Developmental Psychology

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 5
• Convenor: Dr Giusi Pollicina
• Assessment: a 1500-word essay (50%) and 1.5-hour examination (50%)

In this module we review major theories of human development, including environmental and biological influences on development. We will introduce the main influences on social, emotional, perceptual and cognitive development during infancy, childhood and adolescence and consider how we evaluate the findings from experimental, observational, longitudinal and survey research.

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• list the general themes that have been covered in the module
• list the main theories covered in each of the lecture topics
• critically evaluate each of the theories in relation to rival theories
• use research evidence to support or refute each idea
• evaluate the strength of research evidence in developmental psychology.