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Psychology 432: Cognitive Development: Language, Thinking, and Perception

Tuesday, 4:00-7:00

Fall 2006

 

Professor: Moin Syed, MA                                           Email: msyed@ucsc.edu          

Office: Bldg 22, Rm. 107                                               Web: http://psych.ucsc.edu/grads/msyed/          

Office hours: Tuesday 3:00-4:00, and after class

                                                                                             

Required Text

Siegler, R. S., & Alibali, M. W. (2005). Children’s Thinking, 4th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

 

Other Requirements

Some information will be available through the class website only (see URL above). It is the student’s responsibility to check the website frequently for updates and announcements. Additionally, all handouts given in class will be posted on the site.

 

Course Description

This advanced course is intended to build upon knowledge learned in introductory developmental psychology or child development classes through an in-depth study of one domain of development: cognition. The course will emphasize current and historical theories, methods, research, and applications of cognitive development. Class sessions will include a mix of lecture and discussion, activities, and videos.

 

Exams

There will be four exams this semester. The exams will consist of 50 multiple choice questions and will cover material from lecture and the text, as well as any activities, videos, or supplemental readings. Your lowest exam grade will not be counted towards your final grade in the class. Accordingly, there will be absolutely no make-up exams. If you miss an exam, for whatever reason, it will count as your dropped exam.

 

Field Observation and Paper

To supplement classroom learning you will be required to conduct an informal field observation of actual children and write a research paper (8-10 pages) on a topic pertaining to cognitive development. The paper will be due Tuesday, Dec 5th. More details will be given in class and will be available on the course web site.

 

Article Presentations

To keep abreast with current research, you will be required to find a scholarly journal article that pertains to an aspect of cognitive development and complete a one-page summary of the article. You will also give a brief presentation of the article in class. Detailed information will be provided in class and will be available on the course web site.

 

Attendance

Attendance is mandatory and will be counted toward your final grade. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of class, at the end, or both; so come to class and please stay! If you do miss class, you are responsible for getting the notes from another student.

 

Extra Credit

Students may receive extra credit for completing an additional journal article summary (see above; no presentation is required). The maximum extra credit available is 6 points. No exceptions.

 

Grading                             Points            Percent                   93-100%     A                    77-79%     C+

Exams (3 best of 4)              300               (50%)                    90-92%       A-                   73-76%     C

Paper                                  200               (33%)                    87-89%       B+                  70-72%     C-

Presentation                          70               (12%)                    83-86%       B                    60-69%     D

Attendance                            30                 (5%)                    80-82%       B-                   00-59%     F

Total                                   600             (100%)                   

 

Students with Disabilities

If you have any type of learning or physical disabilities please notify the instructor before the second class so that we can accommodate you.

 

General Education (Segment III)

This course is part of the Segment III cluster (Human Development) of the GE program. Students must have completed 60 units by the end of the semester in which they take this course in order for it to count in the Segment III cluster. This course fulfills the Cultural, Ethnic, or Social Diversity (CESD) requirement for GE Segment III.

 

Course Schedule:

 

Date                                          Topic                                                              Chapters

 

Aug 29                                       Introduction to Course                                     

Sep 5                                         Review of Developmental Psychology              

Sep 12                                        Introduction to Cognition                                   1

Sep 19                                        Piaget’s Theory of Development                       2

Sep 26                                        Information Processing                                     3

Oct 3                    Exam 1          Sociocultural Theories                                      4

Oct 10                                        Sociocultural Theories                                     

Oct 17                                        Perceptual Development                                  5

Oct 24                   Exam 2          Language Development                                    6

Oct 31                                        Memory Development                                      7

Nov 7                                         Conceptual Development                                  8

Nov 14                  Exam 3          Social Cognition                                               9

Nov 21                                       No Class

Nov 28                                       Problem Solving                                               10

Dec 5                    Paper Due     Academic Skills/Discuss Papers/Conclusions     11, 12

Dec 12                  Exam 4          Enjoy winter break!

 

Please note that the schedule will be followed as closely as possible, but may vary depending on the pace of the class. All changes will be announced in class and it is your responsibility to keep up with those changes.