PSYCHOLOGY 2700: INTRO TO CHILD DEVELOPMENT

SPRING 2022
TR 2:00-3:15 in Chemistry 402
Syllabus last edited on January 17, 2022
Professor Amrisha Vaish TAs (assigned by student last initial):
av8u@virginia.edu A-M: Lee (ll3jt@virginia.edu)
Office: Online Office Hours: Fridays 10:30-12 noon
Office Hours: Mondays 2-3 p.m. on Zoom Zoom:https://virginia.zoom.us/j/97965785180?pwd=c
(please email to confirm if you plan to visit) TQybXdKUDNZYU1kdXNxa0xsaGJhQT09
https://virginia.zoom.us/j/98382846290?pwd=d2
RMSlFKQkVYNVlCSFFwQk5zem8xUT09 N-Z: Yuhang Shu (jxd2cf@virginia.edu)
Meeting ID: 983 8284 6290 Office Hours: Wednesdays 10-11:30 a.m.
Passcode: Psyc2700 Zoom:https://virginia.zoom.us/j/92524121005?pwd=
[Also accessible under Collab/Online Meetings] YTZCOGdmYzZHZEt6Z1krR3dmeVVCQT09
Course website: On Collab Passcode: 2700

Overview
We can look into the cribs of newborn babies and wonder what they are thinking and who they will become.
How do they make sense of the enormous amount of information around them and, in just two years, learn
hundreds of words? We can watch pre-school children playing and wonder if they are just miniature adults or if
they think and reason in unique ways. We can see high school students mastering calculus while others
struggle with arithmetic. What accounts for the individual differences that develop between us? Do we become
our adult selves because of something driving us from within or are we shaped by outside forces like parents,
schools, and society? In this course, our first goal is to learn what science can tell us about development.
Learning research-based information about children will help you appreciate how we become who we become,
be an advocate for children, and hopefully have more fun with them too.
A second major goal of this course is to help you think like a scientist. How do we gather information about
children? What constitutes good data? How do we draw conclusions from those data? The world is full of faulty
reasoning; I hope taking this course will help you think more clearly about what constitutes good evidence
generally, and with reference to child development specifically.
What, where, when
Lecture: Chem 402 on Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-3:15 p.m. (Classes through 2/3 are Online-Asynchronous.)
Optional clarification sessions (Zoom): The day before each exam, as follows:
• 2/16: Time & link TBA
• 3/28: Time & link TBA
• 5/02: Time & link TBA
[The optional weekly review sessions on Wednesdays from 5-5:50 p.m. that are listed in the course catalog
will not take place, with the exception of the above-mentioned clarification sessions.]
Textbook: Siegler, R. S., Saffran, J., Gershoff, E., & Eisenberg, N. (2020). How Children Develop (6th ed.).
There's more to learn about child development than we could possibly cover in lecture; the textbook will
reinforce key concepts from lecture and prepare you for and expand your knowledge of the topics we cover in
class. The textbook is required and is available through UVA Bookstore's Inclusive Access program. ALL
students enrolled in the class will have immediate access to the digital textbook through UVA Collab for the
first 2 weeks of class—for free. After February 2, your student account will be charged $54.76. Students will
receive an email from UVA Inclusive Access with detailed information about accessing the materials, costs,
and opting out. Note that the Inclusive Access program is optional for students but you must actively opt out
by the deadline to not be charged (in which case you will lose access to the digital textbook). Due to the
special pricing, UVA Bookstore will not process refunds. If you have any questions regarding the program,
please email UVAInclusiveAccess@virginia.edu.

If you prefer a hard copy of the textbook, you can find it at various online sellers like Amazon. Please be sure
to use the 6th edition, as all readings/page #s refer to this edition and it includes some cool new material you’ll
want to know.
Detailed Structure
Online-asynchronous (OA) lectures through Feb. 3:
On 1/20, 1/25, 1/27, 2/01, and 2/03, recorded lectures will be posted on Collab by 2 p.m.

