Developmental Psychology, Psyc 33A
Fall 2016
Mon, Wed, Thurs 10:00 – 10:50 am
Golding Judaica Center, Room 110
Instructor: Professor Teresa Mitchell (email: )
Office: Brown 107
Office hours: Wed. 1-2 pm and by appointment
Teaching Assistants:
YuliyaKuras()Franklyn Graham ()
Brown 105,Wed 12-1 pmBrown 123,Mon 12:15 – 1:15 pm
Wanbing Zhang()
Brown 05, Wed. 11-12
Textbook: How Children Develop (4th Ed.), Siegler, DeLoache, Eisenberg & Saffran, Worth Publishers. (older editions will do fine.)
Developmental psychology is the study of behavioral change and the emergence of new forms/behaviorsas individual organisms develop. This (most) dynamic and interesting domain of psychologytackles one of the hardest problems in the discipline -- characterizing the origins of behavior. In this course we will examine behavioral and brain development from conception to adolescence. As we work chronologically, we will learn about major theories of development, the techniques used to study fetal, infant, and child behavior, and how to think critically about major findings in the literature.
Disabilities and accommodations: If you are a student with a documented disability at Brandeis University and if you wish to request a reasonable accommodation for this class, please see me immediately. Please understand that reasonable accommodations are not provided retroactively. If you are an athlete and will be away for any of the classes, please also contact me immediately. I have done my best to schedule around the Jewish holidays, but this is not always possible.
Academic Honesty: Students are expected to be honest in all academic work. Academic dishonesty in any form (cheating, plagiarism, etc.) will not be tolerated, and suspected cases will be turned over to the Office of Campus Life for investigation and possible referral to the Student Judicial System, as required by University policy. See the Rights and Responsibilities handbook (section 5) for the University policies in this area. Please note that ignorance of these policies is not a sufficient excuse for violation of them. If you have any questions about my expectations, please ask me.
Attendance: I will not take individual attendance, BUT – if we have 90% of the class in attendance each session, two full points will be added to each student’s final grade calculationat the end of the semester.
Grading scale: I do not curve assignments or tests, I do not round up final scores at the end of the semester, and I do not give extra credit.
A / A- / B+ / B / B- / C+ / C / C- / D93< / 90-92.9 / 87-89.9 / 83-86.9 / 80-82.9 / 77-79.9 / 73-76.9 / 70-72.9 / <69.9
Course assignments: We will have two mid-term exams and one final (all non-cumulative), as well as two pop quizzes/thought papers. Each assignment will be graded on a 100 point scale. The weight of each assignment in your final grade will be:
Midterm Exam one – 30%
Midterm Exam two – 30%
Final exam – 30%
1st Quiz/thought paper – 5%
2nd Quiz/thought paper – 5%
*There will also be occasional worksheets and exercises on LATTE and on LaunchPad, a web-based resource hosted by the textbook publisher. Please see the email I’ve sent for instructions on accessing the Launch Pad site for this course.
EXAM DATES WILL NOT CHANGE BUT THE TOPICS BELOW AND CLASS SESSIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.