Diploma in Child Psychology

Study Method

The course is designed for study by distance learning at work or at home. Students receive course manual, assignments and studyguide plus tutor support by mail and email. You can start at any time and plan your studies over a period of up to one year from the time of registration.

Assessment

Each element of the course is followed by a written assignment, which is submitted to and marked by your tutor. Upon successful completion of the assignments you will be eligible for certification from NCFE. Please note that students’ assessments are moderated three times per year by NCFE. Submission dates and deadlines for moderation are fully detailed in the student study pack.

Pack/Course Contents

· Studyguide
· Comprehensive study notes for each element of the course
· Self-assessment activities
· Assignments
· Tutor support
· Assignment marking & feedback
· Accreditation

Course Outline

Module One Major Developmental Issues

Unit One The First Year of Life

Infant reflexes; Social development during the first year of life including the social smile and onset of fear of strangers.

Unit Two The Formation of Attachments

Imprinting; Attachment (Bowlby) including cross-cultural studies;
Harlow and surrogate mothers;
Relevance of animal studies in child development.

Unit Three Consequences of Breakdowns in Attachments

Maternal deprivation;
Implications of theories of attachment and maternal deprivation when placing children with surrogates.

Unit Four The Home, Family and School

Group vs family care and studies of effects of maternal employment and father absent families;
Importance of peers and siblings.

Unit Five Basic Principles of Research Methods

Nature and purpose of research, what is an experiment, supporting and refuting hypotheses, independent and dependent variables, control of variables, standardised instructions and procedures, methods of sampling, design of investigations.

Unit Six The Development of Visual Perception

Introduction to the nature/nurture debate on visual perception;
Fantz – form perception; Gibson and Walk – depth perception;
how the physiology of the human visual system helps us judge depth and distance;
Bower – size constancy;
animal experiments on early sensory deprivation.
Tutor-marked Assignment A

Unit Seven The Development of Language and Communication

Development of non-verbal communication in humans, gestures etc;
comparisons with non-human primates;
outline of language development in humans;
including naturalistic observational in humans;
including naturalistic observational studies and criticisms of these;
Innate and reinforcement theories.

Unit Eight Intelligence and Intelligence Testing

Definitions of intelligence;
mental age and IQ;
Tests of intelligence; Advantages and disadvantages of IQ testing.

Unit Nine The Nature/Nurture Debate in the Study of Intelligence

Twins studies; stability of IQ;
Are early experiences decisive for later development?

Unit Ten Data Collection and Interpretation

Tables and histograms, correlation and scattergrams;
Mean; Range;
Drawing conclusions from data.
Module Two The Child as an Individual

Unit Eleven How Children Think

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development;
including studies of egocentrism and criticisms of his work.
Tutor-marked Assignment B

Unit Twelve Learning Theory – How Behaviour is Acquired

Learning and conditioning – classical conditioning and operant conditioning;
including explanations of extinction, discrimination and generalisation;
positive and negative reinforcement;
Social Learning Theory and criticisms.

Unit Thirteen Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory – An Alternative Approach

Personality structure, 5 stage theory, criticisms.

Unit Fourteen Moral Development

Definition in psychological terms;
investigation of moral behaviour, moral feelings and moral judgement.

Unit Fifteen The Development of Gender Roles

Sex-typing; Gender identity; Biological, social and cultural theories.

Unit Sixteen Aggression in Children

Biological basis of aggression;
Psychological theory and aggression;
Aggression as a learned response;
Imitation of aggression;
viewing violence;
Punishment for aggression;
sex differences in aggression.

Unit Seventeen Methods Used in Child Development Research

Observational, Survey, Correlational, Experimental – advantages and disadvantages.
Tutor-marked Assignment C

Unit Eighteen Play

The importance of play to learning;
Piaget’s theory of play; forms of play;
Relevance of psychological theories to pre-school education;
Play and learning in nursery schools; Play therapy.

Unit Nineteen Learning in School

Programmed learning and its relationship to learning theory – advantages and disadvantages;
Discovery learning and its effectiveness.

Unit Twenty Behaviour Modification

Explanation and examples;
Relationship to learning theory;
Points systems, Advantages and disadvantages.
Tutor-marked Assignment D: Extended Essay