In-person lectures starting Feb. 8:

Lectures will begin promptly at 2 p.m. with Announcements (if any) followed by 1 minute of Mindfulness. We
will then have an interactive lecture, sometimes with guest lecturers or films.

Readings:
All lectures have a corresponding reading in the textbook (or sometimes a non-textbook reading available on
Collab/Resources). I recommend that you plan to do the reading before the lecture, and then look over it again
after the lecture in order to reinforce and expand your knowledge from lecture.

Quizzes: [25% of final grade]

All lectures (including OA ones) have a corresponding short quiz (3-4 multiple-choice questions) based on the
lecture and corresponding reading. These are designed to assess and reinforce your understanding of the
material from that week, and to encourage you to keep up with the material. Quizzes will be posted on
Collab/Tests & Quizzes by 5 p.m. after the respective lecture and will be due by 5 p.m. the next day.
Quizzes are open-notes and open-book. However, they will be timed (1 minute per question), so they will
require you to have seen and digested the information beforehand!
It’s critical that you complete all quizzes individually (without help from others or the internet, both of which
would be Honor violations).
Quizzes in the first 2 weeks are for practice only; they do not count towards your final grades. Quizzes start to
count towards your final grade on Feb. 3rd. Your 2 lowest quiz scores after Feb. 3rd will be dropped.
Late work: Life happens (especially during a pandemic). You get 2 "Life Happens Passes" during the semester
— this grants a 1-week extension on any quiz, no questions asked. Please email your TA if you plan to use
one. Beyond that, it's important that you stay up to date with the readings and quizzes. All other quizzes are
due at the noted time and will not be accepted after that. Try setting reminders in your calendar or phone to
help you keep track of due dates.

3 Midterm exams: [each 25% of final grade]

There will be 3 midterm exams and no final exam. Midterms will take place in class, but online (via
Collab/Tests), so please bring your own laptop for the midterms.
All 3 midterm exams count towards your final grade. Each is worth 25% of your final grade. Midterm exams will
consist of 40 multiple-choice questions (2.5 points per question) from the material up to the exam date
(including all readings, guest lectures, etc.). The third and final midterm exam will focus on the material since
the second midterm exam but will also include some more comprehensive, overarching questions that tie the
course together.
Clarification sessions: On the day before each midterm exam, the TAs will hold a clarification session to
answer specific questions about course content that students have emailed to them at least 24 hours ahead of
the session. These are not review sessions, but rather are opportunities to seek clarification on specific points
(e.g., ‘How are Behaviorism and Social Learning theory related?’). If no specific questions are received by 24
hours ahead of the scheduled clarification session before each exam, no clarification session will be held.

SDAC students: If you are permitted extra time, you may take ‘Extended time’ quizzes and midterms. Please
ensure that I receive your SDAC documentation so that I can assign you to those.

Participant Pool research requirement:

Additionally, you will get first-hand experience with psychology research by being a participant in (online)
research studies. You are required to participate in 6 hours of experimental research studies, or to complete an
equivalent alternate assignment, which involves reviewing six empirical articles. If you have already done this
in a different 1000 or 2000-level Psychology course at UVA, then you do not need to complete this requirement
again. ALL STUDENTS (even if you think you already completed the requirement) must read the document
entitled “Accessing the Participant Pool.docx,” which can be found on Collab/Resources/Participant Pool. This
document provides detailed instructions on how to complete the requirement and what to do if you already
completed the requirement in a previous semester. You may begin the requirement on January 24th. Three
of the hours must be completed by April 1st, and the remaining three must be completed by midnight on the last
day of classes, May 3rd. If you fail to complete the research requirement, your final grade will be lowered by
one step (e.g., B- will become C+). Please direct all questions about this requirement or the website
to ppool@virginia.edu – NOT to the professor or the TAs!

