 201), Summer 2014
Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, 12:40-2:30pm; 228 Erikson Hall
I. INSTRUCTOR
Matt Yalch
Office Hours: By appointment
Office: 44 Psychology Building
E-mail: yalchmat@msu.edu
II. COURSE OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVES
The goal of this course for you to acquire some basic tools that you can use to think about
developmental processes. In service of this, in this course we will read and discuss several
approaches to development and apply these approaches to a number of topics and cases.
III. REQUIRED READING
There are two required books for this class.
Alexander, L. (2006). The book of three. New York: Square Fish Books.
Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower. New York: MTV Books.
Additional readings will be provided by the course instructor at no cost.
IV. EVALUATION
Because the goal of this class is for you to think about the process of development, the graded
assignments for the course will focus on this. As you will notice, there are no exams in this
class.
1. RESPONSE PAPERS. You will also be asked to complete six 2-4-page response
papers (RPs), due at the start of class. These papers are not designed to be onerous, but rather
are intended to promote your engagement with the reading. Each of the six RPs will be worth 10
points. For each day that your RP is late, you will be docked 20% of your grade for that RP;
after 5 days, your RP will be scored a 0. There will be no make-up RPs.
2. ACTIVITIES. There will be five activities that we will engage with over the course of
the term, each of which will be worth 10 points. These activities are intended to provide you an
opportunity to apply the material from our readings and discussions. If you miss an activity, you
will be given a zero for that activity. There will be no make-up activities.
3. QUIZZES. There will be eight quizzes that you will take over the course of the term,
each of which will be worth 5 points. The goal of these quizzes is to two-fold: (1) – to check
basic knowledge of the reading for that day, and (2) – to give you incentive to come to class.
Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped. If you miss a quiz, you will be given a zero for that
quiz. There will be no make-up quizzes. However, since the lowest quiz grade will be dropped,
each student may miss ONE quiz with no penalty.
4. EXTRA CREDIT. You will have the opportunity to earn up to 10 points of extra
credit by participating in psychological research studies via the Human Participation in Research
(HPR) system (see https://psychology.msu.edu/HPRSystem/). You will receive 1 point for each
HPR credit earned (1 credit = ½ hour HPR session). Details about the HPR system are available
on ANGEL. Alternatively, you may write a 5-page review and critique of a personality research
article to receive up to 10 extra percentage points. If you opt to participate in the alternative
written assignment instead of the HPR assignment, you must notify the instructor by e-mail no
later than 8:00am on Tuesday, 7/8. All extra credit should be completed by 8:00am on
Wednesday 8/13.
V. GRADING SCALE
Grade
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.0
Percent
> 90%
85-90%
80-84%
75-79%
70-74%
65-69%
60-64%
< 60%
Points
>130
123-129
116-122
108-115
101-107
94-100
87-93
< 87
Assignment
RPs (6)
Activities (5)
Quizzes (7)
Total
Extra Credit
Points
60
50
35
140
Up to 15
% of Total
42%
34%
24%
100%
Up to 11%
Note: There will be no “rounding up” grades.
VI. ACADEMIC HONESTY
You must adhere to the academic honesty statement from the Office of the Ombudsman:
Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that "The student shares with the
faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and
professional standards." In addition, the Psychology department adheres to the policies on
academic honesty as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of
Scholarship and Grades; the all-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and
Grades; and Ordinance 17.00, Examinations. (See Spartan Life: Student Handbook and
Resource Guide and/or the MSU Web site: www.msu.edu.)
Therefore, unless authorized by your instructor, you are expected to complete all course
assignments, including homework, quizzes, tests and exams, without assistance from any
source. You are expected to develop original work for this course; therefore, you may
not submit course work you completed for another course to satisfy the requirements for
this course. Also, you are not authorized to use the www.allmsu.com Web site to
complete any course work in PSY 236. Students who violate MSU rules may receive a
penalty grade, including – but not limited to – a failing grade on the assignment or in the
course. Contact your instructor if you are unsure about the appropriateness of your
course work. (See also http://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/honestylinks.html)
VII. TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE
Week
Week 1
Date
6/30
Topic
Introductions
Assignments
Readings
None
Biological underpinnings
7/1
Neurocognitive and Personality Development
McCrae & Costa (2008)
7/2
Development as a Dynamic Process
Loevinger (1966)
Ego & Identity
Week 2
7/7
Psychosocial Development
RP #1
Erikson (1968)
7/8
Ego Development
Loevinger (1994)
7/9
Current Research in Development
None
Industry vs. Inferiority
Week 3
7/14
School
RP #2
7/15
Work
7/16
Case Study Jigsaw
Activity #1
Alexander (2006)
TBD
Identity vs. Role Confusion
Week 4
7/21
Family Dynamics
7/22
Peer Relations
7/23
Case Study: Thirteen
RP #3
Activity #2
Chbosky (1999)
None
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Week 5
7/28
Gender & Sexuality
RP #4
7/29
Dating
7/30
Case Study: The Squid and the Whale
8/4
Anxiety & Depression
8/5
Personality Pathology
8/6
Case Study Jigsaw
8/11
Media & Body Image
8/12
Media & Multiculturalism
8/13
Case Study: Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall...
Bem (1996)
Mikulincer & Shaver (2013)
Activity #3
None
Developmental Psychopathology
Week 6
RP #5
(Review McCrae & Costa)
Shiner (2009)
Activity #4
TBD
RP #6
Harrison (2008)
Culture & Media
Week 7
Stroman & Dates (2008)
Activity #5
None
VII. REFERENCES
Alexander, L. (2006). The book of three. New York: Square Fish Books.
Bem, D. J. (1996). Exotic becomes erotic: A developmental theory of sexual orientation.
Psychological Review, 103(2), 320-335.
Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower. New York: MTV Books.
Erikson, E. H. (1968). The life cycle: Epigenesis of identity. In Identity: Youth and crisis. New
York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Harrison, K. (2005). Adolescent body image and eating in the media: Trends and implications
for adolescent health. In P. E. Jamieson & D. Romer (Eds.) The changing portrayal of
adolescents in the media since 1950. (pp. 165-197). New York: Oxford University Press.
Loevinger, J. (1966). Three principles for a psychoanalytic psychology. Journal of Abnormal
Psychology, 71(6), 432-443.
Loevinger, J. (1994). Has psychology lost its conscience? Journal of Personality Assessment,
62(1), 2-8.
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (2008). The five-factor theory of personality. In O. P. John, R. W.
Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd Ed.)
(pp. 150-181).
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2013). The role of attachment security in adolescent and adult
close relationships. In J. A. Simpson & L. Campbell (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of
close relationships (pp. 66-89). New York: Oxford University Press.
Shiner, R. L. (2009). Personality disorders. In E. J. Mash & R. A. Barkley (Eds.), Assessment of
childhood disorders (pp. 781-816). New York: Guilford Press.
Stroman, C. A., & Dates, J. L. (2005). African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native
Americans in the media: Implications for adolescents. In P. E. Jamieson & D. Romer
(Eds.) The changing portrayal of adolescents in the media since 1950. (pp. 198-220).
New York: Oxford University Press.