Choice 1: Children’s Television
Watch
one television program geared to children in early or middle childhood
(for ages 4 to 12 years). It may help to watch sections repeatedly. Pay
special attention to magical or supernatural events, techniques of the
medium (zooming, over-voicing, time-lapse, flashbacks, etc), and violent
and potentially scary events. Evaluate the program or a portion of the
program based on one
of the following topics: language acquisition, school skills,
appearance/reality distinction, children’s understanding of the
television medium, gender development, pro-social behavior, or
aggression.
At the top of the first page, provide the following summary information (5 pts). Use phrases only, not paragraph format:
names of program
channel/streaming service
time it was shown (if available live)
age and sex of children who are likely to view the program
list of products advertised during commercial breaks or with product placement (if applicable)
Include a brief (1 paragraph) summary of the contents or plot of that episode (5 pts).
Choice 2: Book OR Movie Review/Analysis
Identify
and read a book that portrays an individual’s growth and development.
You can choose any book that meets this requirement but confirm with me
before you begin. Pay special attention to the character’s beliefs,
intentions, and decisions. Evaluate the character’s behaviors based on one of
the following topics: moral development, cognitive development, gender
development, identity formation (or a class-relevant topic of your
choosing, just run it by me first).
At the top of the first page, provide the following summary information (5 pts). Use phrases only, not paragraph format:
name and author of book
genre of book
year it was published
target audience (age and sex of reader likely to read this book)
Include a brief (1 paragraph) summary of the plot (5 pts).
For all papers:
Select an appropriate title for your paper (5 pts).
Begin the paper with an introductory paragraph that sets up your topic and arguments (10 pts).
In
the body of the paper, conduct your evaluations based on concepts,
methods, theories, issues, or research findings from the literature on
child development. You will need a minimum of 7 citations to support your arguments.
Support
your opinion with theory and data from developmental research. You must
use empirical results only—professional psychological publications that
you find in your textbook, in lecture, or on your own—not pop
psychology, not parenting websites, etc. (55 pts).
End your paper with a concluding paragraph that summarizes your arguments or points toward new directions for research or thinking (10 pts).
Use APA format to cite the authors of the conceptual or empirical work (5 pts) and include an APA format reference list (5 pts).
All words must be your own. You will lose points for copying and pasting other authors’ work.
There
is no page minimum, but typically these types of papers need to be
around 5 pages to cover all of the material. Your paper should be no
more than 9 pages.
