Lifespan Dev

1.3 Assignment. Normal Development Assumptions

Getting Started

Most people have a general sense of normal human development, but much of that sense may come from assumptions, and assumptions can be incorrect. To test your assumptions about normal growth and development, you will read about some of the major theorists of human development, learn about their research and theories, and reflect on how your assumptions about growth and development compare to what you learned about those theories of human development, specifically focusing on pre-birth to infancy.

As mentioned in the introduction to this course, you also want to keep in mind that you will complete a philosophy of life, work and personal growth paper at the end of PSY 525. You can draw from key assignments, like this one and your Odyssey Plans, to help you with this upcoming assignment, which will include a section on your own theory of personal growth and development based on your life experience and your favorite psychological theorists.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Assess theories of human development and compare to assumptions of human development.

Resources

· eBook:  Developmental Theories Through the Life Cycle

· Video: What Do Babies Think?

· Video: What We Learn Before We Are Born

· Video: Child Development Theorists: From Freud to Erikson to Spock . . . and Beyond

· Video: The Nine Months That Made You: Pregnancy and Human Development (OPTIONAL)

· Video: The Science of Babies (OPTIONAL)

· Website: Academic Writer

· Website: OCLS Evaluating Sources 

Background Information

For this assignment, you will read  and watch videos about the outstanding developmental theorists and researchers of our time. Learning about and gaining a sound understanding of different theorists will enable you to have a firm grounding in developmental science. You will test your assumptions about normal human development against what you learn from the resources in this workshop, with an emphasis on the time of pre-birth to infancy.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Watch the following videos:

a. What Do Babies Think?  (18:25 min). You can also read the  What do Babies Think: Transcript .

b. What We Learn Before We Are Born  (16:42 min). You can also read the  What We Learn Before We Are Born: Transcript .

c. Child Development Theorists: From Freud to Erikson to Spock . . . and Beyond  (21:58 min). You can also read the  Child Development Theorists From Freud to Erikson to Spock and Beyond: Transcript .

3. Review Chapters 1 and 2 in the ebook,   Developmental Theories Through the Life Cycle . 

4. Optionally, view the following videos:

a. The Nine Months That Made You: Pregnancy and Human Development  (Segments 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19 approximately 16 min). You can also read the  The Nine Months That Made You Pregnancy and Human Development: Transcript .

b. The Science of Babies  (50:01 min). You can also view the  The Science of Babies: Transcript .

5. Respond to the following prompts, include each of the following sections:

a. Introduction

b. Content: Now that you have learned about some theories of human development, discuss how your new understanding of theories of normal human development ties into your previous understanding and assumptions about normal human development, specifically focusing on pre-birth to 18 months of age. Use learning resources to support your answer.

c. Conclusion

6. Your response to the prompts should be between 400 to 500 words.

7. All references and citations should be in APA format.

a. Review the website Academic Writer on how to cite sources and format a paper properly in APA. Use the left navigation and go to Course Dashbaord, IWU Resources and select Academic Writer.

b. You may also review the  OCLS Evaluating Sources  to see the criteria for credible Internet research websites.  If you are not already logged in to the IWU OCLS website, you will be prompted to log in when you access the link

8. When you’ve completed your assignment, save a copy yourself and submit a copy to your instructor using the Assignment submission page by the end of the workshop.