Child Development as Explained by the Theories of Physical, Cognitive, Social and Emotional Development - Coursework Example

Child Development as Explained by the Theories of Physical, Cognitive, Social and Emotional Development This paper is a comprehensive analysis on thethree domains of development observed in a child. The study aims to correlate the results with the three existing areas of development and will be acquired by means of observation. As defined by existing studies, an observation is a method of analysis that acquires the knowledge of a phenomenon within a given framework or line of thought. This is particularly true when objects or beings are observed given a set of theories and deduced hypotheses. In this study, we will be observing Michael Smith, a child that is currently 3 years old. The child is a boy without any known abnormalities in terms of mental and physical attributes. He is currently enrolled in an early age preparatory school. The observation will focus on the three areas of development namely Physical development, Piaget and Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development (Piaget, 1983) and Erikson’s theory of emotional development. But before we further explain Michael’s development using the three theories, let us briefly describe each of the theories that will be utilized. The first theory to be used is Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Piaget’s cognitive development focuses on the developments that occur in an individual’s cognitive abilities and processes (Flavell, 1999). Piaget believed that children’s logical mental structures are directly related with age and what particular cognitive development the child is in. A child in the preoperational stage would not successfully be able to master tasks of a concrete operational stage child. In this study we focus on the “sensorimotor” period and pre-operational period of development (Driskoll, 1994). The second mode of development is Erikson’s theory of emotional development. According to this theory, Erikson’s theory of emotional development is focused on the development of the ego identity. Ego identity is the conscious sense of oneself. In addition, it is constantly changing due to new knowledge and experiences acquired daily. In this study we focus on the psychosocial stage of trust vs. mistrust and the second psychosocial stage that focuses on autonomy vs. shame and doubt (Erikson, 1959). The last part of the study focuses on the child’s physical development. In the study of early childhood development one of the key factors that to be developed is Physical development that is observed in a child. Physical development primarily focuses on the physical growth and the development of both general and fine motor control of the body. This kind of development is crucial if the child is to ever develop further in other several areas of development. In addition, the general and fine motor skill is developed during the early ages of a child and is highly dependent on the experiences he/she is exposed to. After presenting a brief description of the three modes of development to be observed, let us go through the results of the study (Herr, 2002). We observed Michael as he went through his daily routine. Researches logged in an average of 15minutes of observation time while Michael was at play, at school studying and mingling with the other children, and while Michael was at home with his family. We observed how Michael uses his day to day materials, toys, and how he interacts with his environment as well and the situations that he faces. The observation schedule went on for two weeks. We have observed that Michael was able to use and play with objects with high accuracy and manipulation. He played with a variety of toys that were intended for kids older than Michael. He has also the capacity to play with kids older than him in most sports or games played by kids his age. He played the usual games for his age such as passing the ball, running and playing tag with some of his school mates, etc. Though still only 3 years of age he already is showing that he understands the essential rules and how the game is played. This has become an observed advantage credited to Michael as we have observed that he usually is at the top of the class every time there is an activity that requires physical involvement. He scored the highest scoring games and outplayed everyone in every child’s match. In relation to having developed physically, we have also observed that Michael has already an increased level of sensorimotor and pre-operational thought patterns. In our observations when Michael was playing and was at school, we have observed that he has already masterful command over his basic operational skills as compared to his constituents that have yet to even master most of the basic motor reflexes needed to be able to be fully developed. Michael can use any tool or material his teachers give him with ease. He can easily go around the room with ease. At the same time he needs only minimal support when it comes to going up and down the playground (swing, slides, etc.). He can identify already tools within the classroom and relate it to what it is for (though Michael is still somewhat verbally incoherent at times). The last part of our observations is focused on the current psychosocial state of Michael. In our observation, we have seen that Michael already has the capacity to identify and classify people according to who to trust or not to trust. It should be noted that this observation is relative to his peers/age group only and should be taken to be relative to adults. When we were introduced to Michael properly and we were identified as friends and trustworthy people, he was easily able to warm up to us. This helped us greatly in our observation as he has already given us his trust and he has identified us as friends and not otherwise. We have observed that Michael already was already able to classify certain individuals according to his idea of who to trust or not. As we put our observations to a close let us relate what we have observed in Michael and relate it to the three theories presented above. The first focus was given on the Michael’s physical development. As was observed in our study, the child at an early age of three has developed highly in his physical development (Herr, 2002). He was already able to exhibit fine motor skills that can only be seen in ages four and above. During our observations, we were able to observe that he was able to wield and manipulate small-sized balls with high accuracy and manipulation. He was also able to use equipment such as labyrinth puzzle games, miniature sporting games such as make-shift bowling and soccer sets. It was also observed that Michael (with the aid of his teachers) is able to assemble wooden structures (wooden horses, play boxes, etc.). This was very amazing and fun to watch as we observed how Michael tackled the problem and solved it with very minimal guidance. His gross motor skills are already fully developed for his age. As compared to his other classmates, he has shown incredible physical development. His classmates are all 3 years of age as well. He can easily play in the field and not be scared of little things such as the weather, insects, etc. His classmates are all coming from highly urbanized families with limited or not room for play in their houses as compared to our subject that lives in a normal suburban house with a backyard and has a large area for play with other children as well. The teachers also agree to the findings that the child is generally more developed in his physical abilities as compared to his other classmates. After focusing the physical development aspect of the child, we then focus on the cognitive development side. During our observation, it was seen that Michael’s “sensorimotor” skills are fully developed as well. This was noted because there are other children who are 3 years of age already but have yet to develop their “sensorimotor” skills. It was noted by Piaget that a child’s cognitive system is limited only to motor reflexes at birth, but on the other hand builds on the developed skills to further increase his “sensorimotor” skills and acquire more skills. Focus was then given to the child’s pre-operational thought. It was suggested by Piaget that between ages 2 to 6, his pre-operation thought patterns and skills should be developed (Piaget, 1983). We were able to observe that the child is very self-oriented and already has an egocentric view. We have observed that he is very aware of how he is and how other kids and people gather towards him when they play or congregate. This kind of development is expected in the child at age 3. Other children in the group with our subject exhibited similar levels of cognitive development observed. We then focus on the last part of the study which is the psychosocial development of the child. The last part of the study focuses on the psychosocial development of Michael. We were able to observe that the child’s psychosocial stage of trust and mistrust had already been developed fully. As the child was growing, it was noted that he was given full opportunity to develop trust or mistrust over the circle of people he was in contact with. This was done mainly by exposure to the environment. Though at first there are times where he would inhibit a sense of mistrust towards a certain individual and move away, he would generally trust a person once he feels comfortable with that person. This was meant in order to let the child learn early on the concept of trust and mistrust. This is also in line with the theory of psychosocial development where it is important for the child to learn early on trust vs. mistrust (Erikson, 1959). It was also observed that the child already has started to develop autonomy towards shame and doubt. This was observed when Michael accidentally tripped and nearly fell. Everyone gave a short laugh and Michael immediately receded to her mother because of shame and because everyone laughed at what had happened. This kind of incident proves that Michael is exhibiting the foundations of being able to understand what it is to be ashamed of something. Because of the experiences Michael was able to encounter has helped him tremendously in gaining personal control over himself as compared to his other classmates. This truly is a very developed child. In conclusion, it can be deduced that Michael’s physical, cognitive and psychosocial skills are dependent on the environment where the child is exposed to. If the child’s environment does not permit such growth, then the child’s physical, cognitive and psychosocial skills would not develop. The child in our observation was able to develop his skills to the fullest because of the environment he was placed in and at the same time because Michael’s parents and his guardians we fully aware of the theories of development and because of that knowledge was able to use that to expose their child to the right kinds of environmental situations that helped him develop to the fullest. This kind of experience has shown that using extant researches on child development can really provide for a good foundation for the child’s growth, and in the long run his future. References Driscoll, M. P. (1994). Psychology of learning for instruction. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. New York: International Universities Press Flavell, J. H. (1999). Cognitive development: Children’s knowledge about the mind. Annual Review of Psychology, 21. Herr, J. (2002). Working with young children. Tinley Park, Illinois: The Goodheart-Willcox Company Piaget, J. (1983). Piagets theory In P. Mussen (ed). Handbook of Child Psychology (4th edn). New York: Wiley Read More

