Moral Development (Ch. 10)
3 domains of moral development (emotion, cognition, behavior)
internal vs. external moral orientation
Biological/Psychoanalytic/Cognitive/SLT views on moral development (be able to compare and evaluate)
self-control and early evidence of self-control (e.g., resistance to temptation/delay of gratification)
Age differences in prosocial behavior and possible explanations (e.g., role of competence)
Situational influences on prosocial behavior: need, relationship, mood
delay of gratification (developmental changes): factors related to ability to delay gratification
Resistance to temptation (Forbidden Toy experiment (Parke), effectiveness of punishment & cognitive rationale)
Hoffman - explanation for why cognitive rationales work
Piaget and moral reasoning:
 - use of dilemmas
 - heteronomous, autonomous morality
- evaluation (e.g. underestimation of preschoolers' abilities)
Eisenberg - levels of prosocial reasoning
Relation between prosocial reasoning (Eisenberg) and prosocial behavior
Role-taking and empathy as contributors to prosocial behavior (Hoffman)
Parenting (induction), empathy and prosocial behavior - Krevans & Gibbs
cultural differences in prosocial reasoning (Lee et al.)
Changes in distributive justice reasoning (Damon)
Kohlberg
- basic assumptions/development of model - relationship between cognitive development and 
   moral development
- interview method - use of dilemmas (Heinz dilemma)
- Levels of moral reasoning (pre-conventional, conventional, post-conventional) - be able to
    give/identify examples
- evidence in support of theory/criticisms of theory (including Gilligan's care ethic)
Love withdrawal, power-assertion, induction (define and relative effectiveness)
 

The Family as Context for social development (Ch. 11):
Characteristics of the family as system
Bronfenbrenner bioecological model and role of family as context
Changes in (US) families (e.g., delay of marriage)
direct and indirect effects and transactional model
socialization
Parenting:
 - control models of socialization (psychoanalytic, behaviorist) and changes in views of optimal parenting  
     (attachment focus, emphasis on warmth/responsiveness)
 - dimensions of parenting (control/warmth)
 - Baumrind patterns of parenting (authoritative etc.) and consequences for development
behavioral vs. psychological control
ethnic and social class differences in parenting and reasons for differences
findings on gay and lesbian parents (Bos et al.) and adoptive families
Fathers:
 -  historical focus on direct versus indirect effects of fathers
 -  differences in mothers' and fathers' interactions with their children
 -  fathers' effects on children, especially with respect to peer relationships/social competence
 -  Coley (results concerning father-figures and adjustment)
Child abuse (definitions):
  - risk factors in abuse (table 11.2)
  - consequences of abuse and neglect
  - Interventions/prevention for abuse based on research (class discussion)
Divorce:
 - short and long-term effects of divorce (family roles, living arrangements, finances, prolonged conflict, parent availability)
 - impact on children’s adjustment (exposure to stress, tension, fear, parent withdrawal, child’s perceptions).
 - Amato (2010): divorce as a process: pre-divorce, legal divorce (crisis point), post-divorce effects.
 - factors ameliorating the effects of divorce
 - remarriage effects
  - role of constructive vs. destructive interparental conflict
 - factors influencing effects of divorce (age, temperament, gender)
 - remarried families: benefits & difficulties
 - positive buffers for effects of divorce (e.g., reduce conflict, financial stability, schools/childcare).
Sibling relationships:
 - dimensions of sibling relationships
 - associations between sibling status, parenting (differential treatment) and the quality of sibling interactions
 - positive roles for siblings (attachment figures, emotional support, etc)
 - sibling effects on social development (emotion understanding, social competence) 
 
Peer Relationships (Ch. 13):
peer groups
Peers as socializing agents:
  - correlational (Anna Freud) and experimental animal research (Harlow)
  - video - Los Abandonados (discussion)
importance of pretend play (and how used to help children)
Parten's model and study on social participation (parallel, associative. etc)
Howes and Matheson (stages of play complexity which include cognitive complexity) + results from study
cliques and crowds - peer groups in adolescence
how parents influence peer relationships
Peer status:
 - definitions/conceptualization/measurement of peer status (popular, rejected, etc.)
 - correlates of peer status (esp. peer rejection)
 - interventions for peer rejection
 - aggressive-rejected and withdrawn-rejected children
Friendships:
  - 4 functions of friendships (Hartup)
  - friendship as buffer for peer rejection
  - characteristics of children who later become friends (Gottman)
  - behavioral and cognitive changes in friendships with age
  - effects of friendship on social/academic adjustment/friendship as a buffer
  - quality of friendship effects (and deviancy training)
  - Ladd/Waldrip studies on effects of friendship on adjustment
  - Bagwell et al.  - long-term effects of rejection/friendship

Community/School (Ch. 12; Epilogue)
Formal and informal curriculum
influence of formal schooling on cognitive development
characteristics of effective schools
characteristics of effective teachers (authoritative teaching, Pygmalion effect)
Trends in poverty statistics
Research findings on poverty effects
Role of family environment/maternal depression in poverty effects
neighborhood effects on children
Resilience and protective factors and intervention (what interventions work and what predicts resilience in children)
themes from epilogue
 

Essay Questions:

ONE of the following questions will be on the exam.

(1) Provide a brief overview of Kohlberg's theory of moral development. Include a description of the proposed levels of moral reasoning and the assumptions Kohlberg makes about how moral development comes about. What support is there for Kohlberg's account and what are some criticisms that have been leveled at this theory?

(2) What does it mean to take a systems approach to studying the family, and what does taking such an approach mean to the study of parenting, the role of fathers and siblings and culture in children's development?

(3)  Discuss the role that peer groups and peer relationships play in children's social development.  What evidence is there that peer groups can be powerful socializing agents (include a discussion of Anna Freud's, Harry Harlow's and/or the interactions displayed on the "Los Abandonados" video)? Distinguish between friendship and peer status (especially rejected status) status and discuss the role that these two peer experiences play in children's social and academic adjustment, citing empirical evidence.