03079 - Developmental Psychology

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will be able:
a) to know the main theories and methodologies of research; 
b) to identify the main phases of life span and the contextual conditions for their acquisition; 
c) to know the main techniques of research and for gathering data about human development.

Course contents

The course will take place during the first semester (from the end of September 2014 until the 19th of December 2014) at the Cesena Campus of the School of Psychology and Education (address: p.za A. Moro, 90 Cesena, FC).

The course will address the main themes of human development, outlining the theoretical and methodological aspects based on classical and contemporary perspectives. A particular attention will be devoted to some key concepts related to thematics such as: continuity and discontinuity of development, the relation between development and culture and also between biological determinants and social interaction.  During the course, the main research techniques to study some of the most important themes addressed will be presented.  In this way, students will understand what doing research in developmental psychology means, but also the problems that may occur and the solutions adopted by scholars. In detail, the course will address the following basic topics : 
- historical and methodological foundations of developmental psychology 
- genetic factors and contextual factors in the development 
- the main theories in the field of developmental psychology (classical and contemporary perspectives)
- pre-natal development - physical, motor, and perceptual development - cognitive development - language development   
- socio-emotional and moral development
- social contexts of development (family, peers, schooling, media).

Further, the course will propose a developmental perspective not limited to first phase of huma life, but considering also a lifecycle perspective of human development. For this scope, the Hendry and Kloep's Lifespan Model of Developmental Challenge (Hendry & Kloep, 2002) will be presented, by introducing of contextual exemples in which the model has been applied.

Readings/Bibliography

Suggested readings for the final examination:
-  Santrock, J. W. (2011). Child Development. McGraw-Hill. 
- Hendry, L.B., Kloep, M. (2002). Lifespand Development. Resources, Challenges and Risks. London, Thomson Learning.

Teaching methods

The course will be held in the form of in-presence lectures.
During the lectures  examples of behavior of subjects during various stages of development  will be presented  and  various tools to gather and analyze data used during field and experimental researches will be shown. 

Assessment methods

The final evaluation aims to verify the achievement of the course's objectives: a) acquisition of knowledge about the main theories and methodologies of research;  b) being able to identify the main phases of life span and the contextual conditions for their acquisition;  c) acquisition of knowledge about the the main techniques of research and for gathering data about human development.
The final evaluation aims to verify the achievement of the course's objectives: a) knowing the main theories and methodologies of research; 
b) identifying the main phases of life span and the contextual conditions for their acquisition; 
c) knowing the main techniques of research and for gathering data about human development.

The final evaluation, lasting two hours , will take place in written mode  and will be divided into two parts : 
- 1st part on fundamental knowledge  consisting of closed questions  (multiple choice); 
- 2nd part for deepening knowledge consisting of open-ended questions . 

WARNING : The test is passed if and only if  you get a positive assessment to both sections: The final grade is obtained by summing up the marks obtained at the first and second section.

Teaching tools

During the lessons, slides and video clips on wide screen will be used. The slides will be available to students on the University's web platform (specific directions will be given during class and also made available by email).

Office hours

See the website of Carlo Tomasetto