Course Overview

• Full Course Description

  This class will provide an overview of developmental issues across the life span. One theme involves how we are all similar at different ages – what does it mean to be a 1-year-old, a 7-yearold, or a 42-year-old? And how do we change over time, what are the common human developmental trajectories that we travel during our lifetimes? Another major theme is how, despite our commonalties, we differ from one another beginning even in infancy. For example, some infants sleep through the night and are easy to soothe, while others are irritable and fussy almost from birth. A 3rd theme is whether these individual differences really matter in the long run. Does the fussy baby become an even-tempered toddler; does the aggressive preschooler just grow out of it? In more general terms, is development relatively continuous or discontinuous for most of us? Finally, we will discuss how gender, culture, class, and race/ethnicity influence all of these developmental themes.

  Our overall goal will be to explore how Life-Span Psychology addresses the social-emotional and cognitive psychological underpinnings of who we are as humans and how we got that way. Among the topics that will be covered are: life-span attachment issues (e.g., early parent-child relationships); developmental psychopathology (i.e., risk and resilience); normative and atypical emotional development; personality development; different approaches to cognitive functioning; and a general focus on developmental continuities and discontinuities.

  Class sessions will typically include a lecture during the first part of the class, followed by breakout discussion groups and ad-hoc group summaries of discussion themes. In addition to lectures and class discussions, we will also see several developmentally relevant movies and participate in one informal class experiment. During the last few weeks each student will give a brief oral summary of a theme related to his or her final research paper.

• Course Objectives, Processes, & Requirements

  Course Objective/Goals

  Upon completion of this class, students will be able to:

  -Describe the major life stages and the developmental issues characteristic of these stages
  -Be able to distinguish emerging individual differences from precursors to psychopathology
  -Have an appreciation for developmental continuities and discontinuities
  -Be able to describe some of the ways that gender, race & ethnicity, social class, and culture influence and direct the broad developmental trajectories described above

  Course Processes

  Class sessions will typically include a lecture during the first part of the class, followed by breakout discussion groups and ad-hoc group summaries of discussion themes. In addition to lectures and class discussions, we will also see several developmentally relevant movies and participate in one informal class experiment. During the last week, each student will give a brief oral summary of a theme related to his or her final research paper.

  Course Requirements

  1. An obvious one with only 12 sessions - consistent attendance & timely reading of assignments. Please let me know in advance if you have an anticipated conflict, and please email me if something unexpected happens.
  2. The major written requirement is a 12-15 page term paper on a topic relevant to LifeLife- Span Development 2 Span Psychology. The paper is due one week after the end of class and should be mailed to me at 335 Ridge Rd., Middletown, CT 06457. Please, no email attachments will be accepted. On-going feedback will be provided regarding possible topics, guidelines on how to write Psychology papers, how to use available library resources at Wesleyan, etc.
  3. A brief oral summary (15 minutes) on a theme related to the term paper. More details will be provided in class.

  Grading Policy

  The class paper counts for 65% of your grade. You may get preliminary feedback on a draft of your paper (in this case submitted by email) if you send it to me within one week after the final class. Feedback will be limited to general aspects of your paper, including appropriate writing style, basic clarity, and depth/sophistication. The feedback phase is NOT required and is not graded. Oral reports will count for 20% of your grade and will be evaluated on clarity and informational content. Finally, classroom participation counts for 15% of your grade.

  If possible, please complete the readings for the first week (Santrock, Chapters 1 & 2 in A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development. Boston: McGraw Hill) prior to attending the first class.

• Required Text

  Required Text

  NOTE – you must buy either the 6th or 7th edition of the Santrock book that starts with “A Topical Approach…” (He has more than one Life-span book.)

  Santrock, J. (2014). A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development (7th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.

  Other readings will be posted on Moodle.

