Psy 6210: Developmental Methods
“Think Like a Developmental Scientist”
Monisha Pasupathi
Office: 634, Behavioral Sciences Tower
Contact:
T/R: 2:00 – 3:30pm
Room 604, Behavioral Sciences Tower
Class Website: TBA
This course has a single, broad, and highly valued goal: To help you understand what it means to be a developmental scientist, and how a developmental perspective is realized at multiple steps in the research process, from metatheoretical assumptions to methodological choices. To this end, the reading load is deliberately relatively light, and the emphasis is on thinking about the ‘meta’ level of what we do as developmental
researchers.
Learning Outcomes
For honors students and other undergraduates in this course, aspects of this course address four of our five learning outcomes, including knowledge base in psychology, scientific inquiry and critical thinking, ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world, and communication.
Information from the registrar:
Last day to add without permission code: 8-30
Last day to add, drop, elect CR/NC, or audit classes: 9-4
Last day to withdraw: 10-23
Last day to reverse CR/NC option: 12-4
Last day of classes: 12-10
Assignments/Evaluation
Participation in Class: 20%
Participation is demonstrated by attendance and active engagement in discussions.
Abstract Reading/Presentation Assignment: 10%
At the beginning of the term, you will be asked to read the abstracts from 1-2 issues of a recent, major developmental journal, and to present those abstracts to the class the following week, in a semi-structured discussion.
Example Article Presentation in Class: 50%
During the term, you will be asked to present an additional reading that illustrates the issues being discussed in class that week. You will be free to choose this reading yourself, but I will have suggestions to get you started – these are noted on the syllabus. Presentations will depend on the number of students enrolled. The idea is that your extra reading presents an empirical example of the meta-theoretical, theoretical, or methodological issues we are focusing on at that point in the course. These presentations will be available for ‘sign-ups’ by the second week of class.
Personal Statement: 20%
At the end of the term, you will be asked to draft something like a 1-2 page research statement for an academic job search, in which you position your own research questions within the broader scope of the field of Developmental Psychology.
Week/Day / Topic / Readings (should be done by the date listed)1 / 1/6 – Overview and introductions; goals of class
1/8 – Constructing developmental science from current contents – an example & assignments for the following week / None
Abstracts from recent issue of assigned journals (journal assignments will be made in class on 1-6)
2 / 1/13 - Constructing a sense of developmental science from current contents
1/15 – A round-up of questions and concepts / Abstracts from recent issue of assigned journals (journal assignments will be made in class on 1-8)
3 / 1-20 – NO CLASS (MLK DAY)
1-22 – What do we mean when we talk about development? / Raeff, 2011, Human Development plus commentary by Lerner, 2011.
4 / 1-27 – Lifespan development vs. child development
1-29 – Nativism vs. Empiricism / Baltes, 1987 Developmental Psychology
Thompson, 1988, Early Development in Life-Span perspective
Spencer et al., 2009, Child Development Perspectives, plus reply to commentaries
Newcombe et al., 2011
5 / 2-3 –Empiricism vs. Constructivism
2-5 - Sensitive Periods / Muller, Sokol, & Overton, 1998
PRESENTATION: Rhodes & Wellman, 2013
Bornstein, 1989
Thompson, 2001, from Critical Thinking about Critical Periods
6 / 2-10 - Introduction to Context
2-12 -- Conceptualizing Contextual Factors: How do they work? / Bronfenbrenner, Basic Concepts
Tudge et al., 2009
PRESENTATION: Snyder, Reid, & Patterson, 2003
PRESENTATION: Reese et al., 1993
7 / 2-17 – President’s Day, no class
2-19 – Conceptualizing Context: Culture / Cole & Packer, 2011
8 / 2-24 – Culture, Continued
2-26 – Person and Context Interactions: 2 perspectives / PRESENTATION: Thorne & McLean, 2003
PRESENTATION: Weststrate & McLean, 2010
Belsky & Pluess, 2009
Steinberg & Avenevoli, 2000
9 / 3-3 – Systems approaches
3-5 – Systems approaches, continued / Cichetti & Rogosch, 1996
PRESENTATION: Lichtwarck-Aschoff et al., 2009.
PRESENTATION: Sroufe, 2005
10 / 3-10/3-12 SPRING BREAK
11 / 3-17 Genetics/Epigenetics
3-19 No class – Society for Research on Adolescence / Gottlieb, 2003 OR Meaney, 2010
12 / 3-24 Person-Centered Approaches
3-26 / Magnusson, D. (1998). The logic and implications of a person-oriented approach. In R. B. Cairns, L. R. Bergman, and J. Kagan (Eds.) Methods and Models for Studying the Individual.
13 / 3-31 – Measurement: The classic issues
4-2 – Developmental Specifics / Selections from Baltes, Reese, & Nesselroade
PRESENTATION: Dick & Overton, 2010
Bates, J. E., & Novosad, C. (2005). Measurement of individual difference constructs in child development, or taking aim at moving targets. In D. Teti, Handbook of Research Methods in Developmental Science.
14 / 4-7 – Methods: Classic Developmental Designs
4-9 - How & Why of Development: Contextual Factors / Baltes, Reese, & Nesselroade, Part four, Descriptive Developmental Designs
PRESENTATION: Recchia et al., 2013
PRESENTATION: King et al., 2013
Sroufe, 2005
PRESENTATION: Diamond et al., 2012
15 / 4-14 – How & Why of Development: Microsequential Designs
4-16 – How & Why of Development: Experimental & Quasi-Experimental Approaches / Lavelli et al., 2013, Developmental Psychology
PRESENTATION: Siegler
Lindenberger et al., 1995
PRESENTATION: Swingley, 2008
16 / 4-21 – How & Why of Development: Burst and other designs
4-23 – Why everyone should be a developmentalist. / Carstensen et al., 2011, Psychology and Aging
Michel, 2013, Review of General Psychology
OR
Overton, 2013, Applied Developmental Science