INFANT DEVELOPMENT
Welcome to the HDFS 428 Infant Development Class Web Page.
On this page you will find the syllabus, assignment requirements,
and the lecture outlines presented in each class. Other submissions
will appear from time to time so be sure to check this Web site every
week.
HEADLINE
SYLLABUS
#ASSIGNMENTS
#CLASS OUTLINES
STUDENT BROCHURES
HDFS
428
Fall 2001
MWF 1:25-2:15
Instructor: Cynthia A. Stifter, PhD
Teaching Asst.: Lilly Shanahan
Office: 105 White Bldg.
Office:
S208 Henderson
Hours: M- 2:30-3:30
Hours:
W 12:15-1:15
Phone: 865-2666
Phone:
863-0092
E-mail: tvr@psu.edu
E-mail:
lxk191@psu.edu
Goals of this course:
Infancy is a period of rapid growth and development
which is why HDFS has a course that focuses specifically on the
first two years of life. In this course we will cover human development
from conception through the second year of life. There are many areas
of development within the infancy period. Because the primary goal
of this course is to give you an in depth look at infancy we will limit
ourselves to a few of the many important developmental changes that
occur during this period. We will be discussing several aspects of
prenatal development, perceptual development, temperament, emotional
development and social development. We will also spend some time talking
about the research methods through which we have come to understand
how it is that infants develop. Specifically, within each of these
areas, the purpose of this course is for you:
(1) to gain an appreciation of the contribution of
the infant to his/her environment;
(2) to understand the importance of the environment
to early development;
(3) to become familiar with the role of research in
developmental psychology;
(4) to apply your knowledge to current and future
parenting.
These goals will be accomplished through several methods.
First, since this is a theory course the predominant mode of learning
will be through lectures, readings and discussions. However, one of
the most effective ways of learning about infants is through observing
their behavior. Therefore, several assignments will be required so
that you can apply what you are learning in the classroom and through
your readings. Finally, films on certain aspects of infancy, videos
from my laboratory, and guest speakers (maybe an infant or two) will be
scheduled when possible.
Course Prerequisite:
Students must of have had HDFS 229 or PSY 213 and
HDFS 312W to take this course.
Required Text:
Bornstein, M. & Lamb, M. (1992). Development
in Infancy. McGraw Hill: New York
Additional Reading:
Rosenblith, J. F. (1992).
In the Beginning: Development from Conception to Age Two (2nd
edition). Sage Publications: London. Chapters 2-5. Two
(2) copies of the chapters will be available in S-110 Henderson
for copying but can only be signed out for 2 hours.
Course Requirements:
Exams: Three (3) multiple choice/short answer/essay
noncumulative exams worth 50% of your grade will be given in this
course. Students may contribute questions to each exam. One week
prior to the exam students submit by email a minimum of 5 questions.
The questions will be compiled and shared only with those students
who contributed. At least 10% of the questions will be included on the
exam in one form or another. If you are unable to take an exam a make-up
will be available, but BEWARE - it will have very few, more difficult,
long answer questions.
Assignments: One individual assignment and 5 group assignments
worth a total of 50% of your grade are required. The individual
assignment (#6) is partially dependent upon group assignments #3-5.
Groups will have an opportunity to evaluate their fellow group members’
contribution on three occasions. The evaluations will be factored
into the group members’ individual grade. A 4 point scale
(0 - 3) will be used. Every quarter point less than a mean of 3
(perfect score) will result in a one point deduction from the individual
grade. So if a group member’s mean is 2.5 and they got a 90
for their assignment, the final grade for the assignment will be 88.
Assignment 1 (10%) - prenatal
health “brochure”
Assignment 2 (10%) - observe 2
infants
Assignment 3 ( -%) - decide on
behaviors and coding system for your group’s observation
Assignment 4 ( - %) -first observation
Assignment 5 (- %) - second observation
Assignment 6 (30%) -research paper
For the final project (#3-6) groups are required to observe
4 infants varying in age or gender. All four infants must be
observed 4 times, twice during one month, and twice one month later,
for a total of 16 observations. That is, you will do 8 observations
(2 per child) during October and 8 observations (2/child) of the same
children in November. Details to follow.
