HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Early Childhood

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Lihi Gatt

Coordinator Email: lihigatt@zahav.net.il

Coordinator Office Hours: By appointment

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Lihi Gatt

Course/Module description:
The course focuses on socio-emotional development in early childhood, highlighting state of the art research in contemporary developmental psychology. Two main issues will be addressed: (a) what are the competencies that develop during the first years of life, contributing to the child's social world? (b) What are the factors that affect the development of these socio-emotional competencies (intrinsic factors related to the child; environmental factors such as family and the child-care setting; culture). The unique challenges of out-of-home child care will be discussed, emphasizing stress-reactivity in group care and other related adjustment difficulties of very young children.

Course/Module aims:
To gain knowledge of cutting edge theories and research regarding socio-emotional development in early childhood; the understand the major constructs and concepts regarding the development of 'socio-emotional competence' in infancy, toddlerhood and preschool years.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1.To classify and explain key theories in contemporary research regarding socio-emotional development in early childhood
2.To define and explain key concepts relating to socio-emotional learning (SEL) and the development of socio-emotional competence.
3.To analyze case study using key concepts and theories of socio-emotional development.
4.to conclude from an observational description of a child's behavior in group care about his developmental characteristics, his needs and his strengths and weakness in group context.

Attendance requirements(%):
100%

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: lectures and discussions

Course/Module Content:
1. An ecological approach to the development of 'socio-emotional competence'
2. The newborn's innate 'sociability'
3. Emotional expression - implications for social behavior
4. Temperament
5. Temperament and socio-emotional adjustment – distress-proneness; inhibited vs. fearless temperament.
6. Emotion regulation, effortful control and executive functions
7. Social cognition from infancy to preschool
8. Contemporary notions of resilience – cortisol studies and stress reactivity; differential susceptibility theory.
9. Unique challenged in group care
10. Peer relations – imitation and synchrony, entry skills, pro-social behavior
11. Internalizing behavior and social withdrawal
12. Externalizing behavior, aggression and daily conflicts among peers
13. cultural pathways to socio-emotional competence; preschool in different cultures [this topic might not be included in the course].
14. intervention programs to promote socio-emotional competence

Required Reading:
רוזנטל, מ, גת, ל. וצור, ח. (2008). לא נולדים אלימים – החיים הרגשיים והחברתיים של ילדים קטנים. תל אביב: הוצאת הקיבוץ המאוחד.

שפרלינג, ד' (2018) .למידה חברתית רגשית: מיפוי מושגי, בסיס תיאורטי ואמפירי . סקירה מוזמנת כחומר רקע לעבודת צוות המומחים לנושא טיפוח והטמעה של למידה חברתית-רגשית במערכת החינוך

Bukowski, W.M. (2003). What does it mean to say that aggressive children are competent or incompetent? Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 49(3), 390-401.


Campbell, S.B. Denham, S.A.Howarth, G.Z. Jones, S.M. Whittaker, J.V. Williford, A.P. Willoughby, M.T. Yudron, M. (2016). Commentary on the review of measures: Conceptualization critique and recommendations. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 45, pp. 19-41


Coplan, R. J., Prakash, K., O'Neil, K., & Armer, M. (2004). Do You "Want" to Play? Distinguishing Between Conflicted Shyness and Social Disinterest in Early Childhood. Developmental Psychology, 40(2), 244-258.


Coplan, R. J., Ooi, L. L. and Nocita, G. (2015), When One Is Company and Two Is a Crowd: Why Some Children Prefer Solitude. Child Development Perspective, 9ת 133–137. doi:10.1111/cdep.12131

Dollar, J. M., Stifter, C. A., & Buss, K. A. (2017). Exuberant and inhibited children: Person-centered profiles and links to social adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 53(7), 1222-1229

Ellis, BJ & Del Giudice, M. (2019). Developmental Adaptation to
Stress: An Evolutionary Perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 70:111–39


Hughes, C. and Devine, R. T. (2015), Individual Differences in Theory of Mind From Preschool to Adolescence: Achievements and Directions. Child Development Perspective, 9: 149–153. doi:10.1111/cdep.12124


Garstein, M.A., Bridgett, D.J. & Low C.. (2012). Asking questions about temperament. In Marcel Zentner‏,Rebecca L. Shiner‏ (Eds.) Handbook of temperament (chapter 10), pp183-208. Retrieved from internet https://books.google.co.il/books?hl&eq;iw&lr&eq;&id&eq;F2ieD1PuNVcC&oi&eq;fnd&pg&eq;PA183&dq&eq;2012+CBQ+temperament&ots&eq;jsWumd8WAy&sig&eq;Sau22wU9XCn-WUKwOhvNHh6SgFA&redir_esc&eq;y#v&eq;onepage&q&eq;2012%20CBQ%20temperament&f&eq;false


Lionetti, F. Aron, R., Aron, EN, Burns, L, Jagiellowicz, J. & Pluess, M. (2018). Dandelions, tulips and orchids: evidence for the existence of low-sensitive, mediumsensitive and high-sensitive individuals. Translational Psychiatry, 8:24