Grading
These 4 components make up your grade:
Quizzes (25%) + Midterm 1 (25%) + Midterm 2 (25%) + Midterm 3 (25%) [+ Participant Pool credits]
Final Course Grade = (.25 x Quizzes) + (.25 x Midterm 1) + (.25 x Midterm 2) + (.25 x Midterm 3) and convert
to a letter grade (but deduct one grade step if Participant Pool research requirement is not fulfilled).
To convert this number to a letter grade, I use the following cut-offs (also available in Collab/Resources/Course
Grade Thresholds). I round up from .5, so an 89.500 is an A- but an 89.499 is a B+. (Sorry but there has to be
a cutoff somewhere…!)

Course expectations
No-technology class:
Research has shown that people perform worse when they are on their devices during class, and they learn
better when they take notes by hand and are not distracted by others’ devices (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014;
Ravizza et al., 2016; both available on Collab). Therefore, during lectures, you must put away ALL devices.
Those who violate the policy by having a phone, tablet, or computer out in class will suffer a full step reduction
in their course grade. However, I understand that there are times when students need me to make an
exception to this rule. If that’s the case, please come to my office to talk with me and we’ll proceed from there.

Communication:
Please contact your assigned TA with ALL questions about the course: questions about course content
but also questions related to deadlines, requirements, problems with access to materials, etc. Do not contact
the other TA or me. If your TA cannot answer your question, they will get in touch with me and then respond
to you. If you need to discuss anything directly with me, please visit my office hours.

Note: This syllabus, the first (Introduction) class, announcements sent through Collab, and announcements
made at the beginning of class contain important information that could influence how well you do in the
course and your standing at the University (Honor). All students are expected to know ALL of this
 information without having to ask the TAs for individual attention. If you have a question, you should go
through the syllabus and course announcements first, and contact your TA only if you have been
unable to get the information through those sources.

Missing lecture:
Please do not write me or your TA if you need to miss lecture. Lectures are intended for you to engage with
and learn the material, and the quizzes and midterms may ask questions about material only covered in
lectures. If you miss a lecture for whatever reason, you may miss important information and points on quizzes
or midterms. There is no way to make up those points.

Honor
To learn and grow in this course, it's important that you do your work with integrity. This includes not copying
others' work and refraining from giving or receiving unauthorized help (via texting/screenshots/online forums,
etc.). The following acts are specifically prohibited:
• Viewing old exams or answer keys for this U.VA course, no matter the semester or instructor.
• Sharing information about an exam given in this class with anyone, or copying portions of an exam in
any way (e.g., with screen-shots).
• Consulting any source other than your own notes (and brain) on the quizzes.
• Consulting any source at all on the midterms.
• Posting or sharing any of the course materials online. This is not only an Honor violation but also very
likely a copyright violation, so please do not post any course materials anywhere!
I trust you to honor the provisions of the UVA Honor system (www.virginia.edu/honor), which includes reporting
violations you're aware of. Violations are forwarded to the Honor Committee and may result in a zero on that
assignment. Please let me know if you have questions about the UVA Honor system.

