PSY 410: Cognitive Development in Social Context: Language,
Play and Theory of Mind
Spring 2007
212 Psyc
529-2401 shorec@muohio.edu
course website on http://blackboard.muohio.edu
Texts:
J.W. Astington (1993) The child’s discovery of the mind.
P.
L. Harris (2000) The Work of the Imagination.
Additional readings on reserve and on Blackboard.
Course description
The course
will touch on areas such as:
·
How do young children come to understand the
difference between what people think/perceive, and what is real?
·
Does the discovery of the mind relate to
children’s use of language to communicate with other minds, and acquisition of
mental state terms, such as “think” and “plan” and “deceive”?
·
Do young children learn about others’ minds by
extrapolating their own experience?
·
How do young children understand mental states
such as dreams, fiction and pretense?
·
Is pretending/play an important avenue or
context for developing theories of mind?
·
What individual differences exist in children’s
ideas about the mind, and do these relate to social factors such as family and
culture?
I have the following goals for your
learning in this course:
·
Familiarize
yourself with theory and research relevant to Theory of Mind, and be able to
summarize as well as synthesize and critique empirical work in this area.
·
Creatively
extend previous work in this area into a novel investigation/application,
making use of research methods and statistical skills.
·
Demonstrate
ethical considerations in research and articulate limitations of
conclusions.
·
Practice
oral presentation skills as well as APA-style writing skills.
My role as
instructor will be to provide resources and background, to propose avenues of
thought, to help you evaluate your development in the above areas, and to make
myself available on an individual basis for whatever concerns you may have about
course content or structure.
Class requirements
1. Preparation and Participation. Do the reading assignments. Think about the material. Review the reading guide questions. You are expected to attend all seminar sessions and to participate actively in discussions. Our learning is facilitated by a group attitude of cooperation and mutual respect. Each of us will benefit from the active involvement of others. This involvement will require considerable preparation and willingness to engage ourselves thoughtfully with ideas presented both in the readings and by other class members. Everyone must share in the leadership of the group and work to create an atmosphere that encourages critical thought while maintaining an openness and respect for the differing views of others. Help your peers who are leading discussion by volunteering comments. Participation will be assessed by means of in-class activities/assignments. Preparation will be spot-checked randomly, generally by means unannounced in-class quizzes.
2.
Discussion questions/facilitation.
Most class days, two to three students will be assigned to come to class
each with 3 questions for discussion and will share in the
leadership/facilitation of the class for the day. I’m not expecting you to work as a team in
preparing the questions, but to be cooperative with one another in leading
class. Be prepared to give me, at the
beginning of class, a copy of the questions you have prepared. These
questions should go beyond those in the Reading Guide. I will assign points based on quality of
questions and responsiveness of your facilitation (e.g., do you ask questions
that will either deepen the current discussion or change topics if the current
one seems to be exhausted?).
3. Article
Presentation. Each of you will
present one of the readings from electronic reserve, and facilitate discussion
about it. You will be assigned to work
as a team--See Guidelines for Facilitation.
This assignment should allow you to practice skills involved in reviewing
and critiquing studies, and to practice skills for presenting your own project
later. This involves a written component and an oral component, equally
weighted:
Written: You should plan to
make a handout in your own words (no
more than a single side of one page, 1” margins, no smaller than 10 point font)
that summarizes key points from the reading and examines the strengths and
weaknesses. I will grade this for
accuracy, critical thinking, clarity and neatness/mechanics.
Oral: You should plan to give
a short (each of you no more than 10
minutes) oral summary of the key points of the article, and then be prepared
with at least two questions to start discussion. These should be more specific than “what did
you think?” You will then be responsible
for making sure that everyone has a fair chance to contribute and that the
discussion stays productive. At the end
of 20-30 minutes of discussion, you should integrate/summarize the session. Your peers will evaluate the oral component,
based on qualities such as clarity, interest, on-task/productive, cooperation,
and integration.
4.
In-class Exams. There will be four
in-class exams; these will have a mixture of formats, but will be primarily
multiple-choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank, and some short-answers (sentence
or paragraph length). The purpose of
these will be primarily to check comprehension of the readings and class
discussion. Please see Reading Guides
for Astington and Harris, as well as the handouts
prepared by your peers (note that these are not guaranteed for accuracy).
5. Child
observations. To help you connect
the readings in this course to children’s lived experience,
I will ask you to do two 2-hour observations of children at the
6. Research
or application project. The purpose
of this assignment is to allow you to demonstrate your evaluation and synthesis
of previous work on a topic in the area of theory of mind and to creatively
extend work on this topic to a novel research or application project. Your project will include a review of
previous research literature leading to a specific research/application
proposal including a description of the method to be employed, a quantitative
method of assessing the outcome, and a discussion of
the implications of the project if it turns out the way you predict it will. You will give an oral presentation (10
minutes, plus a brief question-answer) with a handout, to the class at the end
of the semester. More detail is provided
in the Guidelines for Research/Application projects.
