Child Observation Essay: Boy A's Cognitive Development

The Cognitive Development Boy A’s cognitive development seems to be good, but still developing. Cook and Cook (2014) state that cognitive development is how children perceive the world, think, remember information and communicate (p. 3). I got to see most, if not all of these by watching Boy A play. His communication skills are pretty good. His language is clear and précises he was able to communicate his thoughts and ideas. He has a clear but basic understanding of the game and what is expected. While he is climbing the wall/fence, he thinks very clearly and carefully about his actions and what he is doing. He is aware of his movements (where to place his hands and feet on the wall as to not fall, but to get a better grip so that he can …show more content…
I have never done an observation/summary before. All while I was observing Boy A and his actions. I believe I did my best to remain objective and subjective in my observation. Although there might have been a few slip ups. Like I said I am first, timer at observation, research, analyst, summary type of writing. I tried my best not put my own thoughts or emotions into what Boy A was doing or why I thought he was doing it. I do not believe there was any bias shown on my part during the observations. I mainly tried to stick with and write down all that I saw and heard, I did not try to guess or infer as to the reasons why Boy A was doing the actions he was doing. I tried to write my observation from a clear objective point of view as I could, free from feelings or emotions. I approached my observation in a show and tell kind of mind set and I believe that kind of mental preparation helped me observe Boy A from a completely scientific, research …show more content…
What were they thinking at the time of their actions? For example, Boy A’s climbing of the wall seem to be an important action for him as well as those around him. What caused him to climb that wall even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to? Even though he knew it could get him into trouble? I can only assume that it was the psychoanalytic behavior of the id and ego coming into play, (i.e. he wanted the ball and was willing to do what he needed to get the ball) but I am not for sure. His behavior could have been operant conditioning. He could have been mimicking something that he had seen another child do at another point and time and he was simply doing the same thing. Another example the woman that he ran to; I can assume from his emotional response and his physical actions that she is his mother. However, these are all only assumptions, without talking to him I am not clear on why he did the actions that he did or the reasoning behind. So, for future observations a couple of key things I would like to do is observe children in their own habit and then question them about their actions, emotions and the reasons as to why they perform the actions and the things they