PSYC 310: LIFESPAN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Spring, 2012 Instructor: James D. Foster, Ph.D. Phone: 503-5542144 jfoster@georgefox.edu

DESCRIPTION

Office: HVR 118 Office Hours: M 9-10 AM; W-F, 2:40-3:30 PM or by appointment

This course examines changes that take place in the developing individual from the prenatal period through adulthood. Specific areas of development that are examined include physical, cognitive, personality, and social development. Particular emphasis is placed on relative contributions of maturation (nature) and experience (nurture) to the developmental process. COURSE OBJECTIVES To acquaint the student with major theories and concepts of human development and the underlying research which serves as the basis for this field of study. To give the student an understanding of developmental tasks facing children, adolescents and adults. To familiarize students with the developmental sequences in physical, cognitive, social, personality, and moral development. To sensitize students to individual differences as well as other forms of diversity (e.g. cross cultural, ethnic, gender, ability, etc). To help students understand how cognitive, physical, and personality development interact. To help students separate the contributions of nature and nurture in human development. To sensitize students to social issues which influence development throughout the lifespan. COURSE MATERIALS Text (required): Santrock, J (2012). A topical approach to life-span development (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill. CLASS EXPECTATIONS Students are expected to read assignments before coming to class and be prepared to participate in class discussions. While class attendance is not required, students who attend regularly perform better on exams.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Exams: Four unit exams and a comprehensive final exam will be given during the semester. Each unit exam will be made up of both multiple choice and short answer questions. The final exam will be comprehensive. The final will be all multiple choice. The instructor must be notified before the exam if a student will be absent. Quizzes: There will be six quizzes during the semester. The lowest quiz score will be dropped. Quizzes cannot be made up without an excused absence. Paper: Each student will identify a challenge, or challenges, that impact development in the modern world. These challenges can be specific to one stage in life, or challenge a person throughout life. The challenge, or challenges, can also be specific to one aspect of development (e.g. intelligence or personality), or a sub group of society, for example one gender, people with certain gifts/abilities (e.g. athletes), or people with religious beliefs. The paper is to be research based, using peer reviewed sources published in scholarly journals. The goal is to further develop student critical thinking skills by having the student distinguish speculation, and common wisdom from evidence based theories. For example, it is common wisdom that watching TV increases aggression. The high rate of violent crime in the U.S. is often given as evidence of this connection. However, residents of Canada watch much of the same TV but have a much lower rate of violent crime. Is there research that helps sort out fact from fiction about TV and violent crime? All topics must relate to human development. These are research papers and the student should use appropriate resources. There must be a minimum of ten sources for the paper that are original research from scholarly journals. While review articles are helpful, they do not substitute for reading original research. Students may use other sources as well as long as the first criteria is met. Reading only an abstract is not acceptable and will not count as one of the sources. Find and read the entire paper or use another source if only an abstract is available. Papers will be 5-7 pages in length, and be in APA style (see tips below) The paper will be developed in steps: Topic (Challenges). Students will submit a one page proposal describing the challenge, or challenges that will guide their research. Include a minimum of four sources (two of the sources must be peer reviewed research articles). The topic and final paper are to be turned in on hard copy, but students should be prepared to submit the paper electronically if requested. Writing Guidelines and Tips When writing your paper do not simply summarize the material that you read, or string together quotes from your sources. You should read your sources, take notes, and

then synthesize a coherent presentation organized around the challenge, or challenges that you identified. Keep a neutral perspective in your paper. Try to be objective and let the research evidence lead you to your conclusion. When writing, convince me that you have read your sources and thought about the content. No quotation should be longer than a sentence or two. Rather, read your source material, select out relevant information, organize your information, and write it in your own words. One purpose of this assignment is to get you to read more than just a textbook summary of a topic. For that reason do not use our textbook (or other textbooks) as one of your sources. Papers should be written in APA style which includes: a title page, a reference page, an abstract (done in APA style), and keywords. a running head on your pages. all citations and quotes in APA style Use a 12 point font (Palatino is nice). I expect papers to be free of errors, grammatically correct, and well organized. Please put your name and box number on the front of everything you turn in. Pay attention to detail because I check everything including spelling and grammar, and on the reference page I check underlining, placement of commas, number of indentations, and capitalization.

Papers are due at class time on the dates given below. Papers will be accepted without penalty up to 5:00 PM on the day that the paper is due if the student does not skip class that day. Late papers will be penalized 10% per day. Students are expected to work independently and take care not to plagiarize. If work is copied from other students, or from sources without proper referencing, students will receive no credit for the assignment and could be subject to disciplinary action. COURSE EVALUATION Students can earn up to 505 points in this course. Quizzes 50 points Participation 20 points Exam 1 75 points Exam 2 75 points Exam 3 75 points Exam 4 50 points Final Exam 100 points Topic 10 points Paper 65 points Total 520 points If opportunities to participate in research occur for the entire class, I will give extra credit points for participation.

Students must also complete a plagiarism tutorial, and submit a Plagiarism Certificate (go to https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/test.html). Students must turn the certificate in to the Psychology Office. If a student has completed the tutorial previously, and it is on record in the psychology office, the student does not have to submit another. Grades can be earned as follows: A AB+ B 92-100% 90-91% 88-89% 82-87% BC+ C C80-81% 78-79% 67-77% 65-66% D+ 64% D 62-63% F < 60%

If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please let me know early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. You will need to provide documentation of your disability to Disability Services. For more information, contact Rick Muthiah, coordinator of Disability Services (ext. 2314 or rmuthiah@georgefox.edu), or go to www.georgefox.edu/offices/disab_services.

Course Schedule: 1:20 to 2:35, T & Th

Date Jan. 10 & 12 Jan. 17 & 19 Jan. 24 & 26 March 31

Topic Introduction Physical Development/Aging Health Motor, Sensory, Perceptual Dev. Exam 1: Thursday, February 2

Reading Assignment Chapter 1 Chapters 2 & 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Feb. 7 & 9 Feb. 14 & 16 Feb. 21 & 23 February 28

Cognitive Development Information Processing/Intelligence Language Emotional Development Exam 2: Thursday, March 1

Chapter 6 Chapters 7 & 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Mar. 6 & 8 Mar. 13 & 15 Mar. 20 & 22 Mar. 27 & Mar. 29 April 3

The self Gender/Moral Development Moral Development SPRING BREAK Families/Parenting Exam 3: Thursday, April 5

Chapts 10 & 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13

Chapter 14

April 10 & 12 April 17

Social Contexts Death and Dying Exam 4: Thursday, April 19

Chapts15 & 16 Chapter 17

Final Exam: Thursday, April 26, 10:00AM

The dates given for topics and tests are approximate and should be used only as a guide. While it may be necessary to move tests back one day, only under unusual circumstances would the tests be moved more than one day. The final exam will be given on the day indicated on the final exam schedule. Do not make plans to leave campus before your scheduled final exams. PAPER DUE DATES
Topic (challenge(s)): Jan 26 (Thursday)

Paper: March 13 (Tuesday)