• Course Sequence

  Course Sequence

  Week 1 - Class Overview- Readings, Assignments, & Major Themes

  Santrock, J. (2014). Chapters 1 & 2 in A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development (7th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
  Elder, G. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69, 1-12.
  Movie “Short”– 7-Up

  Week 2 - Attachment Across the Life Span

  Santrock, J. (2014). Chapter 10 “Emotional Development” (pp. 319-332 – Attachment sections) in A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development (7th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
  Ainsworth, M, & Bowlby, J. (1991). An ethological approach to personality development. American Psychologist, 46, 333-341.
  Lecompte, V., Moss, E., Cyr, C., & Pascuzzo, K. (2014). Preschool attachment, self-esteem and the development of preadolescent anxiety and depressive symptoms. Attachment & Human Development, 16, 242-260.
  Smyke. A., Zeanah, C., Fox, N., Nelson, C., Guthrie, D. (2010). Placement in foster care enhances attachment quality among young institutionalized children. Child Development, 81, 212-223.

  Week 3 - Cognitive Development

  Santrock, J. (2014). Chapters 6, “Cognitive Developmental Approaches” and 7 “Information- Processing” in A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development (7th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.

  Week 4 - Emotions and Emotional Development – Basic Themes

  Santrock, J. (2014). Chapter 10 (skip pp. 348-359), “Emotional Development” in A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development (7th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
  Plutchik, R. (1984). Emotions: A general psychoevolutionary theory. In K. Scherer & P. Ekman (Eds.), Approaches to emotions (pp. 197-219). Hillsdale NJ: LEA.
  Bates, J., Goodnight, J., & Fite, J. (2008). Temperament and emotion. In M. Lewis, J. Haviland- Jones , & L. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions, 3rd Ed. New York: Guilford Press.
  Penela, E., Walker, O., Degnan, K., Fox, N., & Henderson, H. (2015). Early behavioral inhibition and emotion regulation: Pathways towards social competence in middle childhood. Child Development, 86, 1227-1240.
  Movie – Emotional Development

  Week 5 - Emotions – From Individual Differences to Psychopathology

  Oatley, K., Keltner, D., & Jenkins, J. (2014). Childhood Psychopathology. In Understanding emotions (3rd ed..). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
  Cole, P., Michel, M., & Teti, L. (1994). The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation: A clinical perspective. In N. Fox (Ed.), The development of emotion regulation: Biological and behavioral considerations (pp. 73-100). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59 (2-3, Serial No. 240).
  Tomlinson, J., Carmichael, C., Reis, H., & Aron, A. (2010). Affective forecasting and individual differences: Accuracy for relational events and anxious attachment. Emotion, 10(3), 447-563.
  Arsenio, W., Sesin, M., & Siegel, L. (2004). Emotion-related abilities in depressed and nondepressed Latina mothers and their children. Development & Psychopathology, 16, 95-112. Arsenio, W., & Loria, S. (2014). Coping with negative emotions: Relations with adolescents' academic performance and stress. Journal of Genetic Psychology. 175(1), 76–90.
  In-class experiment on Emotion Knowledge

  Week 6 - The Self, Identity, and Personality

  Santrock, J. (2014). Chapter 11 in A topical Approach to Life-Span Development. Boston: McGraw Hill.
  Roberts, B., Mroczek, D. (2008). Personality trait change in adulthood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(1), 31-35.
  Hill, P., Jackson, J., Roberts, B., Lapsley, D., Brandenberger, J. (2011). Change you can believe in: Changes in goal setting during emerging and young adulthood predict later adult well-being. Social Psychological & Personality Science, 2(2), 123-131.

  Week 7 – Economic Trends, Institutional Fairness, and Life-Span Development

  Duncan, G., & Murnane, R. (2011). Introduction: The American dream, then and now. In G. Duncan, G., & R. Murnane (Eds.). Whither opportunity: Rising inequality, schools, and children’s life chances (pp. 3-23). New York & Chicago: Russell Sage & Spencer Foundations.
  Arsenio, W. (in press). Education, class, and the divergence of children’s life opportunities. Human Development.
  Norton, M. & Ariely, D. (2011). Consensus on building a better America- one wealth quintile at a time. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 9-12.
  Arsenio, W. (2015). Moral psychological perspectives on distributive justice and societal inequalities. Child Development Perspectives.