7. Final
exam: review of peer project. Your
final exam will be a review (summary and critique) of one of your peers’
research/application projects. More
detail is provided in the Guidelines for Research/application Projects.
Major course elements and weighting in course grade.
|
Read Astington and Harris as
background and overview. Read and
critique through discussion 11 empirical articles. In-class activities will assess preparation
and/or participation. |
10% |
|
2 exams |
28% |
|
Do an article presentation, with a partner, with a
handout, and facilitate discussion. |
10% (5 peer review, 5 handout) |
|
A couple of times during the semester bring discussion
questions and help facilitate discussion.
|
5% |
|
Child observations projects (2) |
10% |
|
Research/application project, handed in sequentially over
the semester. Peer-reviewed
presentation with a handout. |
32% |
|
Final exam is a review and critique of one of the peers’
projects. |
5% |
Grades will be rounded to the nearest whole number
and assigned letters according to the following scale:
|
A+ 98-100 A 92-97 A- 90-91 B+ 88-89 B 82-87 B- 80-81 C+ 78-79 |
C 72-78 C- 70-71 D+ 68-69 D 62-67 D- 60-61 F 0-59 |
·
Class preparation/participation cannot be
made up. You are allowed to miss (or
fail) 10% of the in-class participation activities without penalty to your
grade. Missing activities or absences in
excess of these amounts will have proportional impacts on your grade. You do not have to provide excuses for missed
absences, since you are allowed to miss some for whatever reason.
·
Make up exams: Within time limitations, you will be allowed
to make up exams for documented compelling reasons. Make-ups CANNOT be completed later than a
week after the original exam because that would unduly delay returning quizzes
to the rest of the class.
·
Late child observations: It is important to get these in on time
because we will be discussing the child observations in class. You will lose 50% of your grade on the
observation during each 24-hour period that the paper is late. E.g., if the paper is due at
·
Make-up Facilitation. If for documented compelling reasons you have
to miss class on the day of your facilitation, you must notify me at least an
hour before class (preferably more!). If
you send me a copy of your discussion questions before class, you can still
receive half credit for your facilitation.
·
Late article presentation. If for documented compelling reasons you have
to miss class on the day of your article presentation, you must notify me and
your partner at least an hour before class (preferably more!). You may still earn
full points for the handout if you send/bring it no later than the class you
were supposed to facilitate. You may
receive up to half credit for the handout and the oral component if you give your
handout and 10-minute presentation within the next week. If you cannot give it at a later time, an
alternative assignment may be substituted at the discretion of the
instructor.
·
Late project components/final exam: You will lose 10% of your grade on the
project component during each 24-hour period that the paper is late. E.g., if the paper is due at
·
Late Project Presentations. If for documented compelling reasons you
cannot give your presentation on the assigned day, you must notify me at least
an hour before class (preferably more!). If at all possible, send me a copy of
the final version of your handout. You
may still earn full points for the handout, and up to
half credit for the oral component if you give the handout and the 10-minute
presentation prior to the end of the term.
If you cannot give it at a later time, an alternative assignment may be
substituted at the discretion of the instructor.
Learning disabilities
Both
Engaging in academic misconduct
can result in penalties ranging from a minimum of an F on the assignment to an
F in the course, an “AD” signifying academic dishonesty on your
Classroom conduct
Everyone in a classroom is there for the purpose of
learning, and no one should be able to deprive another person of the chance to
learn. We collectively must take the responsibility for preserving an
environment conducive to this common goal.
·
Please do not come in late or leave early.
·
Be attentive and courteous during class. It is
disruptive to engage in activities that are unrelated to the class or to hold
side conversations with classmates while the professor (or another student who
has the floor) is talking. It is also distracting to others if you eat during
class—beverages are acceptable.
·
Cell phones, pagers and similar electronic
devices should be turned off prior to the beginning of a class period
and left off until after the professor has dismissed the class. Please refrain from unauthorized internet
use.
·
To request an exception to these policies on a
specific occasion, see the instructor before class begins.
Ground rules for
discussion
·
In order to create a
climate for open and honest dialogue and to encourage the broadest range of
viewpoints, it is important for class participants to treat each other with
respect. Namecalling, accusations, verbal
attacks, sarcasm, and other negative exchanges are counter productive to
successful teaching and learning.
·
Learning is both about
sharing different views and actively listening to those with different
views. Students in this class are expected to do both. Remember
that it is OK to “agree to disagree” with each other. Learning is
maximized when many different viewpoints are expressed in the classroom.
·
Keep the discussion
and comments on the topic, not on the individual. Don't personalize the
dialogue. Students should try to raise questions and comments in way that will
promote learning, rather than defensiveness and conflict in other students.
