Domains of Child Development - Case Study Example

Running Head: RESEARCH ON DOMAINS OF DEVELOPMENT Domains Insert Name Institution Introduction The process of cognitive development is all about how individuals adapt to their environment from the time they are born. Piaget explains that ones conduct is basically regulated by schemes which are mental organizations that one utilizes in order to make correct judgment into cause of action. These schemes also known as reflexes keep on changing as one grows until they are fully developed to constructed schemes. Thus individual’s action is biologically determined so as to bring about a balance between mental organization and the environment one is living in so as to bring about stability. This stability is a state that Piaget referred to as equilibrium (Child Development Institute, 2010). A child undergoes life time processes during cognitive development which starts from infancy up to teenage year. The processes include adaptation which involves a child making adjustments so that he/ she can fit in the demands of the situation exposed to. Adaptation develops into; Assimilation process whereby the child is in a position of utilizing knowledge already gained into a new task or challenge through application. An example is when a child refers a sheep for a goat, whale for a fish, and a cow for buffalo. Then there is the accommodation process that involves modification of already learnt or gained perceptions in order to have room for new knowledge gained. An example is when a child discovers that not every animal with horns is a cow and correctly address a buffalo as a wild animal (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J., 2003). As the child grows, the state of equilibrium keep on fluctuating along the developmental stages and milestones as he/she makes relationship between self and the environment. Equilibrium involves a child trying to gain a sense of balance between him/ herself and the world. Thus Piaget argued that a child develops cognitively in a progressive manner rather than an overnight incident. As these schemes develop into more complex ones, they control ones behavior and they are referred to as structures. In addition, these structures become more complex with age and turn out to be prearranged in a hierarchical manner that is from general to specific ones (Child Development Institute, 2010). This study tries to find out the Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, and whether the participants fit into the stages according to their ages. The participants are two in number that is a girl called Susan aged 3 years and teenage boy called Phillip aged 13 years of age. The two participants are legible candidates of study since they are under the age bracket of cognitive development as expounded by Piaget. Data Collection In order to assess the stage of cognitive development that the two participants were in, there was use of out door activities which involved sorting of various items into different categories. There was also use of probe questions to enquire which criteria the participant used in his / her sorting. Observation of the behavior of the participants was also used as a technique for data collection. Data was recorded in terms of transcription. Ethical considerations Research permit was sought from the chairman department of Education, University of Curtin. Mutual agreement/ consent of the subjects were sought by explaining the purpose of the study. There was mutual agreement of the two participants to be engaged in the study through verbal consent. Since the two participants were aged less than 18 years, their parents had to sign the consent form. However one of the participants could write clearly so he had also to sign a consent form though he was less than 18 years. Confidentiality was maintained by ensuring no received information from the subjects under study was disclosed to unauthorized persons exempt to the team implementing the study. Only the required data was collected and used for the purpose of the study. Data Collection Procedures The participants were explained to sort out different objects illustrated below. They were to sort them depending on colour, shape, texture, smell, size, natural or man made whether edible or not. After sorting them they were to give explanations for their groupings. The objects were pushed back into one pile and the participants were asked to regroup the objects until the participants were unable to think of any new type of grouping. This was to help see clearly which of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development the participants were in. The activities were carried out in two days whereby the two participants worked on two separate days to avoid disruption and inaccuracy brought about by the influence of one participant on another. The parents were asked not to assist the participants whatsoever. Philip took 25 minutes while Susan took 1 hour 15 minutes with a break incorporated in order to satisfactorily complete the task. The activities involved sorting the different items into various clusters. These items were; A banana, mango, lemon, orange, water in a cup, glass, mug, drawings of a banana, mango, lemon, orange, leaves of a banana, mango, lemon and orange tree, stones, shells, nails, bottle tops, half a litre soda bottle, cup (half a litre), mug (1 litre), a toy of a car, van and a lorry, grains such as French beans, millet, wheat, groundnuts, green grams, toilet soup, bar soap, drawings of a cow, a cat, a dog and a goat, dolls of different colours that is white, orange, black, and red, spoon, sponges. The tasks developed were synonymous with the cognitive developmental stage of the participants as per their age. They were meant to find out if the participants met the characteristic behavior of their age. Results Susan had the following groups; Groups Reasons Water in a cup, glass, mug Contain water Drawings of a banana, mango, lemon and orange Are fruits Leaves of a banana, mango, lemon and orange tree Are leaves Stones Stones due to texture; rough Nails Nails due to shape Bottle