Developmental Psychology
Psyc 2583-01
Course Professor: Cindy Reese, Ph.D.
Office: 412 North Murray
Phone: 744-4386
E-mail: rcelind@okstate.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-3:15 and by appointment
Required Text: Santrock, J. W. (2002). Life-Span Development. (8th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.
Objectives: This course is intended to provide an overview of human
development from infancy to late adulthood.
One objective of the course is to promote an understanding of the major theories
and issues related to development.
Another objective is to discuss the age-related changes that occur
throughout the lifespan in terms of cognitive, emotional, and social
development.
Reading requirements: During the course of the semester you will receive 3 schedules
that detail the portions of the text that are assigned reading. The first schedule will be distributed on
the first day of class, and the other two will be given on the days of the
first and second exam.
Grading System. Your grades will be determined based upon your work
in the following two areas.
1.
Exams. There will be three exams.
The first two exams will be worth 25% each. The first two exams will be multiple-choice and will consist of
50 questions each. The final will be worth 30% of your grade for the
course. The final exam will consist of
80 multiple-choice questions. 50 of the
questions will relate to the most recent section of assigned chapters and lectures,
and 30 of the questions will cover the material presented earlier in the
semester.
Lectures
will follow the general outline of the text.
Students are responsible for information mentioned in class that may not
appear in the text. Students are also
responsible for all assigned reading.
Each test will include questions based on information provided in the
text that is not mentioned in class.
2. Brief Writing
Assignments. During the course of
the semester, you will be given 6 writing assignments relating to a particular
period of the lifespan. Your assignment
will be to write a one- to two-page typed paper addressing the questions or
issues that are presented in the writing assignment handout. Each assignment will be graded on a
100-point scale. An “A” paper will be
one that follows the correct format, integrates material from the lecture
and/or the text, and is well-written.
Your average score on these assignments will comprise the remaining 20%
of your course grade.
Late Assignments. You are expected to complete and turn in your
assignments at the beginning of class on the day they are due. Grades will be reduced by 10% (one letter
grade) for each day that they are late.
If an assignment is late by more than 4 calendar days (including
weekends), it will receive a zero.
Missed Exams. Make-up exams will be given only to students who
have missed an exam for University approved reasons (e.g., serious illness,
death of a family member, religious holiday observance, University sanctioned
activities), provided that the instructor
clears the absence in advance.
Make-up exams must be taken within 3 days of the missed test at a time
to be arranged with the instructor. The
format and/or content of a make-up exam will differ from the exam given to the
class as a whole.
Lecture Attendance. You can expect that missing lectures will have a
negative effect on your performance in the course. My past teaching experiences have taught me that those who attend
class regularly make better grades than those who do not. If you miss a lecture, get the notes from
another person in the class. I cannot
provide you with copies of my notes on the material. If you do miss a lecture, however, be sure to check with me to make sure that there were no
announcements or changes to assignments or the syllabus.
In an effort to encourage attendance, attendance quizzes will be given randomly 10 times during the semester. Each attendance grade is worth one point, which may be applied toward your final exam score. For example, if at the end of the semester you have taken 8 attendance quizzes you can add 8 points to the score you earn on the final. Make-up attendance quizzes will not be given for any reason.
Research Participation: You can earn 2 points towards your final course grade by
volunteering to participate in 2 hours of research. Throughout the semester, announcements will be made about
research participation opportunities.
Be sure to come to class regularly, so you don’t miss out. If you choose not to participate in
research, there is one other way for you to earn the 2 points. Find and watch a movie that portrays an
issue related to either human cognitive or human socioemotional development. After watching the movie, write a two-page
report describing how the events and characters of the movie relate to specific
topics we have discussed in class. A
handout on research participation and the movie report will be provided in
class. You must follow the guidelines
of the handout to earn the points. It
is important to note that you cannot earn more than 2 points and that you can
only choose one avenue for earning points.
That is, you may either
participate in the research or write
the report, but you cannot do both.
Note: The following schedule is subject to change at the discretion of
the instructor. The best way to keep up
is to come to class!!
Exam Date
Exam 1 Monday, September 23rd
Exam 2 Monday, October 28th
Final Monday,
December 9th 6:30 p.m.