Topics in Cognitive Development
PSYC 348
Spring 2007
| Section:
01
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In this course we will discuss in depth a selection of current topics in cognitive development, centering on questions concerning the origins of knowledge (for example, "What kinds of knowledge do we possess even very early in life?" and "How does that knowledge change over time?"). We will examine these questions within specific subject areas such as object perception, space perception, number understanding, and understanding of other minds, surveying evidence from different stages of human individual development as well as evidence from different nonhuman species. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Speaking, Writing |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
None |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (NS&B)(PSYC)(STS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Bjorklund, D. (2005). Children's Thinking.
Chapter 1: An introduction to cognitive development
Chapter 2: Biological bases of cognitive development
Frensch, P. A., and A. Buchner. "Domain-generality Versus Domain Specificity." In The Nature of Cognition. Edited by R. J. Sternberg. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999, pp. 155-163.
Visual perception/recognition
Johnson, S. P., and R. N. Aslin. "Perception of Object Unity in Young Infants: The Roles of Motion, Depth and Orientation." Cognitive Development 11 (1996): 161-180.
Deloache, J., Uttal, D., & Rosengren, K. (2004). Scale errors offer evidence for a perception/action dissociation early in life. Science, 304, 1027-1029.
Xu, F., Carey, S., and Quint, N. (in press). The emergence of kind-based object individuation in infancy. Cognitive Psychology.
Wagner, L. and Carey, S. (2003). Individuation of Objects and Events: A Developmental Study. Cognition, 90, 163-191.
Chiang, W. C., and K. Wynn. "Infants' Tracking of Objects and Collections." Cognition 77 (2000): 169-195.
Space & navigation
Wang, R. F. & Spelke, E. S. (2002). Human spatial representation: Insights from animals. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6(9), 376-382.
Wang, R. F., Hermer-Vazquez & Spelke, E. S. (1999). Mechanisms of reorientation and object localization by children: A comparison with rats. Behavioral Neuroscience, 113, 475-485.
Hermer, L. & Spelke, E. S. (1996). Modularity and development: The case of spatial reorientation. Cognition, 61, 195-232.
Number
Barth, H., La Mont, K., Lipton, J., & Spelke, E. S. (2005). Abstract number and arithmetic in young children. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,102(39), 14117-14121.
Barth, H., La Mont, K., Lipton, J., Dehaene, S., Kanwisher, N., and Spelke, E. Nonsymbolic arithmetic in adults and young children. In press, Cognition.
Hauser, M. D. & Spelke, E. S. (2004).Evolutionary and developmental foundations of human knowledge: A case study of mathematics. In M. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The Cognitive Neurosciences, Vol. 3. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Simon, T. J. "Reconceptualizing the Origins of Number Knowledge: A 'Non-numerical Account.' " Cognitive Development 12 (1997): 349-372.
Brannon, E. "The Development of Ordinal Numerical Knowledge in Infancy." Cognition. 2002 Apr; 83 (3): 223-40.
Feigenson, L., Carey, S., &: Spelke, E. (2002). Infants¿ discrimination of number vs. continuous extent. Cognitive Psychology, 44, 33-66.
Lipton, J.S. & Spelke, E.S. (2005). Preschool children's mapping of number words to nonsymbolic numerosities. Child Development, 76(5), 978-988.
Xu, F. & Spelke, E. S. (2000). Large number discrimination in 6-month-old infants. Cognition, 74, B1-B11.
Feigenson, L., Dehaene, S. & Spelke, E. S. (2004). Core systems of number.Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8,, 307-314.
Temple, E., and M. I. Posner. "Brain Mechanisms of Quantity are Similar in 5-Year-Olds and Adults." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 95 (1998): 7836-7841.
Language
Markson, L. & Bloom, P. (1997). Evidence against a dedicated system for word learning in children. Nature, 385, 813-815.
Bloom P. (2004). Children think before they speak. Nature, 430, 410-411.
Other minds
Fodor, J. A. "A Theory of the Child's Theory of mind." Cognition 44 (1992): 283-296.
Woodward, A. "Infants Selectively Encode the Goal Object of an Actor's Reach." Cognition 69 (1998): 1-34.
Saxe, R., Carey, S., & Kanwisher, N. (2004) Understanding other minds: Linking Developmental Psychology and Functional Neuroimaging. In Annual Reviews of Neuroscience. Edited by (insert). Annual Reviews 87-124
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Examinations and Assignments:
Papers and class presentations, participation in class discussion, and a literature review, rough draft, and final paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Prerequisites: PSYC230 |
| Instructor(s): Barth,Hilary C. Times: ....R.. 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: JUDDB6; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 18 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
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