SZ6003 Developmental Psychology (Exercise)

Faculty of Education
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Tomáš Kohoutek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jana Fikrlová (seminar tutor)
Mgr. et Mgr. Bc. Šárka Hlaváčová (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Viola Hubačová Pirová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Jitka Jeklová (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Klára Jonášová (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Jan Krása, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
PhDr. Josef Lukas, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Bc. Pavla Nováková, MSc. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Tereza Škubalová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Veronika Šromová (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Natálie Wollerová (seminar tutor)
PhDr. Katarína Zvončáková, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Tomáš Kohoutek, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Education
Supplier department: Department of Psychology – Faculty of Education
Prerequisites (in Czech)
!NOWANY( SZ6603 Developmental Psychology )
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
"Developmental Psychology" introduces the basic principles and laws of psychological development, with biodromal perspective in the approach to a human, the basic characteristics of the different stages of human development, and especially with the age specifics of children and adolescents. It deals with various aspects of development ranging from physical and motor development through cognitive, emotional, moral, volitional, social development and the development of relationships to personality development, self-esteem and identity. Typical forms of learning, adequate stimulation and typical problems in various stages of development are also emphasized. Another range of issues deals with education, relations between generations and an adequate understanding of children and adolescents. Emphasis is placed on understanding the specificity of developmental stages as a source of "otherness", but also on the plasticity and inter-individual diversity. Students will also further acquainted with the basic methods of developmental psychology, with historical dilemmas and current issues of the discipline and with the collection of both internationally representative theories and the contributions that shaped the developmental-psychological thinking in the Czech and Slovak cultural context.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this course, students should: - Have basic knowledge over contemporary developmental psychology, its specific methods and principles of periodization of psychological development;
- Distinguish between the processes of maturation and learning and understanding their context;
- Understand the principles of developmental changes, critical and sensitive period, and development crises;
- Understand representative developmental theories that transcend into educational disciplines and contribute to the understanding of personality functioning in adulthood;
- Understand the specifics of the various stages of ontogeny of the human psyche to know the developmental possibilities and problems typical of the different stages;
- Understand the development of basic mental functions, but also the social context of the development and importance of the social environment;
- Know the needs associated with social and emotional development of children and adolescents;
- Know the representative theories of cognitive development and learning in different age stages;
- Know the school-relevant developmental phenomena (skills development, learning, attention, motivation and executive functions);
- Understand the phenomena of self and identity in a development context;
- Indicatively consider a disturbance of mental development.
Students learn to work with scientific literature, focus on the issues discussed, practice will practice the theoretical knowledge acquired in lectures and will be able to understand the basic patterns of mental development. After completing the seminar, students will be also able: - Conduct independent observations;
- Confront the results of their own observations with findings from the literature;
- Analyze the situation with respect to age peculiarities of their actors;
- Apply knowledge about the development of mental functions at the level of their interaction in a particular situation.
Syllabus
  • 1st - 2nd week:
  • 1. Developmental psychology within the system of psychological disciplines, relationships to other human sciences. The concept and the main factors of development.
  • 2. Ontogenesis, critical and sensitive periods, periods of human development, developmental challenges and crises (Erikson).
  • 3rd - 4th week:
  • 3. Early developmental stages: prenatal period, newborn, infant and toddler.
  • 4. Psychological concepts related to early development: the theory of attachment (Bowlby, Ainsworth), the concept of emotional deprivation in childhood (Langmeier and Matějček).
  • 5th - 6th week:
  • 5. Preschool age: the characteristics of emotional, social and cognitive development. Game, drawing, school readiness.
  • 6. Early and middle school age: the characteristics of emotional, social and cognitive development.
  • 7th - 8th week:
  • 7. Concepts of the mental development and its aspects with regard to the development from childhood to adolescence: cognitive development (Piaget), moral development (Kohlberg).
  • 8. Adolescence: characteristics of emotional, social and cognitive development. Formation and changes in self-concept. Development of identity, state identity (Marcia).
  • 9th - 10th week:
  • 9. Adulthood - social criteria, aspects of the identity of adults; the concept of "emerging adulthood" (Arnett).
  • 11th - 12th week:
  • 10. Aspects of mental development from childhood to adulthood: emotional development, cognitive development and motivation of voluntary features, socialization and development of relations, the developmental aspect of self-concept and identity. Developmental difficulties and disorders.
Literature
    required literature
  • THOROVÁ, Kateřina. Vývojová psychologie : proměny lidské psychiky od početí po smrt. Vydání první. Praha: Portál, 2015, 575 stran. ISBN 9788026207146. info
  • VÁGNEROVÁ, Marie. Vývojová psychologie. Dětství a dospívání. 2nd ed. Praha: Univerzita Karlova, 2012, 531 pp. ISBN 978-80-246-2153-1. info
    recommended literature
  • LANGMEIER, Josef and Dana KREJČÍŘOVÁ. Vývojová psychologie. 2., aktualizované vydání. Praha: Grada, 2006, 368 stran. ISBN 9788024712840. URL info
  • LANGMEIER, Josef and Zdeněk MATĚJČEK. Psychická deprivace v dětství. Vyd. 4., dopl., V nakl. Karo. Praha: Karolinum, 2011, 399 s. ISBN 9788024619835. URL info
  • MACEK, Petr. Adolescence. Vydání druhé, upravené. Praha: Portál, 2003, 141 stran. ISBN 8071787477. URL info
  • PIAGET, Jean and Bärbel INHELDER. Psychologie dítěte. Edited by Eva Vyskočilová. Vyd. 4., V nakl. Portál 3. Praha: Portál, 2001, 143 s. ISBN 807178608X. info
  • The Oxford handbook of developmental psychology. Edited by Philip David Zelazo. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013, xx, 624. ISBN 9780199958474. info
    not specified
  • MCINERNEY, D. M. and David PUTWAIN. Developmental and educational psychology for teachers : an applied approach. Second edition. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017, xx, 335. ISBN 9781138947726. info
  • ERIKSON, Erik H. Dětství a společnost. Vyd. 1. Praha: Argo, 2002, 387 s. ISBN 8072033808. info
  • GEDDES, Heather. Attachment in the classroom : the links between children's early experience, emotional well-being and performance in school. First published. London: Worth Publishing, 2006, vii, 152. ISBN 9781903269084. info
  • LACINOVÁ, Lenka, Stanislav JEŽEK and Petr MACEK. Cesty do dospělosti: Psychologické a sociální charakteristiky dnešních dvacátníků (Paths to Adulthood: Psychological and Social Characteristics of Current Vicenarians). 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2016, 157 pp. ISBN 978-80-210-8400-1. Online knihkupectví Munipress info
Teaching methods
lectures, reading, exercises, micro-projects, class discussion
Lectures can be recorded in agreement with the students and the record can be available to the students of the course in the relevant period as an additional study material of the course.
Assessment methods
portfolio task - essay, active participation (submission of preparations, group interviews), written exam (consists of 20 choice questions, minimum 13 correct answers)
Language of instruction
Czech
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2025/SZ6003