Grades: Each grade that you receive is based
on 100 points. Your percentage points are averaged and weighted
according to the above percentages. Final grades are based on
the following percent distributions. +’s and -‘s are dependent
upon the number of students within that range. It is rare for the distribution
to be non-normal but under those circumstances, the distribution will
be shifted accordingly.
A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%, C = 70-79%,
D = 60-69%, F = < 60%
Participation: Your attendance and participation in
class is encouraged, particularly your attendance during group meetings
(see above).
Dates
All dates are subject to change. All assignments are
due by 5:00 pm on the date indicated below. Late assignments will
result in a drop in grade each day that it is late and no assignment
will be accepted more than two days late. It is strongly recommended
that you keep both a disk copy and a hard copy of your assignments
in case of unexpected loss.
Exam Dates: 9/24, 10/24, 12/12 (6:50-8:40 pm)
Assignments: 9/14
(Assignment 1)
10/1 (Assignment
2)
10/12 (Assignment
3)
10/22 (Assignment
4)
11/12 (Assignment
5)
11/28 (Assignment
6)
Group meetings are tentatively scheduled for: 8/31(acquaintance),
9/7 (Assignment 1), 9/26 (Assignment 2), 10/5 (Assignment 3), 11/19
(Assignment 4, 5 & 6).
Statement of Academic Integrity:
Violating academic integrity is considered a serious offense
by the University and is treated accordingly. Violation of academic
integrity includes all of the following: cheating on exams; having
unauthorized possession of exams; and submitting the work of another
person as your own (plagiarism). Students caught cheating on exams
will receive a zero on that exam. Students caught cheating a second time
or students violating academic integrity in any other way will receive
an F for the course. Further information, including appeals processes,
is provided in policy 49-20 of the current Policies and Rules handbook
for students.
Plagiarism (from Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary)
- “ to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as
our own; to use a created production without crediting the source;
to commit literary theft; to present as new or original an idea of
product derived from an existing sources.” In other words,
direct lines from another’s writing without quotes and appropriate
citations is as serious an offense as cheating on an exam and will be
dealt with accordingly.
Course Topics
Chapter
Pages
I. Introduction
1
II. Prenatal Development and Birth
4
99-118
A. Development
Rosenblith - 2
20-39
B. Environmental effects
Rosenblith
- 3 & 4
C. Labor and delivery
Rosenblith
- 5
D. Prematurity
4
125-127
Rosenblith - 2
39-51
III. Research Methods
3
IV. Newborn Characteristics
A. Reflexes
4
129-132
B. Autonomic and Central
Nervous System
5
V. Perceptual Development
6
VI. Information Processing
7
242-248
VII. Emotional Development
10
356-382
VIII. Temperament
10
382-408
IX. Social Development
11
X. Social Ecology of Infants
2
Assignment 1 Assignment 2 Assignment 3 Assignment 4&5
Assignment 6 Report Guidelines
Group Assignment #1
Influences on Prenatal Development and Neonatal Outcome
For this assignment, groups will choose a topic related
to prenatal development and outcome and create a hand-out or brochure
that discusses the topic. Members must organize themselves so as to
divide responsibility for researching this topic equally. You can
use library books, journal articles, and the Internet which has many
sites on these topics. The information you present should NOT come from
the class textbook. Each group must write up what they learned when
researching their topic but the final product should be a one page information
sheet, much like a brochure that you would hand out in a Health clinic.
Groups must use more than one source and should include where you got
your information, i.e., web site, journal article, book title, on your
handout. The final product will be posted on the class Web page so be
sure that it can be either emailed as an attachment or provided to me
on a disk.
The brochure should cover the who, what, why, where,
and how of the particular teratogen. Incidence rates, risk factors,
symptoms, treatments, etc. should also be considered when writing
up your hand-outs.
