Koç University - Department of Psychology
PSYC 524 Social Development
Fall 2011 Course Syllabus
Class meeting time and place:Tuesdays 15.30-17.00-18.15 CAS B30B
Instructor:Bilge Yağmurlu
Email:
Office:SOS 260
Telephone:212- 3381410
Office hours:Mondays14:00-15:30orbyappointment through email
TA: Melis Yavuz
TA email:
Office: SOS Z26A
Telephone:212- 3382541
Office hours:Mondays 14.30-16.00 or by appointment through email
Please keep in mind that you can drop by to discuss a topic in more depth, get clarification on a point, or talk about the course as it relates to your special interests.
Course Content: The aim of this graduate-level course is to examine the nature and course of human social and emotional development from infancy to adolescence. The scope of the course will include aspects of social development such as social competence, prosocial and antisocial behavior, emotional abilities (e.g., empathy, emotion regulation), and cognitive aspects of social behavior (e.g., theory of mind and social information processing). We will consider the contributions of nature and nurture to developmental trajectories and the mechanisms that give rise to developmental change; our focus will be temperament, early mother-child relationships, socialization and parenting, peer relationships, and the role of culture in children’s social development.
Course Objectives: Course objectives may be broadly described as follows: 1) to enhance your understanding and familiarity with the literature and methods re: the scientific and developmental study of social and emotional development, and 2) to give you a better understanding of the how theory and cultural assumptions influence empirical research and how to recognize the implications of theory for research.
Attendance: Because this course relies on the active analysis of course readings during class discussion, attendance at all classes is required and participation is essential both to getting something from the class and for the course grade. Students are expected to arrive at class having read the assigned articles and chapters and ready to engage in a scholarly discussion of the week’s topic. Please notify the lecturer in advance if you anticipate missing a class anddiscuss possible make-up options.
Assessment and grading: The assessment is designed to help students integrate their reading and thinking around lecture topics. There are 5 pieces of assessed work:
(1)Midterm exam (40% of grade): There will be one in-class midterm exam that willconsist of essay questions.
(2)Reading assignments and thoughtful participation (10% of grade): Active and thoughtful participation in the class is required from all students and will be part of the assessment. It includes discussing the week’s topic presentations as well as demonstrating that the assigned readings have been read. The students will be given a list of readings on the topic, and each student will be responsible for reading all the distributed material on a weekly basis and actively contributing to the discussion. During discussions I expect students to refer to the readings and make observations about what you thought and why, and raise any questions that you have.
Active and thoughtful participation also means providing feedback to leading students during class discussions (see the next paragraph) and term paper presentations (see section 5 below). Thoughtful participationwill be graded on a scale of 1 to 5.
General Guidelines and Expectations:
- Please be on time.
- Please be prepared for each class.
- Please be respectful of other’s opinions and viewpoints.
(3)Leading class discussion (10% of grade): Each student will be responsible from leading the discussion of a few journal articles during the term. The goal is to engage the class in discussion, so detailed formal presentations (powerpoint slides etc.) are discouraged. Instead, the leading student should construct a detailed agenda of issues for discussion and share with the class two days in advance. Each discussion leading will be graded on a scale of 1 to 5.
(4)Reading-based assignment (15% of grade): All students are expected to a write a concise (1 page, single spaced) reflection paper concerning the week’s topic. The paper will include a general reflection/discussion on the empirical and theoretical papers covered in class but should not involve summaries of them. The paper may focus on (but not limited to) a) strengths and weaknesses of the theoretical arguments and evidence presented; b) relations between the readings for the current week or from across the course; c) unanswered questions raised by the work. The paper will be graded on a scale of 1 to 5.
(5)Term paper (25% of grade): Each student will write a theoretical review paper (approximately10-12double-spaced pages)due on the last day of class. The paper shouldreview an aspect of the recent literature on social development, focused and motivated by a clear set of theoretical and empirical questions.
There will be a paper presentation and discussion by the end of the term.The student presenting the topic will be responsible for providing the classmates with one theoretical or empirical paper (journal article or book chapter) one week before the presentation date and a typed outline of their presentation at the class prior to the seminar. Presentations will be followed or interspersed with class discussion.
The report should conform to APA format and include all references. (APA style is most commonly used in our discipline worldwide. Consult American Psychological Association (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC.: APA.) The report needs to be typed double-spaced, on A4 paper with 2.5 cm. margins on all four sides, using a 12-point font Times New Roman.
Here are the deadlines for your term papers:
1)Submit an outline (max. 3 pages). Deadline: Nov 15. The outline must be informative about the question that motivates your topic of interest and the main titles that will be covered in the term paper.
Each student will then make an appointment with the lecturer to discuss herproject and progress.
2)Submit the report.Deadline: Dec 30.
(No late submissions: A loss of one percentage point will be assigned for each day that the assignment is late.)
