Psychology 642: Cognitive Development

Spring 2018

Course Syllabus

T 9:00-11:30AM, Sakamaki Hall C203

 

Description: This course considers human cognitive development from an evolutionary perspective. It emphasizes the application of evolutionary theory, particularly natural selection, to explain the function of cognitive development and, critically, to discover the mechanisms that underlie it.

 

Special focus and scrutiny will be given to the nature–nurture controversy. Are nature, biology, genes, and innate the opposite of nurture, culture, environment, and learned? Or are these false dichotomies? In this course, we will discuss the scientific and logical problems with “nature vs. nurture” and with related conciliatory proposals that suggest traits are partly genetic, partly environmental. Then we will move beyond “nature vs. nurture” and “nature and nurture” by considering the modern framework of evolutionary developmental psychology, which emphasizes nature-nurture causal interactions, organized by natural selection, to explain development.

 

Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Develop Knowledge and Understanding: Students will learn about current theories and results in cognitive development.

2a. Apply Research Methods: Students will learn and be able to apply developmental research methods to study the developing mind and brain.

2b. Use Critical Thinking Skills: Students will be able to identify and explain common misconceptions about nature-nurture and articulate a (bio)logically serious understanding of nature–nurture.

3. Communicate Effectively: Students will develop their speaking and writing skills through discussion and written assignments.

4. Ethical research: Students will be able to apply ethical standards to their own and other’s research.

5. Interact professionally: Students will develop professional skills necessary for effectively interacting with other scientists.

6. Sociocultural and International Awareness: Students will gain a deeper understanding of the psychological foundations of culture and how culture, in turn, programs the mind.

 

Instructor: Adam S. Cohen

Office: Sakamaki C405

Office hours: Thursday 9:00-11:00 AM,

Email: If x = cohen9, then x@hawaii.edu (put “psych 642” in the subject line)

 

Required reading: We will undertake a close reading of three books that explore the relationship between evolution and development (or “evo-devo”) as it applies to brain, mind, and behavior.

Carroll, S. B. (2005). Endless forms most beautiful: The new science of evo devo and the making of the animal kingdom. WW Norton & Company.

Marcus, G. (2004). The birth of the mind: How a tiny number of genes creates the complexities of human thought. New York: Basic Books.

Barrett, H. C. (2015). The shape of thought: How mental adaptations evolve. New York: Oxford University Press.    

Advice: The readings present new ideas that will challenge you. To really understand the material and do well in this course, it is critical that you read the material at least twice.

 

These books are not available at the University bookstore and must be ordered online (or, with some luck, tracked down at a local bookstore). Please order copies as soon as possible.

 

Grading:

 

Weekly Assignment (25%):

Part A) Summary Section: Each week, students will write a 1 page summary on the reading. The summary includes a) a review of the main points of the reading (2-3 sentences), b) two things that you liked about the reading, c) two things that you didn’t like and wish the authors had explained or argued differently, d) one quiz question that you might pose to your classmates, and e) one research question to pursue in the future.

 

Part B) Question Section: Students will submit questions based on the readings. These include “clarification” questions (e.g., “What does the author mean by X?’”) and “discussion” questions (e.g., “Could the results be explained by the alternative hypothesis X?”). Students should submit at least 3 clarification and at least 3 discussion questions.

 

A pre-formatted template will be posted to Laulima. A separate file, also posted to Laulima, will include the full instructions for the assignment as well as some advice. Assignments should be uploaded to Laulima and are due no later than 24 hours before class (by 9:00 AM on Monday).

 

Leading discussion (15%): Each week, one or two students (hereafter “leaders”) will lead class discussion. Leaders will guide an initial discussion revolving around their own and their classmate’s “clarification questions” to resolve any points of difficulty or confusion. Then leaders will shift to “discussion questions,” which should focus the conversation on substantive issues from the reading, including strengths and limitations of the arguments (conceptual, experimental, statistical, etc.), connections to other research or previous readings (synthesis), and future directions (e.g., tests of new predictions/alternative explanations that would extend/challenge an argument), among other topics. Leaders are encouraged to keep the class interactive by sprinkling in activities that quickly and effectively illustrate major concepts from the reading.

 

The leaders should discuss their plans for class with each other beforehand so they are prepared to facilitate discussion. A successful class depends on the leaders getting other students to participate and carry a significant portion of the conversation. Since Powerpoint often promotes a “lecture” mode and hinders effective discussion, it is strongly discouraged for leading discussions. Please discuss with me ahead of time if you think you might need to use it. Discussion leaders should email me a list of their clarification and discussion questions by Monday at 9:00AM. I will then email the questions to the class so that students have time to ruminate over them and start to develop ideas and responses.

 

Class participation (20%): Everyone in the class will be expected to have done all the readings and participate in weekly discussions. Good contributions are those that:

·         Show you have carefully considered the important issues in the readings and previous discussions in class.

·         Provide a new insight that is also relevant to the topic at hand (i.e., long off-track comments are not always the most constructive).

·         Build on contributions from others in the class in order to move the discussion forward.

·         Offer honest but respectful questions and criticisms of the readings.

 

Research proposal – Final Paper (40%): Students will turn in a full research proposal related to the course topic as applied to their own research. It should be written as an APA formatted journal article, except that it will have a data analysis plan instead of results section and it will focus on anticipated implications and limitations in the discussion section. The paper should include a title page, abstract, introduction, method, data analysis plan, discussion, and references, all in APA style. It should be 5000 words (+/- 100 words), not including the title page, abstract, and reference section. Papers outside the word limit will not be accepted. The assignment is due by May 11^th at 12:00PM.

