Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LH Social cognitive development in infancy and childhood
School	School of Psychology
Department	School of Psychology
Module Code	03 33225
Module Lead	Andy Bremner
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	Taught at the Dubai Campus
Contact Hours	Lecture-12 hours Seminar-7 hours Guided independent study-181 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module will provide an in-depth understanding of cutting-edge research into the development of perceptual and cognitive abilities in human infancy, at both behavioural and neural levels of explanation Throughout the 10 lectures we will focus particularly on the question of how the infant’s social environment plays a role in perceptual and cognitive development. We will: i) cover the development of infants’ abilities to perceive and understand their social environment, ii) address how the social environment plays a role in infant perceptual and cognitive development more generally (considering the developing appreciation of the self and the physical/social environment), and iii) critically evaluate whether social developmental mechanisms are uniquely social, or, whether social learning ‘piggybacks’ on domain-general mechanisms. Topics covered will include: multisensory person perception in infancy; infant theory of mind; social genesis of perceptual and cognitive abilities; action perception in infancy
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module, students should be able to: Understand and describe the development of social perceptual and cognitive abilities in human infancy and early childhood. Critically evaluate evidence from human infants concerning their social perceptual and cognitive abilities. Understand and describe how the social environment scaffolds infants' perceptual and cognitive development
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: Essay (1500 words); 50%) Exam (120 mins; 50%) in which candidates will choose to write answers to two essay questions from four options
Other
Reading List