Academic Integrity: Koc University Code of Conduct is outline on the web ( It is assumed that all students are familiar with Koc University’s definitions of cheating, collusion, fabrication, plagiarism, and facilitation of dishonesty. Any instances of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.
Scholastic Dishonesty: Plagiarism is an inclusive term that includes the actions of cheating, copying, borrowing without asking or indicating, pretending some idea is yours when it is not, and the like. A little different from other types of ownership, the intellectual rights cover the right to the ownership of any stated idea. Again being different from other types of ownership, intellectual rights allow others to use your ideas as long as they indicate the source of the ideas and give credit. In an educational environment, intellectual rights must be most valued since this is the primary object of exchange in such environments. Therefore, every student is expected to respect the intellectual rights of others and give credit whenever necessary. You are allowed to use the ideas of others in your work such as exams and papers but you are allowed only if you indicate specifically what you have borrowed from another. For example, if you take an idea and indicate it in your own words, you should indicate the author and the source. If you take somebody else’s words directly such as in a quote, then you should also specify page numbers. Any intellectual product that is not yours should be attributed to the right source. It really does not matter whether the intellectual property you are using is a section in a printed book, a part of another student’s assignment, or some idea you heard on a TV program. You have to give credit where it is due. Any wrongdoing in such a matter will be taken as an offense of the regulations of Koç University as well as a moral issue. Therefore, it is requested that you protect other people’s intellectual property as well as you would your own material property.
Tentative Schedule*:
*The schedule is tentative. Revisions may occur as the semester unfolds and the schedule may be changed by the instructor based on need and interest.
Week 1 (Sep 22). Overview of the course and requirements. Introduction of the scope of the field.
Readings:
Schaffer, H. R. (1996). Social development. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1. The Study of Social Development
Weeks 2 & 3 (Sep 29Oct 6). Conceptual issues:Social competence and prosocial behavior.Socialization of prosocial behavior.
Readings:
Grusec, J. E., Hastings, P. D., & Almas, A. (2011). Prosocial behavior. In C. Hart & P. Smith (Eds.), Handbook of childhood social development, 2nd ed (pp. 549-566). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Mussen, P., & Eisenberg, N. (2001). Prosocial development in context. In A. C. Bohart & D. J. Stipek (Eds.), Constructive and destructive behavior. Implications for family, school, and society (pp. 103-126). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Hoffman, M. L. (2001). Toward a comprehensive empathy-based theory of prosocial moral development. In A. C. Bohart & D. J. Stipek (Eds.), Constructive and destructive behavior. Implications for family, school, and society (pp. 61- 86). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
(D1) Svetlova, M., Nichols, S. R., & Brownell, C. A. (2010). Toddlers’ prosocial behavior: From instrumental to empathic to altruistic helping. Child Development, 81, 1814-1827.
(D2) Vaish, A., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2011).Sympathy through affective perspective taking and its relation to prosocial behavior in toddlers. Developmental Psychology, 45,534-543.
Week 4& 5 (Oct13 & 20).Prosocial development. Internal and external forces on prosocial behavior: Temperament and parenting-temperament interactions.
Readings:
Sanson, A., Hemphill, S., Yagmurlu, B., & McClowry, S. G. (2011). Temperament and social development. In P. K. Smith & C. H. Hart (Eds.), Wiley-Blackwell handbook of childhood social development, 2nd ed (pp. 227-245). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Sanson, A., Hemphill, S. A., & Smart, D. (2004). Connections between temperament and social development: A review. Social Development, 13(1), 142-170.
Belsky, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2007). For better and for worse: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 300-304.
(D3) Jaffari-Bimmel, N., Juffer, F., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Mooijaart, A. (2006). Social development from infancy to adolescence: Longitudinal and concurrent factors in an adoption sample. Developmental Psychology, 42(6), 1143-1153.
(D4) Mills, R.S.L., Hastings, P.D., Helm, J., Serbin, L.A., Etezadi, J., Stack, D.M., Schwartzman, A.E., & Li, H.H. (2011). Temperamental, parental, and contextual contributors to early-emerging internalizing problems: A new integrative analysis approach. Social Development.DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2011.00629.x
M. Yavuz seminar:Internalizing behaviors in Turkish preschoolers: Relations with child temperament, positive parenting, and stress.
Weeks 6& 7& 8 (Oct 2027 & Nov 3). Development in context. Bioecological model;extrafamilial influences;peer relationships;socioeconomic background and culture.
+ First round project meetings.
Readings:
Parke, R. D., Simpkins, S. D., McDowell, D. J., Kim, M., Killian, C., Dennis, J., Flyr, M. L., Wild, M., & Rah, Y. (2002). Relative contributions of families and peers to children's social development. In P. K. Smith & C. H. Hart (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of childhood social development(pp. 156-178). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Harkness, S. (2002). Culture and social development: Explanations and evidence. In P. K. Smith & C. H. Hart (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of childhood social development (pp. 60-77). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Vandell, D. L. (2000). Parents, peer groups, and other socializing influences. Developmental Psychology, 36(6), 699-710.