 

Grade lines:

90% ≤ A ≤ 100%

80% ≤ B < 90%

70% ≤ C < 80%

60% ≤ D < 70%

 

+/- Grades: Will be given within 3% of the grade cutoff, lower bound inclusive, upper bound exclusive. For example, an 86.9% is a B, an 87.0% - 89.9% is a B+, a 90.0% - 92.9% is an A-, and a 93.0% is an A. 

 

Requests for accommodation: Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability is invited to contact me privately. Please come to office hours or make an appointment with me outside of class to discuss potential requests before the first exam. I would be happy to work with you, and the KOKUA Program (Office for Students with Disabilities) to ensure reasonable accommodations in my course. KOKUA can be reached at (808) 956-7511 or (808) 956-7612 (voice/text) in room 013 of the Queen Lili'uokalani Center.

 

Title IX: From the UH Office of Institutional Equity: “The University of Hawaii is committed to providing a learning, working and living environment that promotes personal integrity, civility, and mutual respect and is free of all forms of sex discrimination and gender-based violence, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.  If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these, the University has staff and resources on your campus to support and assist you.  Staff can also direct you to resources that are in the community…For more information regarding sex discrimination and gender-based violence, the University’s Title IX resources and the University’s Policy, Interim EP 1.204, go to: http://www.hawaii.edu/titleix”

 

Course Schedule:

Week 1: 01/09 - Introduction to evolutionary developmental psychology

No reading

 

Part 1: ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL (weeks 2 to 5)

 

Week 2: 01/16 – Genes regulate development                                              Reading: p.1 – 51

Week 3: 01/23 – Genetic switches as instructions for building organisms        Reading: p.52 – 107

Week 4: 01/30 – The “dark matter” of the genome                           Reading: p.108 – 131; 244-247

Week 5: 02/06 – Evolution of human development                          Reading: p 248 – 305

 

(Although we won’t directly discuss p.132 – 243, you’re encouraged to read it at your leisure.)

 

Part 2: THE BIRTH OF THE MIND (week 6 to week 9)

 

Week 6: 02/13 – Brain development as pre-wiring and re-wiring                        Reading: p.1 – 46

Week 7: 02/20 – Genes help build every body part, including the brain    Reading: p.47 - 88

Week 8: 03/27 – The evolution of mental genes                                           Reading: p.89 – 131

Week 9: 03/06 – Without genes, learning would not exist                            Reading: p.131 – 177

 

EMPIRICAL ARTICLES

Week 10: 03/13

Required:

A. Mascaro, O., & Csibra, G. (2014). Human infants’ learning of social structures: The case of dominance hierarchy. Psychological science, 25, 250-255.

B. Wertz, A. E., & Wynn, K. (2014). Selective social learning of plant edibility in 6-and 18-month-old infants. Psychological science, 25, 874-882.

C. Mittal, C., Griskevicius, V., Simpson, J. A., Sung, S., & Young, E. S. (2015). Cognitive adaptations to stressful environments: When childhood adversity enhances adult executive function. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109, 604-621.

 

Supplementary:

Category A (specialized learning mechanisms)

Mascaro, O., & Csibra, G. (2012). Representation of stable social dominance relations by human infants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(18), 6862-6867.

Category B (selective social learning mechanisms)

Barrett, H. C., & Broesch, J. (2012). Prepared social learning about dangerous animals in children. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33(5), 499-508.

Clegg, J. M., & Legare, C. H. (2016). Instrumental and conventional interpretations of behavior are associated with distinct outcomes in early childhood. Child Development, 87(2), 527-542.

Category C (adaptive calibration of evolved mechanisms)

Belsky, J., Schlomer, G. L., & Ellis, B. J. (2012). Beyond cumulative risk: distinguishing harshness and unpredictability as determinants of parenting and early life history strategy. Developmental psychology, 48(3), 662.

Gopnik, A., O’Grady, S., Lucas, C. G., Griffiths, T. L., Wente, A., Bridgers, S., ... & Dahl, R. E. (2017). Changes in cognitive flexibility and hypothesis search across human life history from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 7892-7899.

Theoretical

Gallistel, C. R. (2000). The replacement of general-purpose learning models with adaptively specialized learning modules. The new cognitive neurosciences, 1179-1191.

Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (1992). “Toward a post-standard model view of development.”  In J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, & J. Tooby (Eds.), The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 77-93.

 

 

Part 3: THE SHAPE OF THOUGHT (week 11 to week 17)

 

Week 11: 03/20 – Enabling constraints: Two views of development               Reading: p.1 - 49

Week SB: 03/27 – SPRING BREAK                                               

Week 12: 04/03 – Development of object cognition                                                 Reading: p.50 - 103

Week 13: 04/10 – Development of social cognition                                                  Reading: p.104 - 154

Week 14: 04/17 – Evolutionary shaping of flexible developmental systems           Reading: p.155 - 208

Week 15: 04/24 – Psychological mechanisms underlying culture                                    Reading: p.209 - 260

Week 16: 05/01 – Development of higher-level cognition                                        Reading: p.261 - 300

Week 16: 05/01 – Specialization and flexibility in development                                    Reading: p.301 - 338

 

* Note (2018/01/14): More descriptive weekly topics have been provided for Part 3 to help those who might evaluate course content by chapter headings instead of consulting the actual readings.