Infant Development

CS 237
Spring 2005
Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00pm to 3:20pm
121 Cole Science Center

Kevin H. Grobman

207 Adele Simmons Hall
(413) 559-6659
kgrobman@hampshire.edu

Class Description

How do we make sense of a world of buzzing confusion and eventually grow into adults? Are we born, as John Locke suggested, as a blank slate that experience writes upon? Or are we born with innate knowledge and abilities? If infants know so much, as some studies and newspaper headlines suggest, why do older children seem to know so little about the same topics? How do parents help their infants develop? How do the rapidly growing bodies of infants influence other aspects of their development? These are some of the questions explored in this introduction to the Cognitive Science and Psychology of infancy. Particular attention will be given to the research methods that have been used to study infants scientifically. Readings will include short journal articles, and each student will give a short presentation on an empirical study. This course culminates in a final project involving the synthesis of some of the primary literature on a more specific sub- topic and suggestions for building upon that work with a new study.

Meeting with Me

I am always happy to meet with you to discuss class assignments, independent study projects, division III options, possible career paths, and other intellectual topics. I arrive to class about 5- to 10-minutes before it begins and linger after class for another 5- to 10-minutes. Please feel free to use this time for quick questions and arranging meetings. The easiest way to arrange a meeting is to send me a short e-mail, but please always feel free to stop by my office or phone. I specifically set aside office hours on Wednesdays from 3pm to 6pm to help make meeting as easy as possible.

Minimum Expectations

Since much of the learning in this course happens through our class discussions, your failure to be prepared could diminish the learning experience for other students. Since it is important to me that you learn as much as possible through this course, I have some minimum expectations. You should attend every class. I understand that extenuating circumstances arise that can make this difficult, but please let me know before class if you can not attend. If circumstances make you miss more than 3 classes during the semester, you may have over-extended yourself and you should consider dropping the class. Arrive to class on time. Class begins promptly and tardiness distracts other students and me. If you must leave early, please let me know before class begins. Be prepared for class. It will be impossible to understand and adequately participate in a class about an empirical journal article if you have not read it. Focus your attention during class on our class; for example, do not attend our class while completing work for another class. If you do not meet the minimum expectations for class, I will have reservations that I will need to write about in your evaluations.

Excelling in Class

Learning at Hampshire College is primarily the results of your independent efforts. I feel that my role is to push you to think more deeply and scientifically than you probably feel capable. I chose readings and assignments that I know will be hard; I do not expect anyone to excel completely on any assignment. Instead, to write your evaluations, I would like to see your moments of insight and your progress over the semester. Venture to speak during class, even if you are unsure exactly what you are trying to say. I see recasting what you say into the framework of scientific psychology as my role during class discussions. You are excelling in class discussion when you progress to independently using the language and concepts of scientific psychology. I look for the same development in your short writing assignments and your term paper. During the semester, there are many scholarly talks at the local five colleges about class-related topics. If you attend one, tell me about your experience at these talks either in a short meeting or in a short essay.

Class Schedule of Readings

Thurs Jan 27: Introduction to Class
(no assigned reading)

Tue Feb 1: How to Critique Empirical Journal Articles
(no assigned reading)

Thurs Feb 3: Are Infants born to Imitate Others?
Meltzoff, A. N. and Moore, M. K. (1983). Newborn infants imitate adult facial expressions. Child Development, 54, 702-709.

Tue Feb 8: Are Infants Born with Preconceptions about Beauty?
Slater, A. et al. (1998). Newborn infants prefer attractive faces. Infant Behavior & Development, 21(2), 345-354.

Thurs Feb 10: Categorization by Infants
Quinn, P. C. (2004). Developmental of subordinate-level categorization in 3- to 7-month-old infants. Child Development, 75(3), 886-899.

Tue Feb 15: Categorizing People: Do Infants form Gender Stereotypes?
Serbin, L. A., Poulin-Dubois, D., Eichstedt, J. A. (2002). Infants' responses to gender-inconsistent events. Infancy, 3(4), 531-542.

Thurs Feb 17: Consequences & Constraints of Physical Developments during Infancy
Rochat, P. and Goubet, N. (1995). Development of sitting and reaching in 5- to 6-month-old infants. Infant Behavior & Development, 18, 53-68.

Tue Feb 22: Coordinating Physical Actions with Visual Perception
Lockman, J. J. and Adams, C. D. (2001). Going around transparent and grid-like barriers: detour ability as a perception-action skill. Developmental Science, 4(4), 463-471.

Thurs Feb 24: Advising Day
(no class)

Tue Mar 1: Do Young Infants Know Objects Exist when Not Seen?
Baillargeon, Renee (1987). Object Permanence in 3- and 4-Month-Old Infants. Developmental Psychology, 23(5), 655-664.
Selected Excerpts from Piaget (TBA)

Thurs Mar 3: Do Young Infants Know Objects Exist when Not Seen?
Munakata, Y. et al. (1997). Rethinking infant knowledge: toward an adaptive process account of successes and failures in object permanence tasks. Psychological Review, 104(4), 686-713.