TENTATIVE course calendar
|
Week |
Monday |
Wednesday |
Friday |
|
Jan 8 |
Orientation |
Sample presentation on Hughes:
Origins of indiv. diffs
in ToM |
Astington 1 |
|
Jan15 |
no class |
Astington 2 |
Skills day: Lit search and
APA style. |
|
Jan22 |
Astington 3 |
Astington 4 |
Lewis & Ramsay: Dev. of
self-recognition Topic and lit search due |
|
Jan29 |
Ganea et al.:
…role of mental states & action in pretense |
Astington 5 Skills day: observing
behavior |
Tour of MiniU? |
|
Feb 5 |
Astington 6 |
Schult: …distinction between intentions & desires |
Astington 7 Intro due |
|
Feb12 |
Astington 8 |
Astington& Gopnik: knowing
you’ve changed your mind |
Skills day: Design and
ethical considerations |
|
Feb19 |
switch day: Class Tuesday Astington 9 |
Peterson & Wellman:
steps in understanding ToM…deafness & autism sample quiz |
Astington 10 Methods due |
|
Feb 26 |
Jenkins & Terrell:
…mental state talk in families |
Exam 1 Astington,
articles |
Harris 1 Skills day: Results &
discussion Child observation 1 due, discuss pragmatics & mental language. |
|
Mar 5 |
Harris 2 |
Harris 3 |
Jenkins & Astington: ToM and social
behavior Human subjects due |
|
|
Break |
|
|
|
Mar 19 |
Harris 4 |
Harris 5 |
Harris 6 |
|
Mar26 |
Amsel et al: ..true and pretend
identities of objects |
No class |
Harris 7 Results, Discussion &
References due |
|
apr 2 |
Carpenter & Tomasello: understanding “prior intentions” |
Harris 8 |
Woolley et al.: …beliefs about wishing Child observation 2 due,
discuss: Pretense and role play. |
|
apr 9 |
Harris 9 |
Exam 2. Harris &
articles |
Presentations 3 x 10 |
|
apr 16 |
Presentations |
Presentations |
Presentations |
|
apr 23 |
Presentations |
Presentations |
Presentations 2 x 10 |
|
finals wk |
Final exam due Thursday |
||
All aspects of this syllabus are tentative and subject to
revision. If changes are necessary, I
will inform you via class announcement and Blackboard.
Avoiding plagiarism
Often the
most difficult part of avoiding plagiarism is summarizing articles in your own
words. The following examples are meant
to help you recognize plagiarized material, and suggest ways to avoid it.
Original passage
(From Laura Berk’s article on Vygotsky’s
theory, originally published in Young
Children, Nov. 1994, pp. 30-39) :
The Piagetian
view, dominant for the past three decades, claims that make-believe emerges
spontaneously when children become capable of representational thought. Piaget and his followers assumed that
children lack the cognitive competencies to share play symbols with others—both
adults and peers—until well into the preschool period (e.g., Fein 1981). Not until recently have researchers seriously
addressed the social context of children’s play experiences. Their findings challenge the notion that
fantasy play is an unprompted phenomenon arising solely from tendencies within
the child. Instead, new evidence
suggests that make-believe, like other higher mental functions, is the product
of social collaboration.
Plagiarized version,
unacceptable:
The Piagetian view has been dominant for over 30 years. It claims that pretend play appears
spontaneously when children achieve the ability to think representationally. The Piagetian view
is that, before children are well into the preschool years, they do not have
the cognitive ability to share play symbols with others, adult or peer play
partners. However, new research findings
challenge the notion that make-believe arises solely from tendencies within the
child. Instead, these researchers
believe that fantasy play results from social collaboration.
Notice that, essentially, this is
the same paragraph as the original. A
few phrases have been re-arranged, some synonyms substituted for terms here and
there, but basically it is unchanged. In
fact, some whole chunks of the original are retained without giving the author
credit for them. How can we avoid
stealing an author’s work, and yet show that we understand the ideas s/he
wanted to convey? The simplest and most
effective way to do this is to close the book! As long as it is open in front of you, it
will be hard not to be tempted by “oh, they said it so well—I couldn’t express
it that clearly!” If you are absolutely
enchanted by a phrase in the original, e.g., “arises solely from tendencies
within the child,” and wish to keep it in your summary, you MUST put quotation
marks around it, and indicate the page in the original where it can be
found. You should always clearly say
whose ideas these are by naming the author.
Non-plagiarized
version, acceptable:
According
to Berk, for many years, researchers followed the Piagetian belief that play depended primarily on cognitive
abilities. Over the preschool years,
children would acquire the cognitive skills that would enable them to create
and communicate about imaginary worlds.
Recently, however, researchers have come to recognize the importance of
social interaction in supporting the development of make-believe play.
For more information about avoiding
plagiarism, please see the online resources from the Center for Writing
Excellence: http://www.units.muohio.edu/cwe/Online_Resources.html