Professor Jenny Saffran

Office: Room 528 Psychology

Office Hours: Tuesday 4:30-6:00 and by appt.

Phone: 262-9942

Email: jsaffran@facstaff.wisc.edu

This Honors seminar will supplement the lecture course in Child Development, allowing us to delve more deeply into the issues discussed in lecture and to read empirical articles central to child development. The seminar will consist of discussions led by the professor and by the students.

Concurrent registration in Psychology 560 (Child Psychology) is required.

Required Textbook: Shaffer, D. R. (1997). Developmental Psychology (5th Ed). Pacific Cove, CA: Brooks Cole.

An additional reading packet will be assigned, consisting of original research papers in the field of child development. (Available at L&S Copy Center, Social Sciences, Room 6120. A copy of the packet is also on reserve at the Psychology Reading Room)

Note that the topics and readings in bold are assignments for Psychology 560. The topics and readings in italics are assignments for Psychology 580.

Grading for Psychology 580 will be based on participation in the seminar discussion each week (50%). You will be asked to grade your own classroom participation, according to guidelines which I will pass out. During the second half of the semester, two students will be assigned to jointly lead the discussion of the lecture material and the assigned article for the week (30%). More generally, all students will be expected to participate in the discussions. Please come speak with me as soon as possible if you need any additional help or encouragement in feeling comfortable speaking in class, as I want all of you to be as vocal as you are able.

In addition, you will do a small research project with an actual child, in order to provide you with the experience of collecting data from a young child and evaluating how these data fit with existing data and theories in the literature. A brief (2 page) write-up of the project will be due on December 6 (20%).

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September 8: What is development, and how can we study it No assigned

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September 15: Let’s design an experiment with kids! No assigned reading

September 22: Brain development and critical periods:

Barinaga (2000). A critical issue for the brain. Science, 288, 2116-2119.

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September 29: Focus on infant speech perception

Eimas et al. (1971). Speech perception in infants. Science, 171, 303-306.

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October 13: Focus on infant memory and learning:

Rovee-Collier, C. (1993). The capacity for long-term memory in infancy.Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2, 130-135.

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October 20: What are infants born knowing about the world?

Barillargeon, R. (1994). How do infants learn about the physical world? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 3, 133-140.

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October 27: Is there a critical period for language acquisition?Newport, E. (1990). Maturational constraints on language learning. Cognitive Science, 14, 11-28.

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November 3: Emotions in infancy:

Readings TBA

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(No assigned reading)

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November 17: Relating to other people’s goals and intentions

Meltzoff, A. (1995). Understanding the intentions of others: Re-enactment of intended acts by 18-month-old children. Developmental Psychology, 31, 838-850.

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(p. 587-593 optional))

December 1: Gender stereotyping:

Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (1992). Cognitive mechanisms in children's gender stereotyping. Child Development, 63, 1351-1363.

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December 8: Developmental psychopathology

Sroufe, L. A. (1990). Considering normal and abnormal together: The essence of developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 335-347.

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The College and Psychology Department require that the following statement be included on all syllabi: "Occasionally a student may have a complaint about a TA or course instructor. If that happens you should feel free to discuss the matter directly with the TA or instructor. If the complaint is about the TA and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with him/her, you should discuss it with the course instructor. If you do not feel the instructor has resolved the matter to your satisfaction, then you should speak to the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor, Ms. Arlene Davenport (room 225 Psychology) or the Psychology Department Chair, Professor Janet Hyde (room 238 Psychology). You should speak to either of these individuals if the complaint is about the instructor and you do not feel comfortable discussing it directly with her/him. If you believe the TA or course instructor has discriminated against you because of your religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnic background, you may also take your complaint to the Affirmative Action Office (room 175 Bascom Hall). If your complaint has to do with sexual harassment, you may take your complaint to Ms. Davenport, the Psychology Department sexual harassment contact person."