Emotions in Focal Children Psychology Term Paper Essay
Psych 10 – Observation Assignment Formatting Tips
Title page should have the following information:
Title of Paper
Your Name
Introduction to Developmental Psychology (PSY 10) - Professor Name
Date
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Put Your Title Here Instead of the Heading “Introduction”
In this section you must introduce the topic and state clearly why it is important. You can borrow the arguments from your reference(s) or your textbook, but make sure you follow the citation guidelines. If you refer to any research cited in your textbook without having read the original research report(s), make sure to familiarize yourself with the format for citing secondary sources. For example, I might say the following to argue for the importance of attachment research. The quality of early parent-child relationship can have a profound impact on a person's social life by acting as a template for all subsequent relationships (Bowlby, 1973, as cited in S. Wang, Lecture, April 25, 2011).
The introduction must include at least one relevant psychological reference that is not from a website or your textbook (i.e., it must come from a professional psychological journal or book). You will need to describe this research briefly, but in enough detail to show how this past research informed the present study. Spend about a sentence on their research question, two to three sentences on method, one to two sentences on findings, and one to two sentences on conclusions. Focus only on the aspects that are directly related to your study. For example, I might find that: Ramsey (1995) examined the emergence of gendered interaction in preschool years. She observed 3- and 4-year-olds during free play in fall and then again in spring. Results showed that interaction among same-sex peers increased over time for both age groups. However, only the 4-year-olds interacted significantly more with same-sex peers than with different-sex peers across various activities. Therefore, by 4 years of age gender becomes a reliable predictor for children's peer selection.
At the end of the introduction section, you should state the present study's purpose (e.g., to explore gender differences in eating ice cream), overall design (e.g., observed a toddler girl and a preschool boy during snack time), and hypothesis/hypotheses (e.g., the boy would eat more ice cream than would the girl). Note that you are writing the introduction section as if data have been collected but not yet analyzed.
Evaluation:
● What is the research question? Is the topic sentence or thesis clearly worded?
● Does the opening section or paragraph attract your attention? Does it introduce the topic of the paper and provide a rationale for why studying this topic is important?
● Do the additional paragraphs provide support for the central topic and research questions?
● Does it cite prior research in the discussion of the topic?
● Is the rationale of the present study clear? In other words, is it clear how prior research has informed the present study's purpose, design, and hypothesis/hypotheses?
Method
Participants
Provide a description of the children you observed: age, gender, languages spoken, etc. Also include why you selected the children for observation.
Setting
Describe in detail the setting where the observations took place. Where was it? Time of day? What did the classroom look like (big, small, lots of activities, etc.)? Main activity during the observation time (e.g., during snack time, lunch time, waking up from nap, free play time)? How many kids? How many adults? Etc.
Procedure
Explain which method of observation you selected and why (don’t say you chose running record because it is easier…). Describe in detail how this method works and how you applied it (also indicate how long each child was observed).
Evaluation:
● Participants: Are the target children described including age and gender? Is there a rationale provided for why these children were chosen?
● Setting: Is the context/setting of the observations described? Including time of day, activities that are going on (e.g., snack time or free play), physical description of the daycare center.
● Procedure: Explains and justifies the method used to obtain the data; namely, explains what a running-record (or time-sampling) observation is, how it was carried out (e.g., how long each child was observed, elaborating on notes, interpretations), and why it was your chosen method.
Narrative Observations
Insert your single-spaced narrative observations (for both children) here. You should include interpretation within your observations but make sure you separate it from the actual observation notes by using a different font or indented margins, or in a separate column. If you used the time sampling method, you need to indicate where your time intervals start and end.
The narrative observations do not count toward the requirement of 3-5 pages. In this section, you describe and interpret everything you have observed. In the following section (i.e., Discussion), you revisit the observations as they relate to your topic.
Evaluation:
● interpretations and observations are visually distinctive from one another
● observations are objective, clear, and with enough details to reconstruct what happened.