tops Bottle tops due to shape A toy of a car, van and a lorry Are cars Toilet soap, bar soap Are soaps due to smell Drawings of a cow, a cat, a dog and a goat Are animals Dolls of different colours that is white, orange, black, and red Used for playing Spoons and cup Used for eating Sponge The texture is flabby Philip sorted the items as follows; Group Reasons 1. Banana, mango, lemon, orange Fruits 2. Water in a cup, glass, mug Containers with liquid 3. Drawings of a banana, mango, lemon, orange Pictorial illustrations of fruits 4. leaves of a banana, mango, lemon and orange tree Leaves 5. Stones Of the same kind 6. Shells Of the same kind 7. Nails Of the same kind 8. Bottle tops Of the same kind 9. Half a litre Soda bottle, cup (half a litre), mug (1 litre) Containers 10. A toy of a car, a van and a lorry Vehicles 11. Grains such as French beans, millet, wheat, groundnuts, green grams Grains 12. Toilet soap, bar soap Detergents 13. Drawings of a cow, a cat, a dog and a goat Illustrations of domestic animals 14. Dolls of different colours that is white, orange, black, and red Of the same kind leaves, fruits, stones, grains, shells in one category while the rest in another groupings Living and non living things Banana, mango, lemon, orange and drawings of a banana, mango, lemon, orange Matching of diagrams and real objects Wheat, millet grains Carbohydrates French beans, green grams and groundnuts Proteins Green grams and leaves together Of green colour All grains and fruits together All are foodstuffs Nails and stones Building materials Leaves of a banana, mango, lemon and banana, mango, lemon, orange Parts of plants Spoons and nails Metallic Spoons, cup, and a glass Utensils A cow and goat Cattle A cat and a dog Pet animals Philip could group as many group as possible and engage in abstract sorting while Susan primarily depended on seeing. Discussion and Analysis Susan was found to be well versed with the first stage of development which is sensorimotor stage. It starts from 1 month to two years of age (Early childhood). The stage is characterized by learning through seeing. This is clearly portrayed as she is able to identify and group different items depending on their textures like sponges which are flabby. In addition, Susan is seen to make use her sight senses whereby she is fond of bright colors like red than dull ones such as black. This is depicted whereby she is quick to pick red doll followed by orange one and she is almost missing out on the black one. She even goes ahead to say she likes the red doll (Piaget, J., 1990). Susan is also able to draw a relationship based on seeing and matching real objects and their presentations. This is in the case where she matches the fruits with their drawing. She is also able to recognize that all these are fruits and there is difference between the drawn ones and the real ones since the real ones are edible. Thus Susan has attained object permanence; a characteristic of sensorimotor stage in that she is able to match real objects with pictures for example an orange fruit and a drawing of an orange (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J., 2003). Susan showed overgeneralization in her judgment in that she could call every drawing of a vehicle a car. Still all leaves are grouped together but she is unable to sort them out in terms of their fruits. In addition to this, Susan regarded every person with white clothing as a doctor. Susan was seen to address the interviewer (data collector) as a doctor since she was dressed in white until she had to remove the field coat (Vygotsky, L., & Vygotsky, S., 1980). She also appeared to be ego centric in that she could cry if attention was not given to what she was saying. There was still the element of lack conservation whereby she prefers spread shapes to round or packed ones as she perceives them to be bigger. This is seen whereby she groups water in a cup, glass, a mug and says she prefers the water in the glass since it is more water than the others. In reality, this is not the case but the girl perceives otherwise due to the height of the glass (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J., 2003). Susan is seen to be in a position to sort items depending on their functions and how frequently she sees and uses them. This fact is evident whereby she groups a cup and spoon together and says she uses them to feed, toilet soap and bar soap together since they are used for washing and drawings of a cow, a cat, a dog and a goat. Therefore, Susan is in a position to engage in transductive reasoning. She can think about something without the object being present by use of language (Piaget, J., 1990). Susan is also seen to lack concentration in that she cannot do an activity for more than 3 to 5 minutes without losing concentration. However, this was countered by use of varied activities to keep at bay boredom. Still the girl was engaged in fun and stress-free activities whereby she was not pushed to hurry up, or sort items if unable to. There was also provision of opportunities for open-ended responses where she was encouraged to look and explain verbally (Vygotsky, L., 1986). Susan relied more on the senses as illustrated whereby she grouped sponges together because of their texture that was flabby. This conclusion was derived in the course of seeing and touching. She also placed shells together since they were of uniform colour that is white. Never the less, Susan could match real objects and their drawings as in the case of fruits and their diagrammatic representations (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J., 2003). Susan is also able to group drawings of vehicles together, drawing of a cat, dog, cow and goat together and term them as animals through construction of a mental picture coupled with building a connection between representational diagrams and actual objects. This is a typical characteristic of concrete operational stage (Dewey, J., 1997). As for Philip, it was observed that he was able to excellently engage in abstract thinking. This is depicted where he was able to expound on his groupings of