Developmental Psychology Analysis Assignment

Goal:  Using Developmental Theory & Concepts to Analyze the Development of a Character in a Book or Film.

As we have discussed in lecture and you will observe in your readings, the study of human development can take place at many levels (e.g., at the level of the individual, his/her family, society, or culture) and across many domains (e.g., biological, emotion, cognition, social).  Moreover, most theories that purport to provide a reasonably complete picture of human development explicitly recognize the need to cross boundaries, that is, to take account of factors that impinge on development which may occur at multiple levels.  In other words, trying to understand an individual's developmental history or to make sense of their current situation often requires an analysis that spans multiple domains and levels.

In this assignment, you are asked to read a novel, and to examine the development of a particular character with reference to some developmental theory (e.g., Erikson's theory of development) and/or to address any of the 'key issues' (e.g., nature-nurture; stability vs. change; discontinuous vs. continuous development; domain specificity vs. domain generality) in developmental psychology that you may spot in the book/film.

For example, using Nick Hornby's novel/film About a Boy, one could examine whether the social incompetence shown by the character Marcus is best thought of as stable or changing.   Alternatively, one could look at Marcus' development from the perspective of psychosocial theory and ask whether Marcus has successfully dealt with the developmental tasks he has had to face and how he might deal with future tasks. 

In short, you are relatively free to take a topic from any novel and to present me with a paper which incorporates an analysis of some developmental question or developmental issue with respect to a character in the novel.  I want an analysis which captures the complexities of the subject you choose and which incorporates at least some of the relevant literature in developmental psychology. 

Development From Infancy Through Adolescence

Assignment

As you are probably well aware, children in the preschool and early school years often have a very different view of the world than we do as adults.   For example, as Jean Piaget children often understand a concept such as 'alive' in a very different way than do adults. 

Your task is to pick one of the concept words below and to examine how children understand this concept by interviewing a child of your acquaintance to establish how they understand the concept.  

You will write up your interview as a short 2 to 4 page (double-spaced) paper that discusses how the child's concept is both similar to and different from the adult version of the concept.

To establish the adult version so you can contrast it with how the child you interview children understands the concept, you may find it worthwhile to do some research on the topic first.  For example, a Google search using the keywords "Piaget" & "animism" turns up some excellent references to how children's understanding of  the distinction between living and non-living things develops over time.   Use such work to help you understand the similarities and differences between your child's understanding of a concept and your own and to analyze if possible, the developmental level of your child with respect to this concept.

Target Concepts (pick one)

Death

Mind

Justice

Government

War

Peace

Space

Mind

Reality

Gravity

Art