Topic > A careful observation of children's cognitive and physical growth during the first 3 years

IndexPhysical developmentCognitive developmentSocial and emotional developmentConclusionWorks CitedJack (pseudonym) is a 20-month-old boy who I observed while visiting the CSUS Children's Center on campus. It showed great examples of all three areas of development, of which I will provide specific examples where each area was addressed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayPhysical DevelopmentJack showed motor skills that were in line with his age of 20 months. He was able to push a toy bus on the ground while walking; at a certain point he stood up, leaning on his left hand, and placed the toy on the table. At another time, he was following a girl who was playing in high heels around and could walk very well. Outside, he was running around while simultaneously pushing a toy; once finished, he headed to the sandpit, where he was able to scoop the sand into his toy truck and bucket. According to Berk and Meyers, "Global motor development refers to control over actions that help infants move through the environment, such as crawling, standing, and walking. Fine motor development has to do with smaller movements, such as reaching and grasping” (2016, p. 181). Jack's gross motor skills were shown when he stood, ran, walked both forwards and backwards, and stabilized with his left hand. His fine motor skills were shown when he grasped the toy and the shovel, and again when he was able to reach and scoop the sand into the bucket. His movements were confident and showed that he was on the right track with his physical development. Cognitive development While he was out, another child he was playing in the corner with a sensory board: various things on a board that make different noises and/or have different textures. Jack heard one of the sounds and squealed. Then he ran and watched the baby do it again. After a couple more times, he touched the board himself. Another time, as Jack pushed his toy out, another child was doing the same. At one point, the other child stopped, sat in the toy, and then began pushing himself using his feet. Jack watched him and began to do the same. Both of these examples suggested that Jack was beginning to enter substage 6 of Piaget's Six Stages of Sensorimotor Intelligence. Table 6.1 of the text explains that in subphase 5 there is “exploration of the properties of objects by acting on them in new ways; imitation of new behaviors” while in substage 6 children have “internal representations of objects and events” and “deferred imitation” (Berk and Meyers, 2016, p. 203). Jack acted on the sensory board after observing what happened when the other child acted on it; even as he watched the other child sit in his toy and push himself around and then continued to do the same. He imitated the acts of other children after noticing their results. In both examples we see that Jack learns by watching others. We see his cognitive processes at work in the time it takes him to look and observe, and then choose to act. When it came to language development, Jack didn't talk much. The sounds I heard coming from him were more in the range of squeals and other vocalizations. There was a time when the teacher asked him if he knew where the play shoes went and he responded by saying "shoes" and pointing in the correct direction. Other times, if he wanted something from another child, he would scream and grab it; and when he pushed the toy bus he was able to make car noises, such as "vroom" and "beep".According to Table 6.3 of the text, around 18-24 months children's "spoken vocabulary expands from approximately 50 to 200 to 250." words” (Berk and Meyers, 2016, p. 235). While Jack didn't say much when I was there, his ability to understand what the teacher asked and then responded to showed that his language development is on track. The only word he spoke was attributed to an object and much of his attention was paid to the investigation of objects in contrast to his peers and teachers, demonstrating that he had a referential language style; this means that his vocabulary “consisted mainly of words that referred to objects” and his attention showed an “active interest in exploring objects” (Berk & Meyers, 2016, p. 239). This is also in line with his culture, as an English-speaking child, “object words (nouns) are especially common” (Berk and Meyers, 2016, p. 239). Since Jack is 20 months old, I wouldn't say he's too far from forming two-word or telegraphic speech. Other circumstances could be that he has learned to communicate in this way – vocalizing rather than speaking – with other children around him and it works so he doesn't feel the need to talk, and therefore probably uses more words with adults. Social and emotional developmentFor in Most of the time, Jack displayed a childish temperament and an autonomous personality. At one point, he was playing in the sandbox with other children. He abandons his toy truck for an empty bucket in the sandbox. Another child sees him playing with the bucket and takes it. A fight ensues until one of the teachers gives Jack the bucket and removes the other child. A second later he bangs on the bucket and vocalizes. At another time, a child passes through his hair and picks up his toy. They try to put the toy together and then Jack starts screaming. The teacher remedies the situation again by taking the other child away and Jack moves on. It exhibited some of the basic emotions of humans, including happiness, interest, and anger (Berk and Meyers, 2016, p. 246). He was autonomous in his actions rather than showing shame or doubt and was not overly attached to his caregivers. But his emotional self-regulation was still a work in progress; “Emotional self-regulation requires voluntary and effortful management of emotions… [and] contributes greatly to autonomy and mastery of cognitive and social skills” (Berk & Meyers, 2016, p. 252). “When 2-year-olds feel distressed, they can guide caregivers in helping them,” instead of describing to his teachers that he was angry and what had happened with the bucket and the other toy, he chose to scream until the arrival of the teacher; since he is not yet 2 years old, it is logical that he would choose to vocalize instead of speaking (Berk & Meyers, 2016, p. 253). But he managed to quickly overcome his distressing emotions, as soon as the other child was removed each time, he was able to continue doing his business. All this speaks to his temperament, “the easy child… is generally cheerful and adapts easily to new experiences” (Berk and Meyers, 2016, p. 254). He showed a high level of activity, had adequate attention span for his tasks, did not show irritable distress for too long after a situation occurred, and was generally happy most of the time, valid across his expressions and vocalizations. Things to keep in mind: This is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion Overall, Jack was a great child to watch. The environment he was in provided adequate stimulation from peers and.