Academic Year 2018/2019
- Docente: Carlo Tomasetto
- Credits: 8
- SSD: M-PSI/04
- Language: Italian
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
- Campus: Cesena
- Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Psychological sciences and techniques (cod. 8774)
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students are expected:
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 second semester (from February to May 2019) 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 basic theoretical and methodological aspects based on
classical and contemporary perspectives. Particular attention
will be devoted to some key concepts related to continuity and
discontinuity of development, methodologidcal issues, and the
interplay between biological determinants and social influences. During the course,research techniques used to
study developmental processes will be presented. In this way,
students will understand what doing research in developmental
psychology means, and the solutions adopted by scholars to overcome
potential criticisms.
In detail, the course will address the following basic
topics in typical and atypical human development:
- historical and methodological foundations of developmental
psychology
- genetic factors and contextual factors in the development
- pre-natal development
- physical, motor, and perceptual development
- cognitive development
- language development
- socio-emotional and moral development
Further, the course will deepen the methodological and ethical foundation of psychological assessment in the first years of life. I will also present some of the most commonly used tools for the direct and indirect assessment of cognitive, emotional, ans social development in early childhood.
Readings/Bibliography
Compulsory readings for the final examination:
- Santrock, J. W. (2013). Child Development. McGraw-Hill. ONLY chapters from 1 to 11.
- Bonichini, S., Axia, G. (2007). L'assessment psicologico nella prima infanzia. Carocci. ONLY chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 18.
Contents discussed during the course will make the object of final evaluation regardless of their inclusion in the course textbooks. Seminars held by invited researchers during the course will be part of the final assessment.
Teaching methods
The course will be held in the form of in-presence lectures.
During the lectures examples of behavior of children will be
presented and tools used to gather data in field and
experimental research 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
questions .
WARNING : The test is passed if and only if a sufficiency score is achieved in both sections: The final
grade is obtained by summing up the marks obtained at the first and
second section.
Teaching tools
During the lectures, slides and video clips on wide screen will be projected and discussed. The slides will be available to students on the University's web platform AMSCampus (specific directions will be given during class and also made available by email).
Office hours
See the website of Carlo Tomasetto