items with logic, coherent, succulent and clarity. An example is whereby he groups the grains into two categories that is the proteins and carbohydrates. This is a characteristic of formal operational stage of 12 and above years’ age (Adolescence and adulthood). Again, Philip’s sorting showed that he could engage in critical and creative thinking. He sorted items in terms of building materials that is stones and nails together; in terms of colours that is the green leaves and green grams (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J., 2003). Philip was not only tied to concrete reality but could think outside the box. He could make comprehensive sorting of items that depicted a deep understanding of the environment. An illustration is all grains and fruits being grouped together. The explanation given was that they are all edible or foodstuffs. Also there was the grouping of leaves of a banana, mango, lemon and banana, mango, lemon, orange together as parts of plants (Child Development Institute, 2010). He can also engage in logic thinking which entailed metallic materials together (spoons and nails), eating utensils (spoons, cups) living things and non living things. He could also compare and match different fruits and their leaves (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J., 2003). Philip could engage in reversibility concepts whereby he could sort items mix them again and come up with other groupings without consumption of time. His thinking was not limited to reality but could make abstract inferences. An example is when Philip groups a cow and a goat together and calls them cattle and cat dog together and says that they are pet animals (Piaget, J., 1990). Philip had developed problem solving skills and could make decisions on his own. The boy revealed to have reared chicken that he could generate income from. Finally it was observed that Philip dressed in a specific dressing code that denotes an icon football club. He also had a tattoo with an emblem of the same international football club. This represented the role modeling aspect of this cognitive developmental stage whereby one likes imitating and being identified with certain personalities (Child Development Institute, 2010). Lastly, it was found out Philip’s language was more developed than Susan’s. It had vocabulary and was polished. Some of the words used during his verbal expression include foodstuff, vehicle, building materials, metallic. They portrayed development of ones language Piaget, J. (1972). Conclusion Children develop progressively hence they are not little adults who can reason intellectually like adults. Their stages of cognitive development integrate and overlap but do not solely graduate from one stage to another as one matures biologically. A child in early and childhood stage learns through seeing dominated by concrete objects. As one progresses he/ she is able to make judgment based on abstract, incorporating the principles of formal logic. The limitations of the study One of the limitations of the study was language barrier whereby Susan could not fully understand English language since her native language is French. The parents and her caregivers are also French speaking and English is their second language. Implication of the study Pre-school and primary instructional processes which entail teaching and learning should put into consideration the cognitive development level of learners. As such there should be utilization of a wide range of teaching aid resources incorporated with a variety of concrete experiences to help the child learn like group activities. These experiences from others, field trips widen the scope of learning of any child. Learning should be learners’ centered to make them engage in reasoning. Also, discovery learning and supporting the developing interests of the child are key instructional methods to be utilized. Parents and teachers should challenge the child's abilities, but NOT present material or information that is too far beyond the child's level (abstract). Appendix 1: Letter to respondent on domains of development Dear respondent, My name is…………., a student at Curtin University. I’m carrying out a study in fulfillment for the degree of Master of Education (Med) in assessing the level of developmental domain of pre- school and primary school pupils. I need information as required by each of the following questions. Answer the questions as honestly as possible. Your cooperation will be highly appreciated. All information will be treated with strict confidentiality. Thank you. With Regards, Signature………….. Name……………... Appendix 2: Consent form to participate as a respondent on domains of development research Dear respondent, My name is ………………………. I agree and commit myself to participate in the research regarding assessment of the level of developmental domain among pre- school and primary school pupils as a respondent. Any information I give is true to the best of my knowledge. Thank you. With Regards, Signature………….. Name……………... Parent’s or guardian’s Signature………….. Parent’s or guardian’s Name……………... References Child Development Institute (2010). Intellectual Development in Children and Teenagers. International Journal. Dewey, J. (1997). Experience and education. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co. Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (2003). Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University Piaget, J. (1972). The psychology of the child. New York: Basic Books. Piaget, J. (1990). The child's conception of the world. New York: Littlefield Adams. Piaget, J., Gruber, H. (Ed.), & Voneche, J. J. (Ed.). The essential Piaget (100th Anniversary Ed.). New York: Jason Aronson. Renner, J., Stafford, D., Lawson, A., McKinnon, J., Friot, E., & Kellogg, D. (1976). Research, teaching, and learning with the Piaget model. Norman, OK: University of  Oklahoma Press. Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and language. Boston: MIT Press. Vygotsky, L., & Vygotsky, S. (1980). Mind in society : The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Read More