After presenting a brief description of the three modes of development to be observed, let us go through the results of the study (Herr, 2002). We observed Michael as he went through his daily routine. Researches logged in an average of 15minutes of observation time while Michael was at play, at school studying and mingling with the other children, and while Michael was at home with his family. We observed how Michael uses his day to day materials, toys, and how he interacts with his environment as well and the situations that he faces.

The observation schedule went on for two weeks. We have observed that Michael was able to use and play with objects with high accuracy and manipulation. He played with a variety of toys that were intended for kids older than Michael. He has also the capacity to play with kids older than him in most sports or games played by kids his age. He played the usual games for his age such as passing the ball, running and playing tag with some of his school mates, etc. Though still only 3 years of age he already is showing that he understands the essential rules and how the game is played.

This has become an observed advantage credited to Michael as we have observed that he usually is at the top of the class every time there is an activity that requires physical involvement. He scored the highest scoring games and outplayed everyone in every child’s match. In relation to having developed physically, we have also observed that Michael has already an increased level of sensorimotor and pre-operational thought patterns. In our observations when Michael was playing and was at school, we have observed that he has already masterful command over his basic operational skills as compared to his constituents that have yet to even master most of the basic motor reflexes needed to be able to be fully developed.

Michael can use any tool or material his teachers give him with ease. He can easily go around the room with ease. At the same time he needs only minimal support when it comes to going up and down the playground (swing, slides, etc.). He can identify already tools within the classroom and relate it to what it is for (though Michael is still somewhat verbally incoherent at times). The last part of our observations is focused on the current psychosocial state of Michael. In our observation, we have seen that Michael already has the capacity to identify and classify people according to who to trust or not to trust.

It should be noted that this observation is relative to his peers/age group only and should be taken to be relative to adults. When we were introduced to Michael properly and we were identified as friends and trustworthy people, he was easily able to warm up to us. This helped us greatly in our observation as he has already given us his trust and he has identified us as friends and not otherwise. We have observed that Michael already was already able to classify certain individuals according to his idea of who to trust or not.

As we put our observations to a close let us relate what we have observed in Michael and relate it to the three theories presented above. The first focus was given on the Michael’s physical development. As was observed in our study, the child at an early age of three has developed highly in his physical development (Herr, 2002). He was already able to exhibit fine motor skills that can only be seen in ages four and above. During our observations, we were able to observe that he was able to wield and manipulate small-sized balls with high accuracy and manipulation.

He was also able to use equipment such as labyrinth puzzle games, miniature sporting games such as make-shift bowling and soccer sets. It was also observed that Michael (with the aid of his teachers) is able to assemble wooden structures (wooden horses, play boxes, etc.). This was very amazing and fun to watch as we observed how Michael tackled the problem and solved it with very minimal guidance. His gross motor skills are already fully developed for his age.

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