Nagy, E. (2011), The newborn infant: a missing stage in developmental psychology. Inf. Child Develop., 20: 3–19. doi:10.1002/icd.683


Oostenbroek, J., Slaughter, V. , Nielsen, M, & Suddendorf, T.
(2013) Why the confusion around neonatal imitation? A review, Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 31:4, 328-341



Pluess, M. (2015), Individual Differences in Environmental Sensitivity. Child Dev Perspect, 9: 138–143. doi:10.1111/cdep.12120


Phillips, D.A., Fox, N.A. & Gunner, M.R. (2011) Same Place, Different Experiences: Bringing Individual Differences to Research in Child Care. Child Development Perspectives, 5(1), 49–44


Shiner, R. L., Buss, K. A., McClowry, S. G., Putnam, S. P., Saudino, K. J., & Zentner, M. (2012). What is temperament now? Assessing progress in temperament research on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Goldsmith et al. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 436–444.


Simpson, EA, Murray, L, Paukner, A. & Ferrari, PF (2014). The mirror neuron system as revealed through neonatal imitation: presence from birth, predictive power and evidence of plasticity. Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369, issue 1644.


van Goozen, S. H. M. (2015), The Role of Early Emotion Impairments in the Development of Persistent Antisocial Behavior. Child Development Perspective, 9: 206–210. doi:10.1111/cdep.12134

Wadsworth, M. E. (2015), Development of Maladaptive Coping: A Functional Adaptation to Chronic, Uncontrollable Stress. Child Dev Perspect, 9: 96–100. doi:10.1111/cdep.12112

Additional Reading Material:
1. ברגר, א., קופמן, א., והניק, א. (2008) התפתחות של ויסות עצמי מולד ונלמד. בתוך: פ.ש. קליין וי.ב. יבלון (עורכים): ממחקר לעשייה בחינוך לגיל הרך. האקדמיה הלאומית הישראלית למדעים. ירושלים. עמ' 39-66. נידלה מהאינטרנט: http://education.academy.ac.il/SystemFiles/23029.pdf

2. גולמן, ד. (2006). אינטליגנציה חברתית: המדע החדש של יחסי אנוש. תל-אביב: ספרי עליית גג, ידיעות אחרונות (פרק 10 – מחקרי חיות).

3. זיו, מ. (2009). התפתחות ההבנה החברתית בגיל הרך. בתוך ע. בקר, עם מי שחקת בגן היום (פרק 5, עמ' 197-216 ), הוצאת מכון מופת.

4. פורמן, מ. (1994). ילדות כמרקחה- אלימות וצייתנות בגיל הרך. תל אביב: הוצאת הקיבוץ המאוחד.

5. Chen, X. and Eisenberg, N. (2012), Understanding Cultural Issues in Child Development: Introduction. Child Development Perspectives, 6: 1–4. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00217.x.

6. Coplan, R. J., & Ooi, L. (2014). The causes and consequences of “playing alone” in childhood. In: RJ Coplan and JC Bowker (Eds.) A handbook of solitude: Psychological perspectives on social isolation, social withdrawal, and being alone, 111-128

7. Denham, S. A., Blair, K.A., DeMulder, E., Levitas, J., Sawyer, K., Auerbach-Major, S. & Queenan, P. (2003). Preschool emotional competence: pathway to social competence? Child Development, 74(1), 238-256

8. Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R.A. & Spinrad, T.L. (2007). Prosocial Development. in N. Eisenberg (Ed.) Handbook of Child Psychology Vol. 3, Chapter11, pp. 646-718. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (DOI: 10.1002/9780470147658)

9. Fabes, R.A., Hanish. L.D. & Martin L. (2003). Children at Play: The Role of Peers in Understanding the Effects of Child Care. Child Development, 74(4), 1039-1043.
10. Gartstein M.A., Putnam, S.P. & Rothbart, M.k. (2012). Etiology of preschool be-havior problems: contributions of temperament attributes in early childhood. Journal of Infant Mental Health, 33(2), 197–211

11. Hay, D. F. (2017), The Early Development of Human Aggression. Child Dev Perspect, 11: 102–106. doi:10.1111/cdep.12220

12. Obradovic, J., Bush, N. R., Stamperdahl, J., Adler, N. E., & Boyce, W. T. (2010). Biological Sensitivity to Context: The Interactive Effects of Stress Reactivity and Family Adversity on Socio-emotional Behavior and School Readiness. Child Development, 81(1), 270-289.

14. Pluess, M., & Belsky, J. (2009). Differential susceptibility to rearing experience: the case of childcare. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50 (4), 396-404.

15. Rosenthal, M.K., & Gatt, L. (2010). "Learning to Live Together": Training early childhood educators to promote socio-emotional competence of toddlers and pre-school children. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18(03), 373 - 390.
16. Rothbart, M.K. , Ahadi, S.A. & Hershy K.L. (1994). Temperament and social behavior in childhood. Merril Palmer Quarterly, 40. 21-39

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 100 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
None