7-12 Years Old Observation, Childhood and Adolescence

OBSERVATION OF 7-12 YEAR OLD
Your Name
Course No.
Course Assignment
Professor
University/College
OBSERVATION OF 7-12 YEAR OLD CHILD
1.0 BACKGROUND
Permission was sought form the child before the observation exercise. The parents were requested to sign a consent form to allow the researcher conduct the observation. The child that was observed was a girl aged 10 years old. She too was given a consent form to sign. After the researcher explained the purpose of the observation, the child was asked to either agree or disagree with the observation exercise. She accepted and signed the observation consent form in the presence of her parents. The purpose of the observation was simplified and explained to the girl. It was made clear that the researcher was going to spent time with the girl in an agreed upon familiar environment to learn about what she likes or doesn’t like. It was also made clear to the girl that the information collected was confidential and wasn’t going to be divulged to any third party without her consent. However the child was informed that there were chances that the parents could be informed of anything that would be deemed risky or harmful to the girl. Any information relating to her behavior that could be considered as dangerous to her wellbeing and safety would possibly be shared with her parents. Since the girl was in 6TH Grade and could read, the consent form was provided to her. After reading the signing the consent letter, the researcher begun the observation.
After discussion with the parents, it was agreed the girl be observed within a safe and familiar environment. Thus her home and school were selected as the best environments to help the researcher learn about the child’s biosocial, psychosocial and cognitive behavioral traits. The observation time was divided into two sessions each lasting an hour. The observation and interview duration was agreed upon between the girl and her parents. Next, permission was sought from the girl’s school administration to be able to conduct the observation. The school teacher was very cooperative as she gladly agreed and signed our consent and ethics letter. The researcher felt that observing the child in these two settings would help capture essential psychosocial and cognitive development related data. This is because there are certain behavioral attribute that the child will not exhibit while at home in the presence of her parents and siblings. These behavioral traits were deemed critical in evaluating the developmental stages of the child. After consent was received from both the teacher and the parents, the researcher selected Saturday to be the appropriate day to study the child in the home setting while Wednesday was preferred for the school observation session.The school observation took place on Wednesday 29th, November 2017 while the home observation happened on Saturday, 1st December 2017.
I: BIOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
The subject was healthy and did not exhibit any signs of brain damage or abnormality. She was in good health and engaged in a lot of physical activities as is required of her age. She was strong and often engaged in neighborhood play with other children of her age. Berger (2016) suggests that exercise improves health, reduces depression and can potentially improve academic performance (P.349). The researcher did not notice any signs of physical or mental impairment. She portrayed the correct, attitude and behavior that is typical of children of her age. The girl often played with her friends and often times engaged them in healthy conversation.
According to Freud’s Psychosexual theory, the age of 7-11 is largely a transitional phase during which sexual needs are quiet and children put psychic energy into conventional activities such as schoolwork and sports. Similarly, Erickson through his psychosocial theory referred to the age as a stage of industry versus inferiority (Berger, 2016). Erickson argues that children in this age bracket busy themselves with learning to be competent in co-curricular activities and classwork. When successful, the child feels confident, however when unable to master new skills and competence, the child feels inferior. During the English class, the researcher noted that the girl was actively engaged throughout the class. She portrayed the correct behaviors that suggested typical brain development. Although she was smart in class, she would take a little longer to understand the question which indicated normal brain development as is expected of middle school children. Besides, she often swiftly reacted to external stimuli and exhibited improved ability to change from one task to another. This suggested that her coordination and self-control capability was at an advanced stage of development (Berger, 2016, 441). She was at an advanced stage of maturation as she could switch between different subjects without supervision. Moreover, she was strong and physically fit as she constantly engaged in physical activities especially outside class.
Besides normal development, the girl did not exhibit any signs of poor nutrition which indicated that besides physical activity, she had a balanced diet. While in class, exhibited advanced reading and listening skills. She could read faster and showed good memory. When outside the class, the subject actively engaged in physical play. She could switch from one physical activity to the next without any trouble. According to Berger (2016) middle school children usually have great energy that enables them to engage in more coordinated plays as is typical of this age (p.351). Nevertheless, she was strong, happy and always outperformed her peers in most of the activities. When compared to other children, the subject showed great interest in sports and physical activities. While in class, the subject was able to ward off distraction from other students to focus on class activities. This showed that she was capable of differentiating between what was of value and that which was not. Berger (2016) observed that middle school children have the ability to focus their attention as a result of neurological maturation that takes place during this developmental stage (p.361). Due to this maturation, the subject was able to choose when to focus on what. For instance, while in class, the subject focused on the teacher however when outside class, she directed her attention to her friend who was teaching them a new dance style. However, while at home, the subject’s attention shifted between her parents, siblings and other things.
