second year course in psychology2nd & 3rd semester

Second year course in psychology
Third and fourth Semester

We reach backward to our parents and forward to our children and through their children to a future we will never see, but about which we need to care –Carl Jung 20th century Swiss Psychoanalyst

Welcome to the third and fourth semester course in Child development and Developmental psychology. Along with inputs in theory and practical you are expected to submit a child development journal. It is a record of your activities and reactions regarding children and your role with them. Record your observations, interactions, activities and your reactions. To begin with think about your past experiences as a child and with other children and write down whatever seems important. A part of the journal will be submitted at the end of the third semester and the other part at the end of the fourth semester.
The journal consists of
· Reflections of topics given for group discussion at the end of every chapter
· Summary of papers presented
· Results and discussions of field activities
· Report of the visit to neo natal intensive care unit
· Your reactions to articles
Field activities for the third semester
Case study report
Your name Dates of study
Child’s name location of study
Child’s age /date of birth
A) reason for choosing the child. Describe how you happened to select the child(physical appearance, convenience)
B) a brief description of the child’s outstanding characteristics
C) history and background about the child’s family, health history, birth and prenatal period
D) depending on the age of the child assess his growth and development
E) in what ways the child has changed since you began your study
F) in what aspects of development is the child most advanced for his or her age
G) in which areas does he show slowest development
your report should include checklists, child’s drawings, paintings, writing samples, anecdotes, interview reports etc
since you are studying a small time period in the child’s life span use qualifiers like it seems, the evidence suggests, it may be etc in your summary report. you could also take samples of child study methods like diary method, parent interview(frame questions to ask parents), interview the child(frame questions)



Visit a preschool or kindergarten and
Categorize the environments-social, physical, emotional and intellectual aspects and decide whether it promotes children’s learning
Write a description of the room you visited
A summary of everything you saw
Summary of what you learnt
Whether it is play /child centered or academic centered
Use the learning environment checklist adapted from Harms
Here you can use the child study method of naturalistic observation and write down all your observations






Activities for Third semester


A survey of children’s T V viewing habit
Contact two families with at least one child between ages three and eight. Provide the chart and ask parents to keep a one week record of the child’s viewing habit
One week TV record


Childs name sex

Date of birth

Date Program length

Then evaluate the child’s viewing habits. Suggest any improvements that could be made.

Survey of television programmes designed for children
Watch one or many television programs designed for children and list out how many of the following kinds of behavior are depicted,.
Violence, aggression or anti social behavior
Positive social acts or moral lessons
Cognitive concepts
Types of products advertised
Sex role stereotypes
Report data and your recommendations

Visit to neo natal intensive care unit
Observe each infant
Report the differences in their appearance and movements
Equipments used
Your response to this experience

Good luck!