Groups will present their brochure with either one
member presenting the hand-out or the group together. Presentations
should only take 5 minutes. An overhead of the handout can be made
prior to the class or the group may decide to copy hand-outs for all
students in the class.
A grade on the final product will be given
to each individual of the group which will be adjusted, if necessary,
by your group’s evaluation of your effort on this assignment
(10%).
Group Assignment #2
Infant/Toddler Observation
The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize yourself with observing
young children.
For this assignment you and the other group members are
to observe two infants/toddlers in the
daycare center at the Child Development Labs. Each
group must arrange to observe 2 children
for 15 minutes but at different times/days. Each
member of the group must observe each child
but should not overlap with the time and day of another
group member, however, the times can
overlap if another member is observing the other child.
In other words, the only time two group
members should be observing together is if they are observing
two different children. The total
number of observations per child should be equal to the
number of members (so if there are 5
members then your group should have 5 observations of
that one child.)
During the observation you must write exactly what you see during
that 15 minutes. That
is, keep a running account of what the child does for
that 15 minutes. Be sure to pick a time
when the infant/toddler is awake. For an example
of an acceptable running record, see the class
web site. You do not have to type up your running
record, however, it would be easier for all
concerned.
Your group will have a brief time to meet to decide who will choose
the infant/toddlers to
observe (and then inform the other members). Another
class time will be set aside to allow
members to go over what everyone saw and come to a conclusion
about the two children you
observed with regard to their personality, background,
health, etc. Each group member must turn
in their running account of each child and a synopsis
of the group conclusion. The group
conclusion can be the same but each student must submit
a conclusion. Your grade will be an
average of your group contribution and your individual
grade.
Suggestions: (1) Anecdotes are useful to support a particular conclusion.
For example, if the
group decided that a child was shy, then give a description
of a situation in which the child was
observed being “shy.” (2) Your group
might want to choose two children who vary on some
characteristic like age, gender, or ethnicity. If
so, then your group conclusion might include a
comparison of the two children. (3) Group members may
want to photocopy their running record
for the other members of the group.
Kelsey is a white, 15 month old female at the Sense of Wonder day care.
Running Record of Kelsey’s activities on Tuesday, January 9, 2001
from 9:09am to 9:24am:
Kelsey is sitting quietly by herself at the table.
The instructor puts a bib on her-she does not resist.
Kelsey begins to play with the bib while watching 2 boys
who are playing nearby.
Her gaze wanders to a different part of the class, back
to the 2 boys, and then to the girl who is now sitting on her left.
The instructor places a waffle stick with syrup on a plate
in front of her.
Kelsey picks up the waffle stick with her right (R) hand.
She then dips her left (L) finger in syrup that has dripped
onto the plate and tastes it.
Next, she begins eating the waffle.
She spends a few minutes alternating between taking bites
of the waffle and licking syrup off her L fingers which she repeatedly
dips into the syrup (it actually looks as though she is trying to pick
up the syrup).
The instructor places a cup of milk in front of her.
There is a lid on the cup.
She attempts to pick up the cup with her R hand, but the
cup falls on its side.
Kelsey doesn’t seem to notice; she continues to
eat her waffle and seems content.
The instructor puts the cup upright but Kelsey is not
paying attention.
Kelsey happily continues to take bites of the waffle stick
still in her R hand; she attends to events in her surroundings (i.e.
she turns her head in that direction and watches). For example,
she watches as a girl arrives with her mother.
Kelsey switches the waffle stick to her L hand and continues
to eat.
She puts the waffle down on the plate after a few moments
and picks up the cup with both hands. She proceeds to drink
from the cup.
She tries to place the cup back on the table, but it falls
on its side (on the table). She does not attempt to pick it
up. Soon the instructor puts the cup upright and redirects Kelsey’s
attention to her waffle. She picks it up with her R hand and
takes bites from it. Again she is attentive to events
in her surroundings while she eats.
