Welcome to Psychology 250: Life Span Developmental Psychology. This is a sophomore/junior-level course in human development. This means two things. First, during the semester students will be looking at all aspects of human development, from the point of conception to the end of life in quite a bit of detail. This is not a broad overview or a general survey of developmental psychology. Details are important, and it is expected that students will be able to explain core concepts with a fair amount of accuracy and attention to detail. Second, it means that students are responsible for mastering the material found in the course outcomes, even if there are no specific assignments that relate to that material as they work through the course.
This course is required in many of the health professions (nursing, occupational and physical therapy, social work, etc.) so that you have a rudimentary knowledge of developmental issues facing clients in a variety of age groups. It is also useful to psychology majors/minors and to anyone who is interested in developmental issues (say, anyone who will ever be a parent or uncle or aunt).
If you're a traditional-age college student, you may find it challenging to consider the perspective of middle-aged and elderly adults, but addressing those challenges is the essence of this course.
UW Colleges Catalog Course Description for PSY 250: Life Span Developmental Psychology - 3 credits. A survey of human development theories and research. Topics include the biological, cognitive, emotional and social development of the individual from the prenatal period through old age. Students may not receive credit for both PSY 250 and PSY 360 or PSY 362. This course fulfills the UWC requirement for Social Sciences (SS).
Prerequisites: PSY 201 or 202 (grade of C- or better) or consent of instructor.
First students will cover the basics of how psychologists study human development, and the main theories within the field of human development. Then they are going to look at the role of genetics, the stages of prenatal development, and the concerns related to prenatal influences.
Once students have an understanding of these early influences of development, they are going to look at how individuals change physically and cognitively across the life span. Finally, students will look at personality and social development, and consider the influences of family and friends on development.
Successful completion of this course will enhance students' ability to
It does not matter which one; the ability to create and save *.rtf or *.txt files. All word processing packages can do this; if you don't know how to do it with your package, you can contact the helpdesk by sending an email to uwconlinesupport@uwc.edu, or by calling 877-449-1877.
If you do not have PowerPoint installed on your computer, you can download a free viewer from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/. If you don't have Flash installed on your computer, you can download a free player from http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/.
Linda Tollefsrud
