DEP 5608: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGYFall, 2013

Dr. Mary LevittOffice Hrs: TR 11-12:30 or by appt.

E-mail: ffice: Academic One 379A BBC

web: 305-919-5953

Course Description & Objectives: The focus of this course is on the major paradigms, models, and theories that have been influential in developmental psychology, both historically and contemporaneously. Meta-theoretical issues, paradigmatic influences, and specific theories are considered. Objectives are to acquire a thorough base of knowledge regarding theories of psychological development, to gain experience in the criticalanalysis and discussion of theoretical issues, and to compare, contrast, and synthesize the course material.

Required Text:Miller, P. H. (2011). Theories of developmental psychology. (5th Ed.). NY: Worth.

Recommended Text:Leong, F. T. L., & Austin, J. T. The psychology research handbook.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Course Requirements:(1) Brief one page answers to weekly discussion questions, (2) In-class discussion of readings, & (3) Final exam

Grade Distribution: Discussion question answers, 50% (grading criteria on web site); Class participation, 10%; Final exam, 40%

TopicOutlineRequired Readings

9/9Historical PerspectivesMiller, 1-26; *Cairns

9/16Psychoanalytic theory/Life span approachMiller, Ch. 3; *Baltes & Smith; *Elder

9/23Conceptual issues(Dr. Lickliter)*Gould;*Overton; *Lickliter & Honeycutt (a)

9/30Piaget & Information ProcessingMiller, Ch. 2 and Ch. 6; *Flavell

10/7Ethological approaches (Dr. Nelson)Miller, Ch. 7; *Nelson; *Lickliter & Honeycutt (b)

10/14Gibson/Thelan(Dr. Bahrick)Miller, Ch. 8; *Pick; *J. P. Spencer

10/21Vygotsky/Language (Dr. Pruden)Miller, Ch. 4; *Behrens; *Lindner & Hohenberger

10/28Social learning theory(Dr. Reeb-Sutherland)Miller, Ch. 5;*Reeb-Sutherland et al.;*Tarabulsy et al.

11/4No Class (SSHD Conference)

11/18New Directions/Neuroscience (Dr. Dick)Miller, Ch. 9;*Crone & Ridderinkhof; *Johnson

11/25Ecologicalsystemsmodels (Dr.Stephens)Miller pp. 203-207; *Bronfenbrenner; *M. B. Spencer

12/2FINAL EXAM

*See next page for required readings not in text

Required readings not in text:

Baltes, P. B. & Smith, J. (2004). Lifespan Psychology: From developmental contextualism to developmental biocultural co-constructivism. Research in Human Development, 1, 123-144.

Behrens, H. (2009). Usage-based and emergentist approaches to language acquisition. Linguistics, 47, 383-411.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22, 723-742.

Cairns, R. B. (2006). The making of developmental psychology. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.) Theoretical models of human development.(6th ed.), New York: Wiley.

Crone, E. A., & Ridderinkhof, K. R. (2011). The developing brain: From theory to neuroimaging and back. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 101-109.

Elder, G. H. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69, 1-12.

Flavell, J. H. (1996). Piaget’s legacy. Psychological Science, 7, 200-203.

Gould, S. J. (1977) Racism and recapitulation. In Ever since Darwin: Reflections in natural history (pp. 34-38). New York: Norton.

Johnson, M. H. (2011). Interactive specialization: A domain-general framework for human functional brain development? Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 7-21.

Lickliter, R., & Honeycutt, H. (a)(2009). Rethinking epigenesis and evolution in light of developmental science. In M.S. Blumberg, J.H. Freeman, & S.R. Robinson (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience. Oxford: Oxford University Press (preprint).

Lickliter, R., & Honeycutt, H. (b) (2003). Developmental dynamics: Toward a biologically plausible evolutionary psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 819-835.

Lindner, K., & Hohenberger, A. (2009), Introduction: Concepts of development, learning, and acquisition. Linguistics, 47, 211-239.

Nelson, E. L., Campbell, J. M., & Michel, G. F. (2013, July 15). Early handedness in infancy predicts language ability in toddlers. Developmental Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0033803

Overton, W. F. (2006). Developmental psychology: Philosophy, concepts, methodology. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.) Theoretical models of human development (pp. 18-88).(6th ed.), New York: Wiley.

Pick, H. L., Jr. (1992). Eleanor J. Gibson: Learning to perceive and perceiving to learn. DevelopmentalPsychology, 28, 787-794.

Reeb-Sutherland, B. C., Levitt P., & Fox, N. A. (2012). The predictive nature of individual differences in early associative learning and emerging social behavior. PLoS ONE 7(1): e30511. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030511

Spencer, J. P. et al. (2006). Moving toward a grand theory of development: In memory of Esther Thelen. Child Development, 77, 1521-1538.

Spencer, M. B. (2006). Phenomenology and ecological systems theory: Development of diverse groups. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.) Theoretical models of human development (pp. ).(6th ed.), New York: Wiley.

Tarabulsy, G. M., Tessier, R., & Kappas, A. (1996). Contingency detection and the contingent organization of behavior in interactions: Implications for socioemotional development in infancy. Psychological Bulletin, 120, 25-41.