When she is finished her waffle stick, she sits quietly
for a moment. Then she simultaneously looks around, plays
with some syrup that has spilled on the table with her R hand, and
licks her L fingers. She looks content.
She soon picks up the plate with both hands and licks
the syrup on it.
She lifts up the cup with both hands and drinks.
Again, the cup falls on it’s side when she attempts to replace
it and, again, the instructor places it upright.
Kelsey stares quietly at the instructor who asks her if
she would like more food.
The instructor places a new waffle stick in front of her.
She picks up the waffle with her L hand and begins eating.
Soon she begins tearing off pieces of the waffle with her R hand.
She eats the torn-off pieces.
Soon she resumes taking bites of the waffle in the L hand.
She watches the instructors and the other 0-3 year olds around her
(most of the class is sitting and eating waffles now and have been
for awhile).
She finishes the waffle and again looks as though she
is trying to pick up the syrup from the plate with her L hand.
She licks those fingers.
She gets another waffle stick and immediately dips her
L index finger into the syrup that is on top of it. She licks
this finger. She then picks up the waffle with her L hand and
tears off pieces with the R hand to eat.
She watches a crying baby as she continues to eat.
GROUP ASSIGNMENT #3
CHOOSING THE BEHAVIORS YOU ARE TO OBSERVE
In your first assignment, you observed two young children
for 15 minutes each. This assignment should have given you a flavor
of what children this age do and what is easily observable. For this
assignment groups must decide what behaviors they are going to observe for
their large research project. Each group will observe 4 infants
differing in age or gender and these infants must be seen twice during
one month and twice again a month later (ex.: 2 boys + 2 girls seen 2 times
in October and 2 times in November = 16 observations (4 observations per
child).
Before the observations take place groups must choose
a particular area of development, i.e., perceptual, cognitive, social, emotional,
temperament and then choose 4 behaviors that reflect that specific area
of interest. In addition, the group must come up with a working definition
of the 4 behaviors so that all members are observing the same thing.
Finally, groups must report who they will observe (approximate age, sex)
and what sampling method they will use (event sampling, time sampling,
or scales).
Groups must complete the Assignment #3 form that describes
their intentions. Groups will get feedback about whether these behaviors
are appropriate to observe and are defined sufficiently for any person
to know what to observe. Ex. Group 12 is interested in
motor development. Your group chooses to observe gross motor skills
in 4 infants who differ in age. The infants/toddlers will be attending
a local day care center. Members will observe walking, crawling,
running and climbing which are operationalized in the following ways....”
Please use the form to report your group’s intention.
ASSIGNMENT #6
INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORT
For your last assignment you are responsible for independently
writing up a research report on the data you collected with your group.
That is, you will write up a paper following the RESEARCH GUIDELINES on the
16 observations your group did on 4 infants/toddlers. Only the method,
data and the presentation of the data (tables & graphs) can be shared
among group members. Members also have the choice to write up these
sections on their own. The introduction, purpose, and discussion must
be done on your own. The following are hints to help you accomplish
this task. Please remember that this paper is worth 30% of your final
grade. Your grade on the paper will be adjusted based on your group
participation grade. Because this paper is a product of 3 assignments,
the group’s evaluation of your performance will be adjusted accordingly.
Each quarter point (.25) will be worth -3 points. For example, if your
mean evaluation was 2.5, 6 points will be deducted from the grade you get
on your paper.
1. You are to review one published research paper that does
a study on the area of development your group is researching or on the specific
behavior you are observing. For example, if you are doing peer interactions
you should look for a research article on peer behavior in toddlers.
