47.474:  Seminar in Developmental Psychology

The Role of Trauma in Child Development

Spring 2011

Dr. Arcus

 

Assignments

1.         Reflection Papers.  Beginning on March 4, students will bring a reflection paper summarizing one reading from the assigned readings for the day. The paper will summarize cogent points and propose three discussion questions that arise from the reading.  These will be graded on a 1-10 scale.  Two sides of a single sheet, double spaced and using APA citation style, should suffice.

2.       Research Review Proposal.  Due March 4 in class.  Students will plan a research review of some question of interest in child and/or adolescent trauma.  The question should examine the relationship between two variables relevant to psychological trauma in childhood or adolescents (e.g., relation between age and reaction to sexual abuse; relation between type of treatment and improvement in developmental trauma; relation between family characteristics and child outcomes in foster care).  The proposal must give a brief introduction to your question of interest and list at least three empirical research articles from professional journals that you will use in answering this question.  The final research review requires five empirical research articles from professional journals. Due in class on 3/4; ungraded but required for approval before continuing on with the research review. 

3.         Research Review.  Due March 25 in class.  Remember that you are preparing a mini-research review.  This project is an individual effort; you are not allowed to work in pairs until the brochure and poster.

For the research review, you are required to read and report on five empirical articles from peer-reviewed professional journals that address a central question to be posed with respect to one trauma-related problem area for children or adolescents.

Make sure your question goes beyond simple description of the problem or its symptoms. 

·         Ask about other aspects such as causes, treatments, effects on the family, or effects on peer relations. 

·         There are a multitude of questions you could pose. 

·         Be sure the child or adolescent trauma is at the center of the question and that you are focusing on psychological or psychosocial aspects.

 

The purpose of asking you to report on a specific area is to provide you with the experience of integrating research results. 

·         Do not read one article for question a, one for question b, and one for question c.  You must have multiple perspectives on the question you pose. 

·         For example, it would not be useful to have a broad overview with only three articles as in, "What are the causes, symptoms, and treatments for Developmental Trauma Disorder?" 

·         Instead you should pick one of these three and read and report on three articles that address the issue of cause, for example.

 

You should write enough about each article so that we know how to interpret each set of results. 

·         Relevant information will includes the purpose of the article, who the participants were (e.g., age, SES, clinical population, etc.), and how the data were collected (e.g., questionnaires to parents, interviews with children, fMRI scans, school records, etc.). 

·         But you must also integrate your discussion.

 

Every paper should begin with a paragraph orienting the reader to the disorder being discussed. 

·         You may use general information from a textbook or some other reference.

·         Note that this general reference does not count as one of your five empirical articles. 

·         Be sure to cite each reference appropriately both in the text and in the references at the end (See general study resources for APA style links).

 

Papers should be 5-7 pages in the body of the paper.  In addition to the title page, abstract page, and reference page, that will give you 8-10 pages total. All papers should be typed and double spaced with 12 point font.   

·         Use APA citation style (this is not negotiable). 

·         Make sure the cover sheet is also in APA style and use a single staple in the upper left hand corner. 

·         No fancy covers, please!

 

Beware of plagiarism. 

You will hand in two copies, an electronic version to TURNITIN.COM and a hard copy to me.

·         Whether it is intentional or not, it is a serious academic offense. 

·         Instances of plagiarism will be handled according to the UML Undergraduate Catalog.

·         You may submit early to Turnitin.com for feedback on whether you have even inadvertently copied material from another source. Plan to submit early which will give you time to redo and resubmit if you need to.

 

Additional resources for the Research Review

·         Sample research review (totally fabricated)

·         Grading rubric for this assignment

·         The Writing Center at Purdue has an excellent APA style guide.

·         Please add your student profile to TURNITIN.COM

o        Class id:  3878876

o        Class password:  47474

 

 

4.       INTEGRATIVE CASE STUDY.  Students will be assigned a book to read that presents a case of child or adolescent trauma; preferences will be obtained and every effort will be made to honor top preferences indicated on the list of possible books.  Some of these books may be available through the UMass Lowell or local libraries; others will have to be purchased.  Papers will be typed in 12-point Times New Roman (or 10 pt. Arial or equivalent), double-spaced, and using 1 inch margins on all sides. Due Monday, May 9th in hard copy to my MA110 faculty mailbox.

 

APA citation style will be used for references in the text and in the reference list.

 

Paper format will generally be in APA style—title page, abstract, body of the paper with headings as appropriate, and references.

 

Use headings to identify the major sections of your paper.  These might include headings such as the following: Summary, Factors Contributing to Traumatic Events, Social Context, Re-experiencing Trauma, Cummulative Risk Factors, Resiliency Factors, Treatment Possibilities.  Note that these are simply possibilities.  Your headings might be more specific.  Whatever section headings you actually use will depend on your particular case and analysis.

 

Every paper should present:

·         A summary of the case with special attention to the

·         A discussion of factors that contributed to the traumatic event or events

·         A discussion of the individual’s experience of trauma

·         A discussion of the developmental consequences of traumatic experiences

·         A discussion of treatment as experienced and/or treatment that might have been and the difference it might have made

·         Inclusion of social, cultural, historical contexts as appropriate

·         Integration of theoretical and/or empirical literature throughout every discussion

·         A final synthesis and conclusion

 

When you integrate the literature, be sure to say enough about what you are citing that it’s relevance is clear. 

 

These papers will be substantial with an estimated 15-18 pages required to cover all of these topics with connections to the literature.

 

Each paper should also have at least 15 references from the professional literature.

 

5.       Final Presentations.  You will have 20 minutes for your entire presentation, including questions and discussion.  Presentations will be 4/22, 4/28 and 5/6

 

Plan to summarize (about 3 minutes), identify contributing factors, the individual’s experience, and developmental consequences with appropriate literature (10 minutes), and offer your own conclusions (2-3 minutes).  Try to leave 4-5 minutes for discussion.

 

You should have a visual aid to your presentation.  Powerpoint presentations can be loaded onto the computer projector.

 

Do NOT read to the class.  If you are using overheads, slides, or powerpoint, use them to kick off what you are going to say and avoid reading.  Do not read more than an occasional excerpt from the text to illustrate points that you couldn’t possibly convey with the same impact if you were to use your own words.

 

The time for your presentation will go by very quickly.  Practice.  Say it aloud. Time yourself. The best way to practice is with an audience.  If you do not have one, use a mirror.

 

Note that presenters who take more than their allotted time impinge on the time available for others.  Anyone whose presentation exceeds 20 minutes will be penalized

 

The content of your presentation will include an integration of the literature, although you might not have completely finished the literature review that will appear in your final paper.  Class discussion may also prompt further thoughts or insights that you will be able to use in your paper.

 

6.       Peer Reviews.  At the conclusion of each presentation day, all students will complete peer reviews on all presenters for that day.  Feedback to presenters will be summarized anonymously.