Harris, J. R. (2000). Socialization, personality development, and the child's environments: Comment on Vandell (2000). Developmental Psychology, 36(6), 711-723.
(D5) “Lansford, J.E., Dodge, K.A., Malone, P.S., Bacchini, D., Zelli, A., Chaudhary, N., Manke, B., Chang, L., Oburu, P., Palmérus, K., Pastorelli, C., Bombi, A.S.,Tapanya, S., Deater-Deckard, K. & Quinn, N. (2005). Physical discipline and children’s adjustment: Cultural normativeness as a moderator. Child Development, 76(6), 1234-1246.”
(D6) Sorkhabi, N. (2005). Applicability of Baumrind’s parent typologyto collective cultures: Analysis of cultural explanations of parent socialization effects. International Development of Behavioral Development, 29, 552-563.
Nov 10 Kurban Bayramı holiday
Weeks9& 10 (Nov 17 & 24) Emotion,Emotion regulation and emotion socialization
Intro lecture by H. Şen.
Readings:
Denham, S. A. (1998). Emotional development in young children. NY: The Guilford Press.Chapter 5 Emotion Regulation
(D7) Vaish, A., Grossmann, T., & Woodward, A. (2008). Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 383-403.
(D8) Cassano, M. C., & Zeman, J. L. (2010). Parental socialization of sadness regulation in middle childhood: The role of expectations and gender. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1214-1226.
+Second round project meetings.
Midterm exam tentative date: Nov 29 Tuesday
Weeks 11, 12, 13 & 14 (Dec 1, 8, 15 & 22).Social cognition and social/antisocial behavior
Readings:
Lewis, L., & Carpendale, J. (2011). Social cognition. In P. K. Smith & C. H. Hart (Eds.), Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development (pp. 531--548). Oxford: Oxford Publishing.
Astington, J. W. (2003). Sometimes necessary, never sufficient: False belief understanding and social competence. In B. Repacholi & V. Slaughter (Eds.), Individual differences in theory of mind: Implications for typical and atypical development (pp. 13-38). New York: Psychology Press.
Orobio de Castro, B., Veerman, W. J., Koops, W., Bosch, J. D., & Monshouwer, H. J. (2002). Hostile attribution of intent and aggressive behavior: A meta-analysis. Child Development,73, 916-934. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00447
Arsenio, W. F., & Lemerise, E. A. (2001). Varieties of childhood bullying: Values, emotion processes, and social competence. Social Development, 10, 59-73.
Dodge, K. A., Lansford, J. E., Burks, V. S., Bates, J. E., Pettit, G. S., Fointane, R., & Price, J. M. (2003). Peer rejection and social information -processing factors in the development of aggressive behavior problems in children. Child Development, 74, 374-393
(D9) Razza, R. A., & Blair, C. (2009). Associations among false belief understanding, executive function, and social competence: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30, 332-343.
(D10) Wichmann, C., Coplan, R.J., & Daniels, T. (2004). The social cognitions ofsocially withdrawn children. Social Development, 13, 377-392.
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Weeks15(Dec 28 & 29) Term paper presentation and discussion
For the interested reader only: additional selected readings
Killen, M., Mulvey, K.L., Richardson, C., Jampol, N., & Woodward, A. (2011). The accidental transgressor: Morally-relevant theory of mind. Cognition, 119, 197-215.
Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J.A., & Schroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial behavior: Multilevel perspectives.Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 365-392.
Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., & Eggum, N. D. (2010). Emotion-related self-regulation and its relation to children’s maladjustment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 495-525.
Bernier, A., Carlson, S. M., Whipple, N. (2010). From external regulation to self-regulation: Early parenting precursors of young children’s executive functioning. Child Development, 81, 326-339.
Adolphs, R. (2009). The social brain: Neural basis of social knowledge. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 693-716. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163514
Lansford, J. E., Malone, P. S., Dodge, K. A., Crozier, J. C., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (2006). A 12-year prospective study of patterns of social information processing problems and externalizing behaviors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 709-718. doi:10.1007/s10802-006-9057-4
Uchida, Y., Kitayama, S., Mesquita, B., Reyes, J.A., & Mohrling (2008). Is perceived emotional support beneficial? Well-being and health in three cultures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Mesquita, B., & Karasawa, M. (2004). Self-conscious emotions as dynamic cultural processes. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 161-166.
Vaish,A., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2011).Young children's responses to guilt displays.Developmental Psychology, 47, 1248-1262.
Randell, A. C., & Peterson, C.C. (2009). Affective qualities of sibling disputes, mothers’ conflict attitudes, and children’s theory of mind development. Social Development, 18, 857-875.
Runions,K.C., & Keating, D. P. (2010). Anger and inhibitory control as moderators of children's hostile attributions and aggression.Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology,31, 370-378.
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