OBSERVATIONAL TECHNIQUES OF INFANTILE BEHAVIOR
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- MARCO DONDI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- M-PSI/04
Training objectives
- a) Knowledge on discipline
- To know, through an adequate historical contextualization, the role of observation in the formation of knowledge in developmental and educational psychology;
- To become acquainted with the most recent observational techniques used in developmental psychology, with regard to the 0-3 years age group;
- To understand the nature of observational techniques through the discussion of research topics particularly relevant to the training of infant specialists.
b) Know how and capabilities
- To acquire the basic knowledge needed to understand and analyze quantitative data that can be acquired through observational techniques;
- To develop the ability to select existing observational tools and / or to develop specific observational strategies to acquire new knowledge;
- To understand and use the specialist lexicon which characterizes observational research.
c) Soft skills
- To develop a personal point of view (critical thinking);
- To develop argumentative skills;
- To develop the ability to search, identify and analyze significant literature on different topics through the use of specialized databases. Prerequisites
- Basic knowledge about the methods used in developmental research (e.g. cross-sectional and longitudinal designs) and about the main research topics in the study of infant behavior.
Course programme
- The course provides an introduction to the latest observational techniques used in the field of developmental psychology by fostering the understanding of the specificities, applications and analysis of quantitative data that can be obtained through these techniques. The concepts of validity and reliability will be briefly discussed and the Cohen's Kappa coefficient - a fundamental statistical tool in observational research - will be presented. Finally, the course will focus on the practical aspects of the microanalytical coding of infant behavior. Practical exercises will involve the use of software for data collection and analysis.
Didactic methods
- Frontal lessons (see additional course information). The active participation of students in seminars and exercises will be considered for the purpose of final evaluation. Additional didactic materials will be uploaded on the website of the course.
Learning assessment procedures
- Written exam: true/false, multiple-choice and/or short-answer questions. Judging criteria responses are those of the accuracy, adequacy, and completeness of the displayed content. Oral exam (20/25 minutes): questions to the student in spoken form. The results of the seminars/exercises (aimed at developing the skills of type b and c) will be considered in determining the outcome of the final exam.
Reference texts
- Aureli T. & Perucchini P. (2014). Osservare e valutare il comportamento del bambino. Il Mulino, Bologna.
