Yolanda Nega

ECE: 252
Infant and Toddler Curriculum
Professor: Cheryl Brecheisen
March 29, 2015

COGNITIVE OBSERVATION
Part A For this section, observe a child between the ages of 4 12 months.
Childs name: Jadore
Age: 9 months
Pace of Observation: Genius Child Learning Center
1. a. Using objective observation, state at least 2 examples of behaviors that
might help you to determine the childs cognitive development.
Jadore was observed on stage I of Object Permanence.
1. Pursuit of an object through a slow horizontal circular trajectory Place the
infant on an infant seat of on mothers lap. Take a bright object and hold
it
about 10 inches in front of the infants eyes, until he focuses on it. It may
be necessary to shake the object lightly or to vary its distance in order to
attract his attention. If an older infant tends to focus on the examiner
rather than on the object, stand behind the infant. A ring of large, plastic
beads of various colors may be used as the target object. Move the object
from infants fight side slowly in a circular trajectory around the infants
head and observe his behavior. Alternate the displacement path direction
for each trial.

A colorful green plush puppet frog was introduced to

Jadore. As the toy was slowly moving in circles and moving
right to left and vice versa Jadore followed the frog to all
directions that the frog moved.

2. Reacting to the disappearance of a slowly-moving object in a vertical

direction. Place the infant in an infant seat or supine on a surface. Take a
bright object, such as the multi-colored ring, and hold it slightly above the

infants line of vision, about 10 inches

from his eyes, shaking it gently until the infant focuses on it. If the infant
tends to focus on the examiner, stand behind and to one side of the
infant. Once the infant has raised his eyes on the object, move it slowly to
one side and away from the infant, making it disappear below the edge of
the seat or some other surface on which the infant is lying. Observe the
infants glance as the ring disappears from his sight. Move the object to
the same side and have it reappear slightly above the infants eyes.

For this step a yellow nesting cup was shown to Jadore.

When she saw it, at first she opened wide her eyes and
followed the direction the object was moving. Also, she
looked for me behind the high chair that she was sitting in,
but she did not look when I hid the nesting cup under the
high chair.

3. Vertical displacement for a fast moving object: pursuit of object. A toy is

held slightly above eye level of the child and about two feet distant. Once
his gaze is focused upon it, the toy is dropped in full view of the child. A
soft toy, such as the ball of wool is used to prevent the occurrence of
sound as the toy falls. When the toy reaches the floor, examiner kicks it
under the chair or table out of view of the child.

A yellow nesting cup was shown to Jadore. She was allowed

to play with it. I removed the toy and I dropped it in front of
her. Jadore did not look at the direction when the toy fell
down.

4. Horizontal displacement for a fast moving object: pursuit of object

a toy, suspended from a string, is brought to the center of childs visual
field. Examiner is located behind the child. When the child is focused
upon the object, it is moved rapidly in front of the childs face in a
horizontal direction, (fast enough to make visual pursuit impossible) and
around the childs head.

5.

A plastic colorful yellow giraffe was hanging from a string. I

stood up behind the high chair where Jadore was sitting
down, and I started to move the giraffe horizontally. Jadore
looked at the direction the giraffe was moving.

Finding an object that is partially hidden-vertical screen have the infant

sitting either in an infant seat or propped up on the floor, with a working
surface in front of him. Present item such as red pencil,(tap if necessary
to attract babys attention). Or red and white striped soda straw. As baby
is ready to grasp it, lower the item behind neutral colored cardboard
screen until it disappears. Then raise item 1 above screen.

A red straw was given to Jadore, then it was hidden under a

brown blanket. Jadore found for the red straw under the
blanket and placed it on her mouth.

6. Finding an object that is partially hidden-horizontal screen. (The screen

used for this and subsequent hidden-object trials have included: swatches
of materials about 8 inches square with varying textures and patterns;
pillows; washcloths)Infant is seated with working surface before him. Use
an object in which the infant whose interest and one which is unitary, so
that a portion of the object cannot be equivalent to the whole object. A
small, brightly colored doll or a plastic animal may be used, but an object
such as a necklace would be unsuitable. Hold the object in front of the
infant and, if he demonstrates interest by reaching for it, place the object
on the surface, within the infants reach, and cover it with a screen in such
a way that a small portion of the object would remain visible (the feet of
the doll, the tail of the animal,
etc.). Use a white, nontransparent washcloth as a screen. Observe the
infants reaction.
If in his fumbling to obtain the object, the infant covers it up completely,
start a new trial .One trial in which the object is placed on the surface in
front of the infant without being covered by a screen should be
interspersed and the infants behavior compared.

A green nesting cup was hidden under a white blanket.

Jadore removed the blanket and found the cup. When I
brought a brown blanket decorated with Teddy bears it
caught Jadores attention and she kept looking at the
brown blanket. When I switched the white blanket to the
brown one, Jadore also found the nesting cup.

