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PSY-20038 - Module Specification
School of Psychology
Faculty of Natural Sciences

For academic year: 2022/23 Last Updated: 19 January 2023

PSY-20038 - Cognitive Development
Coordinator: Helen Williams Room: 1.78 Tel: +44 1782 7 33664
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 5
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733736

Programme/Approved Electives for 2022/23

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

N/A

Description for 2022/23

This module will advance students' understanding of key areas of cognitive development and will introduce students to the evolutionary origins of various cognitive domains. This will be achieved by discussing studies on humans (infants, children and adults) and non-human animals (e.g. primates, birds, dogs). The module will cover key topics in cognitive development, such as perception, language, number cognition and cooperation. For example, can new-born infants recognise their mother? Can chimpanzees take others' perspectives? The module will offer behavioural observation sessions which will engage students in identifying specific behavioural characteristics of different species and understand the constraints of conducting research with humans of different ages and non-human animals.

Aims
The module primarily aims to advance understanding of key areas of cognitive development and how research in cognitive development is carried out. Specifically, key topics in cognitive psychology will be discussed from both a developmental perspective and a comparative perspective. To this end the module¿s secondary aim is to broaden and deepen students¿ thinking about the evolutionary origins of various cognitive domains and to engage students with the methods used to study cognitive development in both human and non-human animals.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/psy-20038/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

answer questions about cognitive development in human and non-human animals: 2
identify key features of methodologies used in research on human cognitive development and with non-human animals: 1
develop a research proposal and effectively communicate this in appropriate format: 1
generate predictions about behaviour across different species or age groups: 1

Study hours

20 hours synchronous teaching
12 hours continuous assessment
106 hours - independent study including independent reading and prep for taught sessions (50 hours) and working on research proposal assessment (56 hours)
Approximately 12 hours of asynchronous guided learning activity

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Research Proposal weighted 80%
Research proposal
From examples provided, students will select one study into human or non-human animal cognition and adapt the method to explore a research question with a different sample (e.g. adapting a human infant study to be suitable for macaques). Students will be provided with a proposal template which they will complete to produce a research proposal of 2000 words maximum describing the rationale, research question and method for the adapted study.

2: Online Tasks weighted 20%
Continuous assessment
Students will complete continuous assessment of three online MCQ tests, each focusing on one of the three blocks of material delivered in the module. There will be around 15 questions in each test. The tests will be delivered via the KLE and will be open for 7 days to allow students to research their answers. The final mark for this assessment wil be an average of the student's best two test scores.

Please note that for the 2022/23 Academic Year programmes may be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there may be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 19 January 2023