DEVELOPMENTAL AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 1

Academic Year 2026/2027 - Teacher: ELENA COMMODARI

Expected Learning Outcomes

Be able to design and/or carry out, under supervision and coordination, research aimed at developing psychological interventions in the field of developmental psychology and education.

• Ability to use national and international databases

• Ability to critically discuss the main themes of the discipline, and connect these themes to other psychological fields

• Ability to summarize the different approaches of developmental and educational psychology.

• Ability to appropriately use psychological language.

Communication skills (DD4)

• Ability to understand, communicate, and share the complexity of psychological issues and the different approaches of developmental and educational psychology.

• Ability of expression with appropriate use of psychological language and specialized terminology.

Learning skills (DD5)

• Ability to identify study topics, research findings, and potential methodological developments, as well as the impact on other disciplines.

• Ability to integrate learned content into the body of psychological knowledge and integrate information drawn from various texts. Develop flexible approaches to study.

The course covers some of the objectives set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, namely: ensuring Goal 3: Health and Well-Being: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages; Goal 4: Equitable and Inclusive Quality Education; and Target 4.7: Ensure that students acquire clinical and interpersonal skills to work with diverse individuals, developing listening skills, understanding, and respect for cultural and psychological diversity.

Required Prerequisites

None

Attendance of Lessons

Strongly recommended.

Detailed Course Content

The course aims to provide knowledge of the main theories in developmental and educational psychology, focusing on the processes involved in individual and social development in different life contexts. It focuses on the following topics:

1) Developmental and educational psychology: distinctive characteristics

2) Theories of child development:

- Psychometric approach

- Psychoanalytic approach

- Behaviorism

- Jean Piaget's theory

- The historical-cultural perspective

- Human Information Processing approach

- Attachment theory

- Evolutionary approach and other recent approaches

3) Research methods in developmental and educational psychology and the main developmental issues

4) Prenatal development

5) Perceptual/motor development

6) Language and communication development

7) Cognitive development and the main mental functions

8) Social, emotional, and moral development

9) Self-development and identity

10) Adolescence and quality of life

11) Main topics in educational psychology: self-efficacy, procrastination, resilience, psychological well-being, school adjustment, special educational needs (SEN), learning disabilities (LD), etc.

Textbook Information

Students must choose one of the following "blocks" of texts, which cannot be modified and should by extablished befor the exam with arrangement with professir. Both blocks allow them to achieve the same body of knowledge.

Block 1

1) Santrock J.W., Deater-Deckard K., Lansford J.E., Rollo D., Psicologia dello sviluppo (V edizione), McGraw Hill Education, Milano, 2024.

2)     Commodari E., L’abbraccio che crea: lo sviluppo socio-cognitivo tra teoria e prassi, Franco Angeli, 2022,
3)     Di Nuovo S. Alunni speciali, bisogni speciali. Il Mulino, Bologna.
Block 2
1)              Santrock J.W., Deater-Deckard K., Lansford J.E., Rollo D., Psicologia dello sviluppo (V edizione), McGraw Hill Education, Milano, 2024.
2) Sagone E. (2020), Carpe diem. Procrastinazione e correlati psicologici nel ciclo di vita, FrancoAngeli, Milano.
3) Sagone E., Indiana M.L. (2024), Qualità di vita in adolescenza: traiettorie di sviluppo ed esperienze positive, Franco Angeli, Milano.

Course Planning

	Subjects	Text References
1	Block 1	Text 1 and text 2, block 1, from 1 to 10Text 3, block 1, 11,
2	Block 2	Text 1, 2 block 2, from 1 to 11Text 3, block 2, 11,

Learning Assessment

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

The questions will be differentiated by difficulty, some basic for passing the exam, others in-depth for achieving the highest grades in the range. Please remember the importance of the information already discussed in the section

Example Questions

Piaget and Cognitive Development

Attachment Theory

Emotional Development

Theory of Mind

Psychological Assessment in the different stages of life span

Degree Course in

Psychological Sciences and Techniques