Or, you can go more broadly to social development and review an article on,
for example, the impact of mothering on later relationships. The best
way to do this is to go to the Periodicals Room and look at the recent journals
in child development. These are Child Development, Developmental Psychology,
Infant Behavior and Development and Infancy. Look through the table
of contents and choose an article that fits this requirement. Read
the article and then summarize it in 5-7 sentences that includes: the purpose
of the study, the methods (how they observed behavior), the results, and
their conclusions. DO NOT COPY ANY SENTENCES FROM THE ARTICLE -- THIS
IS PLAGIARISM. Use your own words to summarize. You MUST include
a copy of the ABSTRACT with your paper. Failure to do so will result
in a deduction of 5 points. Finally, be sure to include the reference
to this article at the end of your paper, also worth 5 points.
2. Your results should be presented in at least 2 formats.
You can either present the raw numbers in a table and graphs, or in the text
of the paper and on graphs. If you choose to use a table to report
the frequencies then you should say something under the Results section that
refers to the table and what is in it. The graph can be either a bar chart
or a line chart and should represent the behaviors at the two time points.
The two observations which were done closely together should be averaged
or added and reported as a percent or proportion. For example, if you
saw smiling 5 times on the first observation, and smiling 10 times on the
second, you can either report the child smiled an average of 7.5 times or
25% of all behaviors (assuming a total of 60 behaviors, 25% = 15 total times
smiling/60 total behaviors). This would be for one time point.
Then you would have data from the 3rd and 4th observations for the second
time point. If you saw smiling 4 and 12 times, respectively then you
would either report the a mean of 8 times or a percent of 13% (assuming a
total of 60 behaviors). Your chart should include results from both
time points. Example: a bar representing 7.5 for Time 1 and 8 for Time
2. You must also expand your results to include a combination of the
infants who are the same on one variable such as age or gender. For
example, if you observed a female smiling 15 times at Time 1 and another
female smiling 15 times at Time 1 you could create a bar graph that compares
the females to the males with the females showing a mean of 15 smiles vs.,
say, 8 for the males. When combining subjects you will need to take
an average of the 2 subjects.
3. The Discussion section is where you draw your conclusions
about the children you observed. You should talk about each individual
child and either females vs. males or younger infants vs. older infants,
etc. Here you should use anecdotes, situations or examples that explain
your findings/conclusions. Be creative. Use what you have learned
about child development to support your arguments.
4. IMPORTANT: Other hints on writing your report. Please
use HEADINGS as seen in the guidelines. Also, do not use the first
person (“I”) when writing your report; rather use “The
subject was observed doing ...” Also check your spelling and
grammar. That is, read your report before you turn it in. Points
will be deducted for not following directions, spelling and grammar.
INTRODUCTION
(This is where you summarize the article you read - 10 pts.)
Example
A study by Stenberg and colleagues (Stenberg,
Campos, & Emde, 1983) found that infants ...
OR
A study of infant anger (Stenberg, Campos, &
Emde, 1983) found that infants...
Purpose. (State what your intention was - 5 pts) The purpose of the present study was to...
Example
The purpose of this study was to investigate
the motor behavior of a pre- schooler during play time.
METHODS
Subjects. (Describe your subjects in this section - 5 pts.) The subjects of this study were ....
Example
Subjects
The subjects of this study were
a four-year-old male, a four-year-old female, a 3-year-old male
and a 3-year-old female. All four subjects come from two parent
families in which the mother does not work outside the home
Setting. (Here you describe where you did the observation.
It should include general description if in large area or more
specific details if in smaller area. Also include number of
adults and children present if appropriate - 10 pts.) The subject
of this study was observed during ...
The setting in which the observation was recorded
was ...
Example
Setting
The subjects of this study were
observed during outdoor free playtime which occurs from approximately
8:30 to 9:00 a.m. Each child was observed twice within 48 hours.
The same 4 children were observed a second time 3 weeks later for a total
of 4 observations per child.
The setting in which the observation was recorded
was a playground outside the building in which the pre-school is
housed. The playground consists of several pieces of play equipment
such as a jungle gym, swings, sandbox, and sliding board. There
are also several small tricycles for the children's use. During
the observation, 5 adults and 25 children were present. It appeared
that the adults were either instructors or teaching assistants.
