5 credits

Students in this course are introduced to theories and research related to the development of cognition and language acquisition. Both normative and individual differences will be explored. In the course, students will examine basic concepts in cognitive development in addition to problem solving, decision making, and creativity. Piagetian cognitive theory will be examined, as well as sociocultural and neurobiological perspectives. Contemporary research and theory will be reviewed, including information processing and theory of mind. Students will also learn about psycholinguistics, including the structure of language, stages of language acquisition, and multilingualism. Theories of language acquisition will be explored, including behaviorist and conditioning perspectives, Chomsky's perspective, neural networks, and linguistic relativity. Through the course, students will examine atypical development, such as cognitive delay, language disorders, and autism.