Psychological Science: Social Development

Examination of theory and research concerning interpersonal development in humans from infancy through adulthood. Emphasizes relationships among language, cognition, and social development. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2400.

Prereqs enforced by the system: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002, and PSYS 2400; Junior and Senior class standing only PSYS majors and minors only PACE students by permission and override.

Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 and PSYS 2400. This course is intended to provide an overview of both classic and contemporary theory and research in social and personality development. In this course, we will explore a variety of topics related to how biological and environmental factors, including contextual factors such as media, family, peer influences, and culture, can impact social development. A second goal of this course is to familiarize students with the methods used in social developmental research, to train students to approach this research with a critical eye, and to stimulate discussion and creative thinking by encouraging applications of the material to ‘real world’ events and experiences. Students can expect to revisit broad concepts and theories introduced in Developmental Psychology (e.g., Piaget, Bandura), as well as some general topics covered in Social Psychology (e.g., prosocial behavior, social cognition), exploring these at a deeper and more detailed level in the context of research on social and personality development and individual differences.

This is an upper-level, writing intensive course in Developmental Psychology. Students are expected to attend and participate in class meetings, to turn in weekly reading reflections, and to work as part of a small group (2-4 students) on a literature-based research project which will be presented to the class at a designated date. All students are expected to attend and participate in their classmates' presentations.

Brightspace quizzes, group presentation, writing assignments, in-class writing, class contributions.