Tue Mar 8: Recognizing the Functionality of Objects
Berger, S. E. and Adolph, K. E. (2003). Infants use of handrails as tools in a locomotor task. Developmental Psychology, 39(3), 594-605.

Thurs Mar 10: Short-Term Memory & Long-Term Memory
Bauer, P., Van Abbema, D. L., de Haan, M. (1999). In for the short haul: immediate and short-term remembering and forgetting by 20-month-old children. Infant Behavior & Development, 22(3), 321-343.

Tue Mar 15: Spring Break
(no class)

Thurs Mar 17: Spring Break
(no class)

Tue Mar 22: Do Infants Recognize the Intentions of Other People?
Woodward, A. L. (1999). Infants' ability to distinguish between purposeful and non-purposeful behaviors. Infant Behavior & Development, 22(2), 145-160.

Thurs Mar 24: Adults help Infants learn about Pictures & other Symbols
Callaghan, T. C. et al. (2004). Modeling referential actions in 6- to 18-month-old infants: a precursor to symbolic understanding. Child Development, 75(6), 1733-1744.

Tue Mar 29: Guest Speaker Colwyn Trevarthen
Reading to be announced. Please attend his formal talk, "To Act and Think in Conventional Ways: How a Young Child gets Common Sense with a Growing Brain" on Wednesday at 5pm in the main lecture hall.

Thurs Mar 31: Developing a Self-Concept during Infancy
Lewis, M. and Ramsay, D. (2004). Development of self-recognition, personal pronoun use, and pretend play during the 2nd year. Child Development, 75(6), 1821-1831.

Tue Apr 5: Student Presentations
For details, see "Class Schedule for Term Paper."

Thurs Apr 7: Language Development during Infancy (e.g., Phonemes)
Werker, C. F. et al. (1981). Developmental aspects of cross-language speech perception, Child Development, 52, 349-355.

Tue Apr 12: Analogical Transfer: Infants' Use of Analogy to Solve Problems
Chen, Z., Sanchez, R. P., and Campbell, T. (1997). From beyond to within their grasp: the rudiments of analogical problem solving in 10- and 13-month-olds. Developmental Psychology, 33(5), 790-801.

Thurs Apr 14: Cross-Cultural differences in Parents' Emotions towards Infants
Ispa, J. M. et al. (2004). Maternal intrusiveness, maternal warmth, and mother-toddler relationship outcomes: variations across low-income ethnic and acculturation groups, Child Development, 75(6), 1613-1631

Tue Apr 19: Parents responding Contingently towards their Infants
Kochanska, G. and Aksan, N. (2004). Development of mutual responsiveness between parents and their young children, Child Development, 75(6), 1657-1676.

Thurs Apr 21: Infant Problem Solving
Willatts, P. (1999). Development of means-ends behavior in young infants: pulling a support to retrieve a distant object. Developmental Psychology, 35(3), 651-667.

Tue Apr 26: Student Presentations
For details, see "Class Schedule for Term Paper."

Thurs Apr 28: Scaffolding: A way Parents help their Infants Develop
Fagot, B. I. Amd Gauvain, M. (1997). Mother-child problem solving: continuity through the early childhood years. Developmental Psychology, 33(3), 480-488.

Tue May 3: Day Care
Schuetze, P., Lewis, A., DiMartino, D. (1999). Relation between time spent in daycare and exploratory behaviors in 9-month-old infants. Infant Behavior & Development, 22(2), 267-276.

Thurs May 5: Overview of Infant Development
(no assigned reading)

Class Schedule for Term Paper

Tue Mar 10: Come up with 3 possible topics for your paper. Schedule a 30-minute meeting with me to talk through ideas before the due date.

Thurs Mar 29: Find citations and abstracts for 3 empirical journal articles for each of your possible topics.

Thurs Apr 5: After choosing a topic for your term paper, get a single related empirical journal article and read it. Prepare a short presentation of the article to give to the class.

Thurs Apr 26: Get and read at least 3 empirical journal articles related to your term paper. Prepare a short presentation summarizing the articles and your topic to give to the class.

Thurs May 5: Turn in your final term paper.

Note for Students: Class readings have been made available through the Hampshire College Library Course Web-Site. Because of copyright restrictions, the readings are only available to students registered in the class.

Note for those outside Hampshire College: Hampshire College emphasizes exposing students to primary research in all of our classes, even those at the sophomore (200) level. In lieu of grades, faculty write students detailed evaluation letters. This level of detail helps students understand their strengths and develop their weaknesses in future classes.