● interpretations relate to the behaviors observed and are thoughtful.
Discussion
The discussion is where you attempt to make sense of your observations in light of your research topic. Start the section by briefly restating your topic and why it is important. In this section, you should explicitly describe and discuss what you saw in your observations as it relates to past research and what we already know about the topic you chose. You can also compare and contrast your observations (e.g., girls vs. boys, toddlers vs. preschoolers) and/or connect what you found to course material. Discuss whether or not your findings match what previous research has found; spell out and sufficiently elaborate the connections. Some major points to address in this section include:
1. What are the developmental differences and similarities between the toddlers and the preschoolers?
2. Compare and contrast your findings with previous research. If some of your observations contradict prior research, why do you think they might contradict it?
3. Discuss limitations of your study and some avenues for future research. Given what you found, what should we do next?
Evaluation:
● state 1 to 2 conclusions for your observations with regards to your research topic (e.g., the hypothesis that boys eat more ice cream than girls do was supported by the observation of the preschoolers but not the toddlers; thus, gender differences in food preference may not emerge until preschool years)
● summarize the observed behaviors and how they relate to conclusions
● link observation(s) to references cited in intro
● discuss possible future research on this topic, implications, and limitations
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Reference(s)
Denham, S. A. (1986). Social cognition, prosocial behavior, and emotion in preschoolers: Contextual validation. Child Development, 57(1), 194-201. doi:10.2307/1130651
Martin, C. L., Eisenbud, L., & Rose, H. (1995). Children's gender-based reasoning about toys. Child Development, 66(5), 1453-1471. doi:10.2307/1131657
Martin, C. L., & Fabes, R. A. (2001). The stability and consequences of young children's same-sex peer interactions. Developmental Psychology, 37(3), 431-446. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.37.3.431
**Reference list should be ordered by the first authors' surnames (then by second, third authors', etc.); do not re-order the authors within the individual references.
**There should be a perfect correspondence between the in-text citations and the reference list: Every study you mention in your essay must be included in the reference list, AND every study included in the reference list must be mentioned in your essay.
! NO WEBSITE REFERENCES !Please use peer-reviewed journal articles not news articles
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General writing considerations:
● Does each paragraph have a topic sentence? Does each topic sentence clearly summarize the information in the paragraph? Are the topic sentences clearly related to the thesis?
● Are all necessary transitions provided to show logical links between sentences & paragraphs?
● Is the paragraph conclusion effective? Does it reinforce and/or add interest to the main point?
● A worksheet to help you organize your paper is included at the end of this handout
General formatting requirements:
● Only the introduction and Reference(s) sections start on a new page. All other sections follow the previous section immediately (i.e., no additional page breaks).
● On every page, starting with the title page, have a shortened title of your paper (no greater than 50 characters including spaces, with all letters capitalized) in the upper left-hand corner and the page number in the upper right-hand corner.
● The primary section headings are centered and in bold, except the title at the beginning of the introduction section (on p. 2) and the reference(s) section. The secondary section headings are left-justified and in bold.
● Single-space the Narrative Observations section; double-space all other parts of the paper.
● Use 1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font.
● The paper should be 3-5 pages, excluding the title page, narrative observations, & references.
● Here is a useful resource on APA formatting and guidelines: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
Plagiarism is a very serious offense and will result in a zero grade. Please refer to the syllabus and your section notes on plagiarism and its consequences.
