(Excerpt from: 2009/2010 McGill Undergraduate Calendar) Basic research on the nature of infant competence  -  both the development of mental representations/operations and expressive/communicative ability  - will be examined. Implications for clinical  assessment and intervention including information processing procedures as an alternative to conventional tests and treatment procedures for developmental delays will be covered.

Instructor:  P.R. Zelazo

Prerequisite:  Psychology  PSYC 304 and any one of the Experimental Methods courses, preferably PSYC 213 (Cognition) or permission of the instructor.

Content:  The limitations of conventional tests of infant mental development will be examined in light of research on the development of mental representations and information processing ability from the neonatal period through the third year.  Basic research on neuronal fatigue and information processing models of neonatal attention, infant memory, concept formation and cross-modal matching will be reviewed. The infant's capacity for mental processing will be distinguished from the development of expressive capabilities such as functional object use, imitative behavior, and expressive language. Relevant literature on motor, language and behavioral development will be examined selectively to clarify this distinction, particularly as these capacities are integrated in conventional tests of infant intelligence.  Both theory and research guiding the creation of alternative information processing approaches to mental assessment will be presented.  Implications for identification and treatment of early disabilities, including developmental delay and autism, will be examined using recent research and clinical case studies.

Textbooks:  Weiss, M., & Zelazo, P.R. (Eds.), (1991). Newborn Attention: Biological constraints and experiential influences, Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.

Zelazo, P.R., Kearsley, R., & Ungerer, J. (1984). Learning to speak: A manual for parents, Hilsdale, N.J.: L. Erlbaum.  Other selected readings.

Method:  One 3 hour class per week involving lectures and seminar presentations.

Evaluation:         1.  Class Presentation  30%
                            2.  Class Participation   20%
                            3.  Research Proposal (12 pages)  50%