KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: Acquire theoretical knowledge on the psychological constructs of communication and language, on the main theories and stages of cognitive, social, emotional and communication and language development.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: ability to understand and identify the main stages of cognitive, social, emotional and communicative-linguistic development typical of the child in relation to the development of neurobiological structures and developmental theories.
AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT: students will be encouraged to rework in a personal way the topics of the course and to develop critical skills through moments of discussion during the lessons.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: the students will have the opportunity to interact using a specific lexicon during the moments of discussion in class.
LEARNING ABILITY: students will acquire notions, also through in-depth studies, as a prerequisite for the subsequent learning.

None

The course aims to provide the tools for understanding the different aspects of the human, cognitive and communicative and linguistic development of the child in typical conditions (with hints at atypical developmental conditions). During the course, the main stages of cognitive, social, emotional and communicative-linguistic development will be described. The psychological constructs of communication and language, the neurobiological bases of language development will be explored.

Psicologia dello Sviluppo, (2 edizione, 2007). Camaioni e Di Blasio. Il Mulino
Psicologia dello Siluppo del linguaggio (2013). A cura di S. D’Amico e A. Devescovi. Il Mulino/Manuali
Prima Lezione di Psicologia della Comunicazione (2010). L. Anolli. Editori Laterza
In-depth material provided in class.

During the course, the following topics will be explored:
• Biological basis of development;
• Stages of cognitive development;
• Stages of socio-affective development;
• Stages of emotional development;
• The role of the environment in development;
• Definition of communication and language;
• Neurobiological bases of communicative-linguistic development;
• The main theories of communication and language development;
• From animal to human communication;
• The development of communication skills;
• Non-verbal communication;
• Gestural and pre-linguistic communication;
• The stages of linguistic development (sounds - vocabulary - grammar - speech);
• Parental communication methods as a support for the child's linguistic development;
• The acquisition of written language.

Frontal lessons and group discussion

The slides presented in class will be available at the end of the course.

Written examination with open and multiple-choice questions.

This course explores topics closely related to one or more goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs)