PSYC 251/3.0: Developmental Psychology

This course is available to both Queen’s and non-Queen’s students. Non-Queen’s students (including interest students, visiting students, and new online degree students) must first apply for admission. The following course description is presented for informational purposes only and is subject to change.

Instructor

Angela Howell-Moneta Learn more about the instructor...
E-mail: angelahow@gmail.com

Course Description

This online psychology course is an introduction to the scientific study of human development, with an emphasis on social, cognitive, and neurobiological processes underlying perceptual, cognitive, and emotional development from infancy to adolescence.

Course Introduction

Welcome to Psychology 251, a course designed to give you a general introduction to the field of Developmental Psychology. This course will cover both theories and research concerning infancy, childhood, and adolescence. It has three major learning objectives. First, by the end of the course you are expected to be able to describe the onset and changes in various behaviors. This is the "what" question in developmental research. Second, you are expected to examine and critically evaluate theories that have been developed to explain children's behavior and age-related changes in that behavior. This is the "why" question in developmental research. Third, you are expected to learn how developmental psychologists actually conduct experiments as they attempt to describe developmental trends and assess developmental theories. This is the "how" question of developmental research.

Most developmental psychologists study infants, children, or adolescents. Our course reflects this bias. It also reflects the influence of biology, anthropology, computer science, sociology, and medicine on the field of developmental psychology. This will become apparent as you work your way through the textbook. I hope that you will find the course intellectually fascinating as well as useful in examining both your own assumptions and those of our culture about children and their development.

The goals of the course are:

• To introduce the course topic, course requirements, and course logistics
• To offer guidance to how to succeed in taking a distance learning course
• To provide an introduction into writing assignments in APA style
• To supplement the textbook by offering more in-depth explanations of difficult concepts and adding some important content, and highlighting Canadian research

Course Topics

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More information:

• Computer Requirements and Internet Access
• Moodle, Our Online Learning Environment 
• Academic Integrity
• Evaluation
• Suggested Time Commitment
• Required Material