When observed from home, the subject exhibited a high level of self-control. She was able to flip through different TV channels perhaps in search of her favorite TV show. However, she could not multi-task as she had to stop one thing in order to do the next. This behavior is typical of middle school children as their brain is not yet fully developed to be able to do multiple things at the same time (Berger, 2016). Besides, she appeared to be highly knowledgeable about different types of foods and recipe for different meals. This could have been due to the fact that she might have learned from science lessons. According to Berger (2016), middle school children learn a lot from school, peers, teachers, parents or caregivers (Berger, 2016, 348). Moreover, it is typical for children of this age to begin to adopt certain behavioral patterns that would then transcend into adulthood. Besides eating and health habits, the subject exhibited great understanding of safety measures. She was capable of turning the cooking gas on and off after use. It’s likely that she might have learned this from her parents. She exhibited a high level of self-control throughout the home observation session. She did a lot of things without asking for help which indicates high level of independence (Berger, 2016, 374). For instance, she could open the fridge take out a drink, pour some into a glass, and return it back into the fridge then lock the door back. This indicated an advancement in her independence and decision making process which is typical of 7-12 year olds. It was also observed that the subject could keep the living room tidy by removing clutter from tables and ensuring that seat covers were well spread out. She also ensured that everything was in its rightful position, for instance she took cutlery back to the kitchen and washing soap back to the washroom. This indicated that she had substantial knowledge regarding the different uses of different things. This is typical of middle school children and it showed that she had gone through normal development process. When her favorite TV show kicked off, she ignored the ongoing conversation with her sister to focus on the television. It’s typical of children of her age to use selective attention to choose between different things (Berger, 2016, 357). She exhibited the ability to choose what was valuable between different options, hence give attention to what she considered more important. This showed that her stimuli response behavior still in development process.
III: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
When observed from home, the subject depicted a level of understanding that reflects her age. The observation noted that her cognitive development was normal and did not show any signs of abnormality. She exhibited a level of intelligence that is typical of her age. For instance, the TV shows that she watched were rated 12 above which meant that her level of cognition allowed her to not only watch them, but enjoy as well. The fact that she could watch and follow through the program meant that her level of understanding was typical of middle school children. She also watched a comedy show and it was apparently evident that she enjoyed the show. According to Berger (2016), middle school children can follow through and enjoy comedies due to their cognitive flexibility. The subject was able to differentiate jokes from other forms of TV programming implying that her level of maturation allowed her to know when an unexpected answer was given. It also meant that she could tell the difference between normal and abnormal actions and behaviors that allowed her to enjoy comedy since younger children cannot understand comedy. This implies that the subject now recognizes both verbal and symbolic language which is needed to understand humor. In fact Berger (2016) states that it’s at this age those children develop the ability to appreciate comedy, a skill that they will carry into adulthood. (p.386). The same ability was recognized while at school as she was able to not only enjoy jokes but also make jokes. It’s during middle school age that children learn to both understand and also use symbolic language. The subject should use symbolic language to entertain her peers, a skill she probably might have learned from her favorite comedy show (Berger, 2016, 386). During the English class, she demonstrated that she understands quite a number of similes and metaphors. Perhaps, this knowledge could have been helpful to her understanding of comedies. While at home, she exhibited that she had the ability to independently do homework. Unlike her younger brother, she did not need assistance in completing her homework. In school, I realized that for her to grasp new concepts, she could read loudly and do it again and again. This behavior is typical of children of her age who rehearse and use continuous repetition to be able to memorize. This shows that her cognitive development stage progressively developing. Typical of middle school children, the subject took some time to memorize new concepts and used different techniques such as repetition, writing repeatedly. In fact, her desk was full of writings perhaps indicating how frequently she used this skill. Berger (2016) suggests that this is typical of this developmental stage as two important cognitive development functions take place. Children of this age have their brain functions still developing particularly the visual-spatial sketch pad which is essential in memorizing new information and the phonological loop, which help in language acquisition (p.383).
Analysis of her behavioral patterns suggested that her cognitive development process was ongoing. Although she displayed good understanding of different subjects, it was noted that she still needed help in mathematics and English. It was apparently clear that the subject was in the process of grasping diverse language styles and structures. This implied that her cognitive ability, though not yet fully developed, was in the development process. The subject’s behavior has been discussed by Berger (2016) who posited that it’s at this age that children begin to develop advanced language and arithmetical skills. She further observed that it’s only after children have mastered language skills that they are able to appreciate and even use metaphors and similes. This certainly helps children to understand different linguistic concepts that they will need as grown-ups. While at home, I observed that she enjoyed the comedy shows more than other TV programs. This shows that she had the potential to understand various language structures to actually notice or differentiate a joke from normal language (Berger, 2016, 406). It was noted that the subject’s cognitive development process was well advanced as compared to other children of her age. She demonstrated broad knowledge and understanding of a wide range of concepts. Her memory and cognitive capability was progressing well, even though she had difficulty in fat processing and mastery of new concepts, perhaps indicating that her cognitive capability was still in the development stage (Berger, 2016, p.406). When it was time to do homework, it was noted that the subject could focus for at least 10 minutes even though she could stop and look outside or walk back to the living room. This shows that her level of cognitive maturity is not yet well developed to hence she cannot focus on one thing for longer durations. Nevertheless, this is normal for her age since children in the same age bracket may develop different skills at different rates based on different other factors (Berger, 2016, 441).Although she was confident, she exhibited shyness particularly in front of boys. This came out when she asked a question, and the teacher asked her to move forward to go and demonstrate her answer to the class. This behavior coincides with Berger (2016) observation on cognitive development. She asserts that it&...