Developmental Psychology (0310 1020 / CN 10129 Syllabus & Course Information Spring 2016 (2164) T TH 1:00 2:15, Public Health G23 (Auditorium) Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Ganger jganger@pitt.edu (alternative email: jennifer.ganger@gmail.com) 3405 Sennott Square (Forbes Ave at Bouquet St) (412) 624 3064 (email is better) Office Hours: Wednesdays 12:00 noon 1:30 p.m. & by appointment (see website for updates) Teaching Assistant: Johanna Murphy jrm144@pitt.edu 4401 Sennott Square Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 5:00 6:00 p.m. & by appointment Undergraduate Teaching Assistants: (See CourseWeb for more information) Kileigh Nassau kln32@pitt.edu 860 543 2892 Madison Plasket mjp147@pitt.edu 856 261 0444 Course Objectives Students will leave this course with a deeper understanding of current and long standing issues in child development, from birth to adolescence. Along the way, students will also learn about the timeline and processes of normative development. Required Textbook: How Children Develop by Siegler, DeLoache, Eisenberg, & Saffran, 4 th Edition (Worth Publishers). One copy will be placed on reserve at Hillman Library. Course Website: http://courseweb.pitt.edu Grading: 200 points total Exams: 150 points. There are four exams, including a final exam, worth 50 points each. However, the lowest exam is dropped, including the final exam. This means the final can be optional if students have taken all three in class exams and are satisfied with their grades. (See Exam FAQ on page 5 for more information.) Homework Quizzes: 40 points. There is a homework quiz for almost every class meeting (21 total). Each quiz has 5 to 10 objective questions and is worth 2 points. (See Homework FAQ on page 6 for more information.) The lowest score is dropped. Participation: 10 points. You are expected to participate in class discussions or respond to questions at least TWO times over the course of the semester. Details will be explained in class. Page 1
Expected grading scale: 97 100% A+ 93 96% A 90 92% A 87 89% B+ 83 86% B 80 82% B 77 79% C+ 73 76% C 70 72% C 67 69% D+ 63 66% D 60 62% D 59% and below: F This scale is expected to result in 15 20% of the class receiving A s; 25 30% B s; 30 35% C s; and 15 30% D s and F s. The scale may be adjusted to achieve this distribution. Your responsibilities Students are responsible for checking CourseWeb for announcements and updates to the schedule. Students who miss class are responsible for finding out what they have missed by talking to other students in the class, borrowing other students notes, or coming to office hours. Course Policies G Grades The G grade represents incomplete coursework. A G may be given, upon request, if a student is unable to complete some coursework due to exceptional circumstances and cannot make up that work during the same term. A G grade may be granted if the student has taken at least two exams and is in good standing in the course (earning at least a C ). The G grade allows up to two additional terms to complete course work. Academic Integrity All students are expected to be familiar with and adhere to the University of Pittsburgh policies on academic integrity, found at: http://www.provost.pitt.edu/info/acguidelinespdf.pdf. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other violation of academic integrity principles will not be tolerated. Any student suspected of a violation will be subject to all disciplinary procedures established by the University. Specifically: Homework: Homework will represent each student s own work. Collaboration is not appropriate and will considered a violation of academic integrity. Completion of homework by anyone other than the student associated with that student s CourseWeb account will be considered a violation of academic integrity. If any of these situations occur, the student will receive zero points for the homework in question and may be referred to the University s committee on academic integrity. Exams: Cheating on exams includes copying from someone else s exam; communicating with someone (other than instructors) about exam answers during the exam; taking a picture or making any other rendition of the exam; accessing information concerning the exam (paper or electronic) during the exam period; taking a copy of the exam with you Page 2
when you leave the exam room; and the policies outlined in the University of Pittsburgh's Policy on Academic Integrity. If any of these situations occur, the student(s) involved will receive zero points for the exam and will be referred to the University s committee on academic integrity. Disabilities If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 412 648 7890 or http://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/drswelcome, as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course. Recording Lectures Audio and video recording are prohibited without Dr. Ganger s permission. Once made, recordings are for the personal use of the student and may not be distributed to others in any fashion without permission from Dr. Ganger. Page 3
