printer friendly pagePSYCH 175: Social Cognition and Learning in Early Childhood
Social cognition - the ability to recognize others, understand their behaviors, and reason about their thoughts - is a critical component of what makes us human. What are the basic elements of social cognition, and what do children understand about other people's actions, thoughts, and feelings? How do these capacities help us understand the world, as learning unfolds in the first few years of life? This course will take a deeper look at the intersection of social cognition and cognitive development to better understand how children learn about the world.nnStudents will explore various topics on social cognition with an emphasis on (but not limited to) developmental perspectives, including face perception, action understanding, Theory of Mind, communication, and altruism, and think about how these abilities might be linked to the developmental changes in children's understanding of the world. The course will encourage students to think hard about the fundamental questions about the human mind and how it interacts with other minds, and the value of studying young children in addressing these questions. Students should expect to read, present, and discuss theoretical and empirical research articles and to develop original research proposals as a final project. nnStudents will have an opportunity to develop their proposals into a research project in
PSYCH 187, a lab course offered every other year in Spring (next offer expected to be Spring 2018) as a sequel to this course. This course fulfills the WIM requirement. nnPrerequisites
Psych 60 or
Psych141, or see instructor
Last offered: Winter 2018
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
PSYCH 187: Research Design, Implementation, and Communication in Cognitive Development
As educated consumers of scientific literature, we read reports of research findings in our everyday lives, sometimes though primary sources (e.g., journal articles) or through popular media reports of these sources. In particular, findings from cognitive development research often attract a lot of public interest, particularly from parents, caregivers, and educators, as these findings have implications for how best to educate young children. However, reports of scientific findings in cognitive development and their real-world implications often fail to convey the importance of tightly controlled experimental designs, the issues and challenges in conducting experiments, and the difficulty of interpreting the results and linking them to real-world practices in early education. This course originates from the idea that having a first-hand experience in the actual research process is an effective way to provide a deeper understanding of these issues, and help us become better consumers of scientific knowledge. nThis course is an advanced, lab-based research class in cognitive development, primarily offered for those who have completed PSYCH175 or equivalent. Students will conduct a replication/extension of a published study (or, depending on instructor approval, develop their final proposal into a research project if the project fits certain criteria). In this course, students will form a small research team and experience the role of an independent researcher to partake in the process of designing and conducting an experiment. At the end of the quarter, students will present their findings in front of a scientific audience and submit a full empirical report. nAll prospective students must have completed
PSYCH 175 (or have written an equivalent research proposal on a related topic), and contact the instructor at least three weeks before the term begins for instructor approval. Student should expect to spend a significant number of hours outside the classroom for data collection. nnPrerequisites:
PSYCH175 (strongly recommended) and instructor approval
Last offered: Spring 2016
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