Procedure. (This section describes in detail which behaviors you
observed, an operationalization of those behaviors, how the behavior
was coded and for how long - 25 pts.) The behaviors observed
were ... The type of behavioral recording was ...
Behaviors were recorded for ... (length of time)
Example
Procedure
For the purposes of this study on
motor behavior, the following behaviors were recorded: number
of times the subject used playground equipment; number of times subject
ran during play; and number of times subject jumped during play.
Using playground equipment was defined as anytime the child used the
swingset, jungle gym or sliding board for its intended purpose.
Running during play was defined as quick movement across the playground.
Jumping was defined as leaving the ground by jumping or jumping off playground
equipment on the subject's own accord. The behaviors were observed
and recorded using the event sampling method. Behaviors were recorded
during the entire play session which lasted 30 minutes.
RESULTS
(Here is where you will report the numbers you recorded. You can refer to a bar chart or table that reflects the frequencies or durations. A percentage of total behaviors or mean of the frequency counts should be reported here for each subject at each time. A line or bar graph should be used to represent the data - 15 pts.)
Example
RESULTS
Observations of motor behavior
for the subjects of this study showed that during the 30 minute play
session the 4 year old male subject used playground equipment 10 times
during the first observation and 8 times during the second observation
which occurred one day later which totaled 18 times (T1), On the 3rd
and 4th observations which occurred 3 weeks later (T2), the subject used
play equipment a total of 5 times. This subject also ran for a
total of 12 times at T1 and 8 times at T2; and jumped during play 6 times
at T1 and 6 times at T2. The second subject .... In
percentages, at T1 the first subject of this study spent one- half (50%)
of his total play behavior using the playground equipment while the
percent of total behavior spent running during play was 33%. Finally,
17% of the subject's play behavior was jumping. At T2, ...
DISCUSSION
(This is the section in which you actually discuss and
make sense of what you found. Be creative! - 25 pts.)
The purpose of this study was to ...
The results of this study showed ...
From the results we might conclude that ...
Future research might....
Example
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to investigate
the motor behavior of four pre-school children twice during outdoor
play time and again 3 weeks later. The results showed that the
motor behavior of a four-year-old boy was spent primarily using
playground equipment while the amount of running and jumping during
play was somewhat less. It appears that this subject enjoys
play that involves objects rather than play that centers around his
own physical abilities. For example during one long play bout,
the subject was intently playing with the jungle gym, developing an
elaborate drama about firefighting. It may be that he has limited
physical capabilities and uses objects as a way of expressing what gross
motor ability he does have. Alternatively, it may be that his
parents discourage this type of activity or his environment is not conducive
to it. In contrast to the male subject, the female subject ....
The next step might be to investigate his behavior in a more confined
setting.
References
Stenberg, C., Campos, J., & Emde, R. (1983). The facial expression of anger in seven-month-old infants. Child Development, 54, 178-184. (5 pts.)
*** Copy of article Abstract - 5 pts. *****
Why Infancy? Prenatal development Prenatal influences
More Prenatal Influences Labor and Delivery Research Methods
Basic Characteristics Nervous System Development Perceptual Development
Temperament Emotional Development Attachment
II. History of infant study
III. Themes of development
A. Normative vs. Individual differences
B. Interactions among developmental areas
C. Directions of development
1. Cephalocaudal
2. Proximo distal
D. Competent infant
E. Nature vs. Nurture
IV. Developmental Concepts
A. Stability
1. Homotypic stability
2. Heterotypic stability
3. Mediational model
B. Continuity
C. Stages
I. Why study prenatal development?
II. Conceptualization/Fertilization
A. Infertility
III. Three stages of development
A. Zygote (0-2 weeks)
**** endometrium *****
**** ectopic of tubal pregnancy *****Below are some web sites that may be of interest to students of infant development. I will try to update them as we continue through the course.
Prenatal Screening:
http://www.noah-health.org/english/pregnancy/pregnancy.html#PREBASIC
Family
Web
- a site that describes in simple terms
what a woman can expect during her pregnancy