Structure

The first years of Life

The Formation of Attachments

Consequences of Breakdowns in Attachment

The Home, Family and School

Basic Principles of Research Methods

The Development of Visual Perception

The Development of Language and Communication

Intelligence: The Nature/Nurture Debate

Learning Theory: How Behaviour is Acquired

Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory

Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory

The Development of Gender roles

Aggression in Children

Methods used in Child Development Research

Play

Learning in School

Behaviour Modification

Learning Outcomes

Module 1 – The first years of Life.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Analyse the ‘for’ and ‘against’ arguments with regard to innate and learned behaviour.

Module 2 – The Formation of Attachments.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Describe in your own words ‘Attachment’ and ‘Imprinting’.

Analyse your feelings regarding maternal deprivation.

Knowing the effects of Maternal Deprivation.

Module 4 – The Home, Family and School.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Discuss the implications of day care for young children, giving both positive and negative aspects.

Consider the importance of father, sibling and peer relationships to a child.

Module 5 – Basic Principles of Research Methods.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Explore how to form a hypothesis for an experiment.

Identify how to locate the independent and dependent variable for an experiment.

Module 6 – The Development of Visual Perception.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Evaluate the development of Visual Perception.

Identify problems in studying new-born infants.

Module 7 – The Development of Language and Communication.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Investigate and outline the three main stages of language development.

Define the term ‘language’ as you understand it.

Discuss why you think animals are capable of acquiring language via hands.

Describe two theories of language development.

Module 8 – Intelligence and Intelligence Testing.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Discuss one alternative to IQ testing.

Explain one of the theories of intelligence testing.

Module 9 – Intelligence: The Nature/Nurture Debate.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Describe how much of a child’s intelligence is genetically determined showing how much is due to his/her environment.

Module 10 – Data Collection and Interpretation
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Assess the use of several techniques of data collection and interpretation including:
Tables
Graphs
Histograms
Scattergrams
Mean
Range

Module 11 – How Children Think.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Analyse how long the children were studied for.

Explain your understanding and the advantages of longitudinal study and rating scales.

Describe and name the stage which these eight year olds have reached according to Piaget’s theory.

Module 12 – Learning Theory: How Behaviour is Acquired.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Explain primary and secondary reinforcement.

Discuss advantages and disadvantages of learning theories.

Evaluate your understanding of the social learning theory showing why theorists have been criticised.

Module 13 – Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Describe types of evidence which Freud used in formulating his theory on the role of the unconscious.

Explain what is meant by the term ‘libido’ and describe the following in detail:
Id
Ego
Superego
 

Define in detail your understanding of the oral stage and anal stages.

Discuss the term ‘Oedipal Conflict’ in boys and show in which psychoanalytical stage this conflict was resolved.

Assess Freudian theory concluding its advantages and disadvantages.

Module 14 – Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Describe the major way in which moral behaviours are learnt and the factors that influence a child’s moral behaviour.

Define the critical event in the development of morality.

Explain the different pairs of stories in which Piaget told children to investigate their judgements about stealing and lying.

Module 15 – The Development of Gender Roles.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Evaluate what you would say the typical masculine and feminine sex roles consist of and include the three tribes studied by Margaret Mead.

Describe what types of male and female behaviour are now seen as acceptable which would not have been acceptable 50 years ago.

Discuss what conclusions could be drawn from the studies with monkeys who were injected with testosterone.

Module 16 – Aggression in Children.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Define the concept of ‘aggression’ and investigate the two main methods of investigating the biological bases of aggression.

Investigate what is meant by the ‘frustration-aggression’ hypothesis.

Discuss what Steuer, Applefield and Smith found in their investigation into children’s viewing of violent and non-violent cartoons.

Module 17 – Methods used in Child Development Research.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

List disadvantages of the Experimental Method of investigation.

Evaluate when correlation studies are most often used and their main disadvantage.

Discuss why a psychologist might choose to conduct a naturalistic observational study rather than an experiment.

Module 18 – Play.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Define play and analyse why it is important.

Discuss the three types of play, which Piaget describes.

Identify what types of play activities best encourage intellectual development according to the findings of The Oxford Pre-School Research Project.

Module 19 – Learning in School.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Examine the basic principle on which programmed learning is based and introduce two programmes.

Discuss the effects Atkinson noted when children were taught to read through programmed learning and give disadvantages.

Explore two different methods of discovery learning.

Module 20 – Behaviour Modification.
On successful completion of this module the candidate will be able to:

Investigate behaviour modification showing the kind of conditioning it is derived from.

Discuss what is meant by behaviour shaping.

Identify and explain one type of behaviour therapy based on classical conditioning.