Ethical considerations Research permit was sought from the chairman department of Education, University of Curtin. Mutual agreement/ consent of the subjects were sought by explaining the purpose of the study. There was mutual agreement of the two participants to be engaged in the study through verbal consent. Since the two participants were aged less than 18 years, their parents had to sign the consent form. However one of the participants could write clearly so he had also to sign a consent form though he was less than 18 years.

Confidentiality was maintained by ensuring no received information from the subjects under study was disclosed to unauthorized persons exempt to the team implementing the study. Only the required data was collected and used for the purpose of the study. Data Collection Procedures The participants were explained to sort out different objects illustrated below. They were to sort them depending on colour, shape, texture, smell, size, natural or man made whether edible or not. After sorting them they were to give explanations for their groupings.

The objects were pushed back into one pile and the participants were asked to regroup the objects until the participants were unable to think of any new type of grouping. This was to help see clearly which of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development the participants were in. The activities were carried out in two days whereby the two participants worked on two separate days to avoid disruption and inaccuracy brought about by the influence of one participant on another. The parents were asked not to assist the participants whatsoever.

Philip took 25 minutes while Susan took 1 hour 15 minutes with a break incorporated in order to satisfactorily complete the task. The activities involved sorting the different items into various clusters. These items were; A banana, mango, lemon, orange, water in a cup, glass, mug, drawings of a banana, mango, lemon, orange, leaves of a banana, mango, lemon and orange tree, stones, shells, nails, bottle tops, half a litre soda bottle, cup (half a litre), mug (1 litre), a toy of a car, van and a lorry, grains such as French beans, millet, wheat, groundnuts, green grams, toilet soup, bar soap, drawings of a cow, a cat, a dog and a goat, dolls of different colours that is white, orange, black, and red, spoon, sponges.

The tasks developed were synonymous with the cognitive developmental stage of the participants as per their age. They were meant to find out if the participants met the characteristic behavior of their age. Results Susan had the following groups; Groups Reasons Water in a cup, glass, mug Contain water Drawings of a banana, mango, lemon and orange Are fruits Leaves of a banana, mango, lemon and orange tree Are leaves Stones Stones due to texture; rough Nails Nails due to shape Bottle tops Bottle tops due to shape A toy of a car, van and a lorry Are cars Toilet soap, bar soap Are soaps due to smell Drawings of a cow, a cat, a dog and a goat Are animals Dolls of different colours that is white, orange, black, and red Used for playing Spoons and cup Used for eating Sponge The texture is flabby Philip sorted the items as follows; Group Reasons 1.

Banana, mango, lemon, orange Fruits 2. Water in a cup, glass, mug Containers with liquid 3. Drawings of a banana, mango, lemon, orange Pictorial illustrations of fruits 4. leaves of a banana, mango, lemon and orange tree Leaves 5. Stones Of the same kind 6. Shells Of the same kind 7. Nails Of the same kind 8. Bottle tops Of the same kind 9. Half a litre Soda bottle, cup (half a litre), mug (1 litre) Containers 10. A toy of a car, a van and a lorry Vehicles 11. Grains such as French beans, millet, wheat, groundnuts, green grams Grains 12.

Toilet soap, bar soap Detergents 13.

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