spring 2025
PSY-2028 Cognitive development in infancy and early childhood - 10 ECTS
Course content
Do infants and young children understand cause and effect? Can they remember what they did last summer? How do they learn what a fork or a remote control is for? When do they start to understand that people have thoughts and feelings? And perhaps most interestingly, how can we find out what they know and think, if we cannot just ask them?
These and similar questions will be discussed in this course in order to provide a comprehensive overview of cognitive development from infancy to preschool age. Following a theoretical introduction on constructivism (Piaget's theory) and neoconstructivism, the lectures will focus on a few prominent areas of cognitive developmental research, such as conceptual development, categorization, language development, naïve physics, reasoning about objects, action understanding, imitation, memory, and theory of mind. Findings about young children's knowledge and reasoning in these areas will be discussed with an emphasis on the most common experimental paradigms in developmental research. In addition, students will get an opportunity to develop their science literacy and communication skills by reading and presenting original research articles and engaging in discussions.
Content learning: In this course, early cognitive development will be discussed in far more detail than what is possible in the scope of the developmental psychology lectures.
Skill learning: This course will help students develop their critical reading and efficient presentation skills, which are not only essential in academia, but also beneficial in a wide range of occupational areas.
Objectives of the course
Successful completion of the course will lead to the following learning outcomes:
Knowledge:
Students will have
- an understanding of the methods used in research on cognitive development
- knowledge about theories and empirical findings in some prominent areas of cognitive development
Skills:
Students will have developed their ability to
- critically read scientific articles and identify the main arguments
- give a short and efficient presentation about a research topic and engage in a productive discussion
General competence:
Students will have developed their ability to
- work independently
- speak in front of an audience
Recommended reading/syllabus
Pensumliste for PSY-2028 Cognitive development in infancy and early childhood (VÅR 2025)Examination
| Examination: | Date: | Duration: | Grade scale: |
|---|---|---|---|
| School exam | 22.05.2025 09:00 |
4 Hours | A–E, fail F |
Coursework requirements:To take an examination, the student must have passed the following coursework requirements: |
|||
| Short presentation | Approved – not approved | ||
| Active participation in the discussion | Approved – not approved | ||
More info about the coursework requirements
Short presentation - Each student will give a presentation based on 1 - 2 research papers. Presentation topics and dates will be agreed on in the first meeting of the class.
Active participation - Students are requested to attend at least six lectures (50%) and actively participate in the discussions.
- About the course
- Campus: Tromsø |
- ECTS: 10
- Course code: PSY-2028
- Responsible unit
- Institutt for psykologi
- Tidligere år og semester for dette emnet