What do Babies Think? A Ted Talk providing an entertaining look at child development research.

Video 7.1: What do Babies Think  (https://www.ted.com/talks/alison_gopnik_ what_do_babies_thinkutm_ campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare) uploaded by Alison Gopnik, TEDGlobal.

Harlow’s Monkeys: This short video includes some original footage of Harlow’s work with baby monkeys plus some discussion of his work. WARNING – it is pretty harrowing at times.

https://youtu.be/_O60TYAIgC4

Video 7.2: Harlow’s Monkeys (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O60TYAIgC4) uploaded by TheSasss1

1. Age is a crucial factor in whether someone can vote, drive, get married etc.  Having studied this chapter, at what age do you think people should:

• be able to vote?

• be allowed to learn how to drive?

• be able to get married?

If you think something(s) other than age should be taken into account, then what else do you think is important and how could you assess it? Imagine you’re a parent (of course you may not need to imagine this) – how would you decide whether your child is ready to:
a) take transit on their own?
b) look after a younger sibling?
c) sleepover at a friend’s house?
d) have a social media account?

Discuss this with friends to see if they share your ideas.

Canada Father Prepares Lawsuit After Pvoince Bars Kids from Riding Bus Alone: This article looks at the plight of a parent trying to make such a decision (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/01/canada-father-bus-children-adrian-crook)

2. If you have access to a child (i.e. you can get parental permission to test them AND the child is willing) why not see how they perform on a Piagetian task or two? The video Piaget’s Stages of Development below will give you some ideas.

Video 7.3: Piaget’s Stages of Development (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRF27F2bn-A) uploaded by misssmith891.

3.  At the other end of the age-spectrum, do you know any “old” people (over 80)?  If so, interview them about their life.  See if you can get a sense of whether the challenges they faced at various ages were the ones Erikson would have expected.

4.  SITE REQUIRES A SIGN IN Work through this activity exploring Marcia’s theory of Identity Development, then think about some adolescents you know – can you categorize them according to Marcia’s model?  Can you think of some questions to ask adolescents which would help a researcher identify which “stage” of identity development they are at? https://oli.cmu.edu/jcourse/workbook/activity/page?context=df3e73260a0001dc3ec3aef76b2e77e8