Psychology 140: Developmental Psychology

Fall 2014, Section 1

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2:10-4:00pm, 179 Chemistry
Instructor: Kristin H. Lagattuta, Ph.D.
Professor, Psychology & Center for Mind and Brain
Office: 174L Young Hall
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 12:00pm-2:00pm
khlaga@ucdavis.edu
Teaching Assistant: Jessica Burris
Office: Young Hall Annex
Office Hours: Thursdays, 10:00am-12:00pm
jlburris@ucdavis.edu
E-mail is the best way to reach us outside of class and office hours. If you have questions about the course,
readings, or preparing for exams that are not personal in nature, please post questions using the CHAT ROOMS
on the class website. It is likely other students share your same questions. There are 6 different chat rooms:
one for each exam, one about general course questions, and one for student-to-student communication. Before
posting your question, please verify that you are in the correct chat room at that the question has not already
been posted and answered. Your TA, Jessie, will respond to these inquiries as promptly as possible.
For questions you believe Jessie would not know the answer to or does not have the authority to approve, please
e-mail Dr. Lagattuta. (Jessie will forward any questions that need further attention to Dr. Lagattuta).
Course Description and Goals: Developmental psychology, by its very nature, is very applicable to real life.
You may already have younger siblings, cousins, or other young relatives; perhaps you are a child-care provider,
a parent, or are thinking of future child-care or family life. By the end of this course, not only will you know
more about childrens physical, cognitive, and social development, but you will also be able to think critically
about research findings regarding environmental, cultural, and biological influences on development.
Additionally, you will become more aware of the implications of developmental research for parenting,
education, and social policy.
Textbooks: You can choose to read the 6th or 7th edition of the main textbook. The earlier editions will be less
expensive, but may be more difficult to resell after the class. Both versions of the textbook have optional study
guides that may be helpful, but are not required. At the end of this syllabus, I have outlined the reading
assignments and exam content based on each version of the textbook.
The Seventh Edition:
Lightfoot, C., Cole, M., & Cole, S. (2013). The development of children (7th edition). New York:
Worth publishers.
The Sixth Edition:
Lightfoot, C., Cole, M., & Cole, S. (2009). The development of children (6th edition). New York:
Worth publishers.
There is also an additional required textbook:
Small, M. (1999). Our babies, ourselves: How biology and culture shape the way we parent. Anchor
Publishers.
1

Copies of the textbook and the study guide are on reserve at the library.
The main textbook has companion websites for each version:
Seventh edition: http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/thedevelopmentofchildren7e/
Sixth edition: http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/thedevelopmentofchildren6e/
These websites contain study aids (chapter outlines, quizzes, and flashcards), animations, web links, and
updates on research in developmental psychology. You are not required to participate in these website
activities, but may find them helpful when studying for exams. (Note: You can take practice quizzes online
without submitting your scores--just leave the name and instructor e-mail fields blank).
Class Website: The class website can be reached through http://www.smartsite.ucdavis.edu/. Here you will
find the course chat rooms (pay attention to the chat room titles), syllabus, class handouts, class announcements,
lecture notes, exam scores, and your final grade.
Lecture notes (a pdf of the slides) will be available the night before class (typically prior to 10:00pm, but likely
earlier). I strongly suggest that you bring a printout of the notes to class so that you can write additional
information from lecture in the margins. IT IS ILLEGAL TO SELL OR GIVE THESE NOTES TO ONLINE
VENDORS. THIS VIOLATES INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.
Requirements and Grading: This course will NOT be graded on a curve so your grade is not based on
competition with other students in the class. Grades will be assigned according to percentage of points earned
for the quarter: 90-100% = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79% = C; 60-69% = D; and below 59% = F. I will assign + and
letter grades when you are 1 percentage point from the cutoff score. Therefore, for example, a B+ = 88 and
89% and a B- = 80 and 81%. There is a more detailed guide that includes rounding rules on the class website.
Smartsite and Grading: Use smartsite to see your scores for each exam. The "course grade" will not be
accurate since I cannot program it precisely to my specific rounding rules. Gradebook also automatically gives
zeroes for tests not yet taken. If we have released the scores for an exam and smartsite shows you getting a 0 on
the exambut you took itplease contact Jessie asap because it means your SID was not bubbled correctly.
Special Needs: If you need special assistance or accommodations for this course, please bring a letter from the
Student Disability Center (752-3184, http://www.sdc.ucdavis.edu/). If you are in the process of receiving such
a letter, please notify your TA so we can make necessary accommodations.
Attendance and Participation: You are strongly encouraged to attend class. Students who come to class
regularly not only receive higher grades, but they also enjoy the course more than students who infrequently
come to class.
Examinations: There will be three in-class midterm examinations that cover information provided in the book
chapters, lectures, and films up until each test date. There is also a cumulative FINAL EXAM integrating
information from throughout the course. Each of the 4 exams is worth 100 points and will be in multiple-choice
format.
Your LOWEST test score will automatically be dropped. Thus, only 3 exams count towards the final
grade. Because of this policy, there will be NO make-up exams. If you do not take an exam, you will
automatically receive a 0 for that exam.
Cheating on exams will not be tolerated and any students suspected of cheating will be referred to Student
Judicial Affairs. If you are having severe problems in the course that compel you to cheat, please talk to Jessie
or Dr. Lagattuta. We will try to help you or refer you to campus resources that can provide assistance.
2