Additional Information
Expectations for doing well: To get the most out of this course, I suggest you attend and engage with all
lectures, taking organized notes that you look over (and possibly rewrite) a day or two after the lecture. The
best study includes recalling the information and examples, and relating them to other things you know. In
general, 3 credit college classes require 6 hours of study outside of class. Spreading your 6 hours of
studying out over the week is most effective. Most students who do not do well do not spend enough time
actively studying, really thinking about the information they have learned.
How to tackle the textbook: Like many textbooks, this one has a lot of information. I recommend you first
peruse the chapter headings and get the gist of what it will cover. Then read it, making notes of the keywords
and key ideas. Ask yourself the questions at chapter end. A few days later, go back to it (preferably in a new
place, which helps learning). Go through the section headings, asking yourself what you learned in that part.
Connect it to other things you learned, in lecture or the chapter or other courses. Think of your own examples.
Ask yourself what the keywords mean. Know all the figures and why the information in them is important
enough to put in a figure. Know what is in the boxes. Do this again a few days later. Quiz yourself or a friend,
giving in-depth answers that tie together different aspects of the course and that tie it to other material from
your lives. These are the ways one learns information well!
Exam follow up: If you are putting the time in but are not doing well, or if you simply want to discuss an exam,
please first contact your TA to set up a time to go over your answers and identify where you had problems. The
TAs will have access to your exam, and so they will be able to go over exams with individual students.
However, after you have gone over your exam with a TA, if you still have questions or concerns, you should of
course feel free to set up a meeting with me.
Tentative Schedule – subject to change!
Date Lecture Topic Corresponding reading Quiz due by 5
p.m. on:
1/20 Introduction (Online-Asynchronous) Syllabus 1/21
1/25 Theory (OA) Ch 1: pp. 1-23 (through 'Enduring Themes in Child 1/26
Development')
1/27 Methods (OA) Ch 1: pp. 23-36 ('Methods for Studying Child Dev') 1/28
2/01 Prenatal Development (OA) Ch 2 2/02
2/03 Biology & Behavior (OA) Ch 3: pp. 78-104 (through ‘Brain Development’) 2/04
[Note: Quizzes start counting today]
2/08 Perception (In person from here on) Ch 5: pp. 158-176 (‘Perception’) 2/09
2/10 Learning Ch 5: pp. 184-192 (‘Learning and Memory’) 2/11
[Guest lecture: Dr. Angeline Lillard]
2/15 FILM: Baby Human – To Walk 5: pp. 176-184 (‘Motor Development’) 2/16
2/16 Clarification session: Time and link TBA; post questions in Collab by 2/15 @ 5 p.m. --
2/17 Midterm 1: in class, on Collab – please bring laptop! (25% of final grade) --
2/22 Cognitive Development I (Piaget) Ch 4: pp. 117-130 (‘Piaget’s Theory’) 2/23
2/24 Cognitive Development II Ch 4: pp. 131-153 2/25
3/01 Conceptual Development I Ch 7: pp. 235-241 (through 'Dividing Objects into 3/02
Categories'); 250-260 ('Knowledge of Living Things',
'Causality' + Box 7.3); 266-269 ('Number') [No need to
read 'Space' or 'Time')
3/03 Conceptual Development II: Ch7: pp. 241-250 3/04
Social Cognition, Theory of Mind
3/08 SPRING BREAK --
3/10 SPRING BREAK --
3/15 Autism Ch 7: Box 7.1 3/16
[Guest lecture: Zoe Sargent] + Granieri et al. (2020) – in Collab/Resources/Articles
3/17 Intelligence Ch 8: pp. 275-298 (through ‘Alternative Perspectives 3/18
on Intelligence’)
3/22 Language Ch 6 3/23
3/24 FILM: Baby Human – To Think -- 3/25
3/28 Clarification session: Time and link TBA; post questions in Collab by 3/27 @ 5 p.m. 3/29
3/29 Midterm 2: in class, on Collab – please bring laptop! (25% of final grade) --
3/31 Social Development Ch 9 4/01
4/05 No class --
4/07 Attachment Ch 11: pp. 389-401 (‘The Caregiver-Child Attachment 4/08
[Guest lecture: Dr. Jessie Stern] Relationship’)
4/12 Parents and Siblings Ch 12: pp. 424-443 (through ‘Child Maltreatment’) 4/13
4/14 Emotional Development Ch 10: pp. 352-378 (through ‘Temperament’) 4/15
4/19 Moral Development Ch 14 4/20
4/21 Developmental Psychopathology Ch 10: pp. 379-384 (‘Mental Health, Stress, and 4/22
[Guest lecture: Dr. Jessie Stern] Internalizing Mental Disorders’)
4/26 FILM: Baby Human – To Belong -- 4/27
4/29 Conclusions and final thoughts 16 4/30
5/2 Clarification session: Time and link TBA; post questions in Collab by 5/1 @ 5 p.m. --
5/3 Midterm 3: in class, on Collab – please bring laptop! (25% of final grade) --