Psychology 2040A-001

Child Development

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

1.0    CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

A survey of theory and research in developmental psychology including learning, cognition, perception, personality and social development in infancy and childhood.

Antirequisites:  Psychology 2044, 2410A/B, 2480E, Health Sciences 2700A/B and the former 3700A/B

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.

3 lecture hours, 0.5 course

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor: Dr. J Bruce Morton
Office WH324; 519-661-2111 x84795; bmorton3@uwo.ca
Office Hours: By appointment

Teaching Assistant: Celia Goffin    
Office: WH215            
Office Hours:    TBA    
Email: cgoffin@uwo.ca           

Time and Location of Lectures: 3M-3250 Tuesdays 7pm-10pm

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you.  Please visit:  http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you.  You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

Bukatko, D. & Daehler, M. W. (2012).  Child Development; A thematic approach (6th  Edition). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

The goal of this course is to introduce the theoretical, methodological, and empirical foundations of the field of Developmental Psychology.

5.0     EVALUATION


Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:


70%    1000-level and 2000-level courses
72%     2190-2990 level courses
75%     3000-level courses
80%     4000-level courses
   
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):

A+    90-100    One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A    80-89        Superior work that is clearly above average
B    70-79        Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C    60-69        Competent work, meeting requirements
D    50-59        Fair work, minimally acceptable
F    below 50    Fail

MIDTERM 1 = 30%
MIDTERM 2 = 30%
FINAL = 40%
Exams will consist exclusively of multiple choice questions.  

MIDTERM 1 will be based on the first 4 lectures.
MIDTERM 2 will be based on lectures 5, 6, & 7.
The FINAL will be based predominantly on lectures 8, 9, & 10, but will also include general question based on the content of the whole course.

Students who are unable to attend a MIDTERM examination and who provide necessary documentation will be given an opportunity to write a MAKE-UP examination. There will be one date and time for the MAKE-UP exam which will be determined after the MIDTERM exam date. The format of the MAKE-UP exam will be different than the format of the MIDTERM exam.

6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

MIDTERM 1: Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 7pm 3M-3250
MIDTERM 2: Tuesday, November 10, 2015, 7pm 3M-3250
FINAL EXAM: Scheduled by the Registrar’s Office

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

Tuesday, September 15, 2015:  Introduction
Chap. 1

Tuesday, September 22, 2015: Biological foundations
Chap. 3 (pp. 70-79; 96-103)

Tuesday, September 29, 2015: Brain development
Chap. 5 (pp. 152-161)

Tuesday, October 6, 2015: Perceptual and motor development + REVIEW
Chap. 5 (pp. 165-172); Chap. 6 (pp. 206-232)

Tuesday, October 13, 2015: MIDTERM EXAMINATION

Tuesday, October 20, 2015: Cognitive development I: Jean Piaget
Chap. 8 (pp. 278-300)

Tuesday, October 27, 2015: Cognitive development II: Information processing
Chap. 8 (pp. 301-319)

Tuesday, November 3, 2015: Language development & Theory of Mind
Chap. 7, Chap. 9 (pp. 331-337)

Tuesday, November 10, 2015: MIDTERM EXAMINATION

Tuesday, November 17, 2015: Emotional development & Attachment  
Chap. 11

Tuesday, November 24, 2015: Parenting and Peer relationships
Chap. 14 (pp. 514-520); Chap. 15

Tuesday, December 1, 2015: Abnormal Development: Williams syndrome & autism
TBA

Tuesday, December 8, 2015: REVIEW

8.0     STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link:  http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com

Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.

9.0    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/pg117.html

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html


10.0        OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar web site:  http://registrar.uwo.ca

Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:

    http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences

- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2015 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.