Learning Outcomes
Students are required to develop knowledge of the major theories of developmental psychology, with an emphasis on cognitive development theories, in order for them to be able to interpret children's behavior in the nursery school, at home, in the environment in general. Students are also introduced to cognitive development during the different age periods and are required to approach development using the developmental psychology theories as a tool. The aim it for them to be able to approach the basic developmental parameters of a child's behavior in relation to memory, language, thought, and learning processes.
Course Content (Syllabus)
Introduction to the study of human development. Fundamental questions – research methods in
developmental psychology. Behavioral (or learning) theories (Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura).
Psychodynamic theories (Freud, Erikson). Piaget’s theory of intellectual development and the NeoPiagetians. Information processing theory (Klahr, Siegler). Sociocultural theories (Bronfenbrenner,
Bruner, Vygotsky).
Cognitive development in infancy (sensory-motor, cognitive change), interaction with the world.
Cognitive development in early childhood (language, memory, though), gender schema formation.
Cognitive development in middle childhood (memory, reading, writing, intelligence)
Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
Lightfoot, C., Cole, M. & Cole, S.R., (Επιμ. Ζ. Μπαμπλέκου). Η ανάπτυξη των παιδιών (2014). Εκδόσεις Gutenberg. Αθήνα.
[Lightfoot, C., Cole, M. & Cole, S.R., (Ed. in Greek, Z. Bablekou) The development of children (2014). Gutenberg. Athens.]