Hints for Studying: Students in previous quarters have found it helpful to print out the lecture notes before
class and then take additional notes in the margins during lectures. It is also useful to use the lecture notes as an
outline for writing down important ideas and findings from the book chapters. Incorporating notes from the
book into the lecture outlines will help you better integrate the information from both sources. We have also
included a guide to taking multiple-choice tests in the class information folder on the course website.
Please note: Although lectures will cover many topics from the readings, they will not review
everything from the book that you will be expected to learn and know for the exams. Similarly, I will often
bring additional information (not found in the readings) into the lectures that will be included on the exams. If
you carefully READ and STUDY the assigned book chapters for the course and ATTEND lectures you should
do well in the course.
**Test questions based on material not covered in lectures can be found in both textbook editions**
Extra Credit? Each exam includes 2 extra credit points (68 questions x 1.5 points per question = 102); thus, a
perfect score = 102%. There are no additional opportunities for extra credit. Important: You will only see
points for extra credit on gradebook if you score over 100% on an exam. For everyone else, your posted test
scores will already reflect the 2 added points.
Summary of Assignments and Point Values:
Exam 1
Exam 2
Exam 3
Final Exam (all readings and lectures)
**Drop lowest EXAM score
Total

100
100
100
100
-100
300

October 28
November 20
December 11
December 16

READING ASSIGNMENTS: SIXTH OR SEVENTH EDITION OF THE BOOK

Date
October 2
October 7
October 9
October 14
October 16
October 21
October 23
October 28

Topic
Introduction and course organization
Theories and methods of developmental psych
Genetic, cultural, and environmental influences
Conception and prenatal development
Early infancy
Physical and cognitive development in infancy
Social and emotional development in infancy
MIDTERM 1

October 30
November 4
November 6
November 11
November 13
November 18
November 20

MAIN TEXTBOOK: CHAPTERS 1-6

Issues in parenting 1
Issues in parenting 2
Language development
No Class: Veterans Day
Physical and cognitive development in early childhood
Social-emotional development in early childhood
MIDTERM 2

Chapter(s)
1
2
3
4
5
6

Small: 3 & 4
Small: 6 & 7
7
8
9

SMALL BOOK: CHAPTERS 3, 4, 6, 7

November 25
November 27
December 2
December 4
December 9
December 11

MAIN TEXBOOK: CHAPTERS 7-9

The contexts of early childhood development
No Class: Thanksgiving
Physical and cognitive development in middle childhood
Literacy, cognition, and schooling
Social development in middle childhood & conclusions
MIDTERM 3

December 16

MAIN TEXTBOOK CHAPTERS 10-13

FINAL EXAM: CUMULATIVE
10:30AM-12:30PM

10
11
12
13