  Week 8 - Parent-Child Interactions and the Family

  Santrock, J. (2014). Chapter 14, “Families, Lifestyles, & Parenting” in A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development (7th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
  Steinberg, L., Blatt-Eisengart, I. (2006). Patterns of competence and adjustment among adolescents from authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent and neglectful homes: A replication in a sample of serious juvenile offenders. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 16(1), 47-58.
  Velez, C. Wolchik, S., Tein, J. & Sandler, I. (2011). Protecting children from the consequences of divorce: A longitudinal study of the effects of parenting on children’s coping processes. Child Development, 82, 244–257.
  Gottman, J., Katz, L. & Hooven, C. (1996). Parental meta-emotion philosophy and the emotional life of families: Theoretical models and preliminary data. Journal of Family Psychology, 10, 243-269.
  OPTIONAL - Brett, Z., Humphreys, C., Smyke, A. Gleason, M. Nelson, C. Fox, N., & Drury, S. (2015). Serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) genotype moderates the longitudinal impact of early caregiving on externalizing behavior, Development & Psychopathology, 27, 7–18.

  Week 9 Social Relations – Peers & Friends

  Santrock, J. (2014). Chapter 15, “Peers and the Sociocultural World” in A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development (6th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
  Bierman, K. (2004). Chapters 2 & 3, Peer Rejection: Developmental Processes and Interventions Strategies. New York: Guilford Press. Rodkin, P., Espelage, D., & Hanish, L. (2015). A relational framework for understanding bullying. American Psychologist, 70, 311-321.
  OPTIONAL - Allen, J., Chango, J., & Szwedo, D. (2014). The adolescent relational dialectic and the peer roots of adult social functioning, Child Development, 85(1), 192–204.

  Week 10 Social Relations – School, Work, & Achievement

  Santrock, J. (2014). Chapter 16, “Schools, Achievement, and Work” in A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development (6th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
  Aronson, J., & Steele, C. (2005). Stereotypes and the fragility of academic competence, motivation, and self-concept. In A. Elliot & C. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 436-456). New York, Guilford.
  Blackwell, L., Trzesniewski, K., Dweck, C. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development, 78(1), 246-263.
  Reetan, A., Savani, K., Naidu, N., Dweck, C. (2012) Can everyone become highly intelligent? Cultural differences in and societal consequences of beliefs about the universal potential for intelligence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
  Class Oral Presentations

  Week 11 Risk & Resilience: Developmental Psychopathology

  Werner, E. (1989, April). Children of the garden island. Scientific American, 106-111.
  Masten, A., & Coatsworth, J. (1998). The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments: Lessons from research on successful children. American Psychologist, 53, 205-220.
  Pargas, R., Brennan, P., Hammen, C., & Le Brocque, R. (2010). Resilience to maternal depression in young adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 46, 805-814.
  McLoyd, V. Kaplan, R., & Purtell, K. (2011). Assessing the effects of a work-based antipoverty program for parents on youth’s future orientation and employment experiences. Child Development, 82, 113–132
  Tough, P. (2011, March 21). The poverty clinic: Can a stressful childhood make you a sick adult? The New Yorker, 21, 25-32.
  Werner, E. (2011). Children and war: Risk, resilience, and recovery. Development & Psychopathology, 24, 553-558.
  Class Oral Presentations

  Week 12 Late Adulthood: Aging, Living, & Dying

  Santrock, J. (2014). Chapter 17, “Death, Dying, & Grieving” in A Topical Approach to Life- Span Development (7th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
  Diamond, J. (2012). The world until yesterday: What we can learn from traditional societies. Chapter 6, The treatment of old people: Cherish, abandon, or kill? (pp. 210-242). New York: Viking
  Vaillant, G. (2002). Aging Well, Chapters 1 & 7. Little & Brown: New York.
  Class Oral Presentations

• Faculty Bio
  William Arsenio is a professor of psychology in the Clinical Program at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University. He was a preschool teacher for nearly a decade before receiving his Ph.D. in Child Development from Stanford University. His research focuses on the relations between children’s social and emotional competence, and more recently on adolescents’ perceptions and moral evaluations of economic and societal inequalities.  He and his students are also interested in how children and adults learn to regulate and control their mood states using empirically supported techniques from positive psychology (e.g., meditation, directed writing, and lifestyle modifications).