SCHEDULE Unit 1: FOUNDATIONS Date Reading Topic Week 1 Th Jan 7 Ch. 1: 1 22 Introduction to Course; Enduring Issues Week 2 Tu Jan 12 Ch 1: 22 36 Methods Th Jan 14 Ch 2: 40 56 Prenatal 1: Development Week 3 Tu Jan 19 Ch 2: 56 66; 70 81 Prenatal 2: Teratogens; Prematurity Th Jan 21 Ch 3: 84 106 Genetics / Individual Differences Week 4 Tu Jan 26 Ch 3: 106 119 Brain Development *no old homeworks accepted after this date* Th Jan 28 Ch 5: 172 188 Perception Week 5 Tu Feb 2 Ch 5: 188 198; Ch 4: 161 167 Motor Development Th Feb 4 EXAM 1 (no homework due) Unit 2: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Week 6 Tu Feb 9 Ch 4: 130 145; 252 255 Cognitive Development Theories I (Piaget) Th Feb 11 Ch 4: 145 167 Cognitive Development Theories II Tu Feb 16 Ch 5: 198 208; Ch 7: 260 266; 283 286; Conceptual Development I (Concepts) Week 7 288 292 Th Feb 18 Ch 7: 266 278; Ch 5: 176; 208 211; Ch Conceptual Development II (Theory of Mind) 10: 416 417; Ch 11: 440 441 Week 8 Tu Feb 23 Ch 6: 216 218; 224 242 Language Development I Th Feb 25 Ch 6: 218 221; 242 252; Ch 8: 322 325 Language Development II Week 9 Tu Mar 1 Ch 8: 298 322 Intelligence Th Mar 3 EXAM 2 Spring Break March 7 11 Unit 3: EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Week 10 Tu Mar 15 Ch 9: 340 355; Ch 11: 446 449 Social Dev Theories I: Psychoanalytic, Learning Th Mar 17 Ch 9: 356 362; Ch 15: 599 606 Social Dev Theories II: Social Cognitive Week 11 Tu Mar 22 Ch 9: 362 379; Ch 15: 595 599 Social Dev Theories III: Ecological Th Mar 24 Ch 10 384 416 Development of Emotion; Temperament Week 12 Tu Mar 29 Ch 11: 424 439; Ch 1: 6 8; Ch 12: 498 Attachment 506 Th Mar 31 Ch 12: 468 482 Attachment, cont d; Parenting Week 13 Tu Apr 5 Ch. 13: 510 521; 533 543 Peer Relationships Th Apr 7 Ch. 14: 554 561; 568 586 Moral Development Week 14 Tu Apr 12 Moral Development, cont d Th Apr 14 Ch. 16 Conclusions Week 15 Tu Apr 19 EXAM 3 Th Apr 21 Optional review of exams FINAL EXAM (OPTIONAL. REPLACES LOWEST GRADE.) See www.pitt.edu for final All material covered during exam schedule semester is eligible FINAL EXAM Page 4
Exam FAQ Is there a final exam? Yes but you may choose not to take it, and then drop it as your lowest exam grade. When is the final exam given? The final exam will be given during the scheduled final exam period. The schedule is determined by the College of Arts & Sciences and is usually published on the University s website shortly after the drop/add deadline. The professor has no control or advance knowledge of when the final exam will be scheduled. Is the final exam cumulative? Yes, it is cumulative. However, it is worth 50 points like the other exams. What if I miss an exam? Since the lowest exam grade is dropped, there will be no make-up exams for any reason. Thus, the final exam serves as a make-up exam. Can students keep exams? No. Students may not keep exams. Exams will be available in Dr. Ganger s office and our Graduate TA s office for review after the scores have been posted. Removing an exam from the classroom or office will be considered a violation of academic integrity and will result in a score of zero for the exam and possible referral to the University committee on academic integrity. What is covered in exams? All material covered in the assigned textbook pages as well as all material presented in class is eligible for an exam unless otherwise noted on the syllabus, in class, or on CourseWeb. Material that arises during in-class discussions may be eligible; ask Dr. Ganger before an exam if you have specific questions about what will be covered. Page 5
Homework FAQ: Where can I find the homework quizzes? The assignments are on CourseWeb in the Homework link and the answers must be submitted through CourseWeb. Homeworks can be completed using a smart phone with the Blackboard app. (in addition to a personal computer) Questions are multiple choice or true-false. When is the homework due? The homework quizzes are due when class begins. Homeworks may be completed ahead of time. To allow for students adding the course within the drop/add period, deadlines will not be enforced until January 26. After that date, no late homework will be accepted. Each homework will disappear from CourseWeb after its due date. Can I use the homework quizzes to study? Yes. After Jan 26, all homeworks will reappear in the Practice HW link on CourseWeb after their deadlines. They can be taken again without changing your grade. How can I complete a homework quiz about a topic before we have class on it? The questions are based on the assigned reading and can be answered from the text book. The goal is for students to come to the class meeting with some background knowledge. Are these tests? Not really, because you may use your textbook and any other materials you like while you are completing them, and you can take as much time as you need. They are called quizzes ( tests in CourseWeb) only because they contain objective questions. Are there any second chances if I mess up a question? Yes! In fact, you have three chances to complete each homework. You will see which questions you answered incorrectly after each attempt. (Click the OK link at the bottom right of the screen after you submit your homework to see the results.) NB: On subsequent attempts, you have to answer all of the questions again, even the ones you answered correctly the first time. The questions appear in the same order each time, but the answers in multiple choice questions do NOT appear in the same order each time. The highest of your three grades will be used. You are not permitted to collaborate with other students (or anyone else) on this homework. Page 6