Emotions in Focal Children (Observation)
Name
Introduction to Developmental Psychology (PSY 10) - Professor Name
Date
Emotions in Focal Children (Observation)
It is important to learn how to identify different signs of focal onset seizures, formally known as partial seizures among children through observation. This helps parents and teachers in providing better support to focal children. While focal onset seizures may present a wide range of symptoms among different children, similar behaviors or signs can be seen in many children with seizures. For instance, if a focal child presents with movement symptoms such as jerking or twitching, it is critical to note the side of the body affected. The right portion of the brain often regulates the left side of the body while the left part will control the right section of the body. Providing this information to physicians is important in the diagnosis and management of focal seizures. In younger children less than 5 years, it can be challenging to notice focal seizures because of the underdevelopment in the nervous system (Nickels et al., 2012). Children with focal seizures may turn their heads on one side or abruptly halt an activity. In younger children not able to talk, they may run to their patents and hold on to them tightly. Overall, children present with motor (involving movement) and non-motor symptoms such as emotions. Focal emotional seizures involve the alterations in emotions or moods or patients presenting with altered emotions without subjective emotions. Tamune et al (2018) have associated emotional stimuli with the provocation of seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). In a study of a 50-year-old female with “spaced-out” episodes triggered by emotional stimuli, the researchers relied on MRI findings and video-EEG procedures to rule out psychogenic non-epileptic attacks (Tamune et al., 2018). These findings provided accurate explanations and diagnoses and improved the patient’s seizure frequency and subjective depression. The present study explores focal emotional seizures in children less than 5 years, the possible causes, and suggests that observing emotional expressions can improve the diagnosis of seizures and care of focal children.
Method
Participants
The child observed is a male toddler, Noah, with partial focal seizure in a YouTube video (Alicia, 2013). The child is with his parents and twin sibling in the video and the language the mother is speaking in English. I chose the video because it runs for 7 minutes thus providing more details while observing the child’s emotions.
Setting
The child is sleeping in his bed with his parents although the exact time of the day is not clear. In the background, the voice of his twin sibling can be heard calling “Noah”, the boy’s name. There are two adults, the father and mother in the video, but only their voices can be heard. The mother is trying to play with the boy as the boy appears glum and tries to cry at the beginning of the video.
Procedure
I chose the observation method and in particular, detached observation as one of the methods of researching psychology. I observed the child for 7 minutes with no direct participation from my end. This type of observational research allows investigators to observe the ongoing behaviors of participants in a natural environment and record the findings. I was able to record the emotions of the child in the video using the observation method.
Narrative Observations
At the start of the video (0:09), Noah looks sullen and tries to cry. Focal emotional seizures accompanied by crying or dacrystic are common in focal children and can be accompanied by sad facial expression, lacrimation, and sobbing. Her mother calms him to sleep and finally settles with a yawn at 1:09. He is sleeping on his right side not many body movements can be observed. At 3:20, Noah expresses happiness on his face makes a smile as his twin sibling (not visible in the video) plays with him at 3:43 calling his name. It appears at the same age, the twin sibling is ahead in development since Noah is not able to utter any word. Gelastic is another type of focal emotional seizure characterized by giggling or a burst of laughter without any emotion of happiness. A gelastic seizure is also known as “mirthless” and stems from the hypothalamus. Noah’s parents continue to play with him with his mother gently touching his head and back. At the 3:30 timestamp, the boy looks settled and playful as he tries to murmur some words. He holds his hands together and puts his left thumb in his mouth. At 5:36, Noah tries to lie on his back but immediately reverts to his former sleeping position. He appears less active during this time but at 6:47 he looks up to his mother as she says “can you say hi?” At 7:00 the boy presents with a bright face and appears happy. Again, this event can be described as “mirthless” as there is no real cause of happiness.
Discussion
Studying the emotional expression of focal children is critical in diagnosing and managing focal emotional seizures. Facial expressions have emotional cues that are critical in identifying six types of human emotions such as surprise, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, and anger (Gomez-Ibanez, Urrestarazu & Viteri, 2014). Brain processes in facial emotion recognition are innate abilities that allow humans to interact with their surroundings and an accurate interpretation of these emotional expressions facilitates human adaptation to social interactions. The amygdala plays a critical role in processing emotions and both human and animal studies have indicated its role in homeostatic behaviors to emotionally salient expressions (Hol
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