Running head: Observation 1 Developmental Observation Gabrielle Valdez St. Edward’s University CNCO-6356-02 Dr. Harris November 3, 2022 Observation 2 Introduction Humans are complex beings that are in a constant state of change physically, socially, emotionally, and mentally. Developmental science is a science that is still new, with studies of children having not begun until the late nineteenth century. For my developmental observation, with the permission of the parent, I observed a 2 year old girl whose name is Emery. According to her mother, Taneika, she said that she was healthy her entire pregnancy and only had a minor complication during birth. Her body stopped dilating and she needed an emergency c-section. Aside from that complication, Emery was born healthy. Emery’s most recent doctor’s appointment also showed her healthy and developing on track. In the 60 minutes that I spent just observing Emery, I sought to keep an open mind and sensitively observe what she understood and was able to do and how she made meaning of her world. I assessed her gross motor skills, cognitive, social, and emotional skills. The observation took place in two parts, 30 minutes at a playground followed by 30 minutes in her home. Environment The first half of the observation was at a playground about five minutes from their home. There were five children total at the playground, two were around 3-5 years old and three of the other children were between 8-11 years old. The children attended the park in waves and their attendance was a crucial factor in the observation of Emery. At the playground there was swings, monkey bars, and a slide. The second half of the observation was in the living room of the home of the subject. The only other person with us was Emery’s mother and she was not surrounded by toys. There was only the couches, television, and occasional home decor in the surrounding area; at no point was there any other children or adults in the home setting. Observation 3 Playground Observation Once we arrived at the playground, Emery hesitated to walk by herself to it. There were no children in the moment at the playground. Her mother had to take her hand and guide her a couple of feet then let her go. Emery immediately noticed her mother was not there and ran back to her. She kept telling her mom to “go play” while grabbing her hand and leading her to the playground with her. It seemed that Emery did not want to play alone. After about 5 minutes, two other children showed up and they looked to be around 3-5 years old. The other children played together, and Emery seemed very disinterested in interacting with them. If the younger children approached her, she would cry until her mom picked her up and was overall difficult to console. After another 5 minutes or so, some older children approached the park and Emery became interested again. Some of the behaviors I noticed were that she was copying the older children as they played, she walked/ran around the playground next to the older children but not directly with them, she became more sociable and attempted to talk more, and she also stayed close to her mother. If she strayed too far, she would stop and run back to her mother, touch her leg, and then take off again. There are many theorists and perspectives and as I observed Emery I zoned in on two specific ones, Erikson and Piaget. In chapter 6 of our textbook, Development Through the Lifespan, Erikson’s psychosocial theory was discussed. Emery not wanting to be without her mother and still running back to her reminded me of the section of basic trust versus mistrust. She seemed to be struggling with having a healthy sense of individuality. Taneika mentioned how she does not usually let Emery do things alone and she does tend to “helicopter”, as she titled it, over her. Emery seemed to fully trust her mother but struggled with adjustment which can create problems in adulthood. Those problems could look like “difficulty establishing Observation 4 intimate ties, overly dependent on a loved one, or continually doubting their own ability to meet new challenges” (pg. 184). I also assessed her temperament and development and concluded that her structure of temperament was the slow to warm up child. I came to this conclusion after reading further into the section, The Structure of Temperament, which gave detailed descriptions of characteristics that matched Emery’s specific temperament in the playground setting. Piaget was an influential cognitive development theorist that claimed, “children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world” (pg. 18). He had four stages of development to his theory and Emery would be considered in the preoperational stage. Piaget also theorizes that “children are active learners whose minds consist of rich structures of knowledge” (pg. 20). Home Setting Observation After 30 minutes, Taneika said she felt Emery was overstimulated because she was screaming and hitting a lot more. We walked back to their house where the second part of the observation was continued. On the short walk back, we talked about what she felt it meant for Emery to be overstimulated. She said she feels that Emery has a lot of social and separation anxiety, and it causes her to get easily irritable. We talked about emotional self-regulation and how when “caregivers are emotionally sympathetic but set limits, children develop more effective anger-regulation strategies” (pg. 210). In the home, I assessed Emery doing a few things. She engaged in intentional behavior such as throwing various items, enjoyed loud noises (e.g screaming, banging things, etc.), had make-believe play, and showed more self-conscious emotions. As she was eating her meal, she was generally self-sufficient. She could eat with her spoon and only became irritable after showing signs of exhaustion. She could put her shoes on, and even though they were backwards Observation 5 it was still a task she did unprompted and alone. She was aware that by creating loud noises by either screaming or throwing things that she could get a reaction from her mother. Emery picked up a play phone and said, “Hi Tio, I love you” and then passed the phone to her mother. Emery having make-believe play reflected Piaget’s theory and characterized her cognitive and social skills in her distinct way of thinking. Reflection Sitting for an hour in two very different settings observing a 2-year-old was a very interesting task. I noticed different characteristics that I do not think I would normally have noticed. Emery’s cognitive development in these two different settings were vastly different. In the playground setting, she was not keen to adventuring unfamiliar territory whereas when she was at home, she experimented a lot more. Her motor development at the playground seemed to be lacking as well, whereas again, at home she thrived more. She seemed more able to integrate more complex skills such as throwing and catching, dressing herself, and using her utensils effectively. In Taneika’s culture, it is usual to do everything for the child and not really allow them to venture out on their own so young. I realized how important environments and cultural variations are in development. In emphasizing so much on Emery’s cognitive development then looking at her social context, I applied another influential cognitive development theorists, Vygotsky, to my observations. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory stressed the social context of cognitive development and challenges Piaget’s theory (pg. 233). Piaget emphasized on a child’s independent ability to understand their world and Vygotsky emphasized on the child’s need for assistance from adults and peers. After observing and reflecting during this observation, I felt more in tune with Vygotsky’s theory because of how there was little emphasis on the child’s Observation ability to shape their own world and instead placed emphasis on society’s impact as well. I felt that Emery showed signs of wanting to adventure but lacked motivation and if she had outside forces helping her she may have been more inclined. 6 Observation 7 References Berk, L. E. (2013). Development Through the Lifespan (6th ed.). Pearson.