7. Have the infant sitting on the floor or propped in a crib in order to have a
flat work area around the infant. Take an object in which the infant shows
strong interest and hold it out to him. If the infant starts to reach for the
object, place it on the surface within the
infants reach and quickly cover it completely with a screen (before the
infant grasps the object). Observe the infants reaction to the
disappearance of the object. If the infant
succeeds in obtaining the object on the first trial, shift the work area to
one side of the infant (left or right) and present all the succeeding trials on
the same side.

A green frog was hidden under as blue blanket in the left

side of the highchair and Jadore found it. Then, the same
object was hidden under the same blanket on the right side
and she looked under the blanket and found it.

8. Finding an object hidden under one of two screens. If the infant obtains
the object in two trials when it is hidden under a single screen, place a
second screen on the opposite side of the infant during the next trial of
hiding the object, and then hide the object in the same manner under the
second screen. Observe the infants reaction. To repeat the trial, hide the
object under the second screen two more times, and then switch to hiding
the object under the first screen and count this last trial as a repeat.

A plush dog was hidden under the white blanket. Jadore

looked for the dog and retrieved it. The same thing
happened when the dog was hidden under a blue blanket;
she successfully found it. The dog was hidden five times and
she succeed in finding the dog each time.

Finding an object hidden under one of two screens alternately If the infant searches
correctly at least twice in the presence of two screens, hide the object under the
first and second screens alternately, up to five times, and observe the infants
behavior (one full RL or LR sequence)

A rattle was hidden under the white blanket on the left side
of the high chair, then on the right side. Jadore found the
rattle on both sides. She also found it when the same
process was applied using a blue blanket.

9. Finding an object hidden under one of three screens. If the infant searches
correctly in at least two trials when the object is hidden under one of two
screens, introduce a third screen in front of the infant, and hide the object
under each of the three screens in a random fashion until the infants
behavior appears clear.

A red straw was hidden under a white blanket, then I added

a blue blanket on top of it and her attention stopped. She
did not find it when I placed the brown Teddy bears blanket
on top of the other blanket. She did not find the red straw
because she grabbed the brown blanket and put it on her
mouth.

Note: The observation stopped in this step because Jadore started to cry. Her
caregiver told me she was awake since 5:30 am and she was tired and sleepy.

2.

b. Which of Piagets sensorimotor substage do you think this child is in?

Jadore is in the stage of object permanence.

3. What toys or materials do you see that would assist the child in moving to the
next sensorimotor substage and how would they help?

A real key instead of a toy key will help her catch her and
using bright colors will help to keep her focus.

4. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child? (Give examples of
available toys/personal interactions, etc.)
The teacher was playing with her and she offered to Jadore different
toys to play such as big Legos and asked her to put them together.
The caregiver showed her how to do it.
In addition, the teacher sang to her Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
and told Jadore, good job every time she was retrieved the things
under the blanket. By, doing so, the teacher helped her cognitively
by teaching fine motor skills and language development when she
sang to Jadore.

For this section, observe a child between the ages of 13 19 months

Childs name: Mackena
Age: 13 months
Place of observation: Child Care Lab at CSNs Cheyanne Location
Mackena was observed on Scale VI: Development of Imitation

1. A) Using objective observation, state at least 2 examples of behaviors that

might help you to determine the childs cognitive development.
Differentiation of vocalization from crying. Listen to the spontaneous vocalizations
of the infant and note whether he makes some sounds that are not due to distress.
Inquire whether the person taking care of the infant had heard vocalizations other
than crying.

The teacher responded that Mackena says Mmmmmmm and No

moving her head.

I asked Mackena to repeat the word blah, blah she smiled to me

and did not say it.

2. Response to familiar vocal productions. Listen to the spontaneous

vocalizations of the infant or ask the person taking care of him to find out
what sounds the infant typically makes. When the infant is in a happy mood,
but is not spontaneously vocalizing, warm up the infant by talking to him in
adult fashion (saying what a nice baby he is, asking how he is doing, etc.) and
then: start saying the sounds (open vowel sounds or consonant sounds like
mmm or up-uh or ahh) that the infant typically makes himself. Observe
the infants reaction to hearing the familiar
sounds and also to the cessation of these sounds.

After I repeated the word mmm Mackena did not respond.

She looked at me and continued played with blocks.

When I asked her to repeat the word up-uh she did not
repeat it.

I also asked her to say the word ahh and she did not repeat.
She just looked at me wondering.

I asked the teacher if Mackena recognized some familiar sound

and the teacher said yes. When the teacher put in the cd
player the song Brown Bear What Do you See Mackena
crawled to the book section to find the book titled Brown
Bear What Do you See

3. Development of imitation of familiar sound patterns (babbling)Listen to the

spontaneous vocalizations of the infant or ask the person taking care of the infant to
find out what sound patterns the infant typically makes, such as ba-ba-ba, da-dada, etc. After becoming acquainted with the infant, while he is in a happy mood,
but is not vocalizing spontaneously, repeat one of the sound patterns familiar to the
infant
several times and then stop. Observe the infants reaction to the cessation of the
familiar sounds.

Teacher responded that Mackena says the word dada I asked

Mackena can you say dada? She smiled back to me and said the
word dada. I continued saying the word dada five times. When I
stopped, Mackena crawled away from me.

4. Development of imitation of unfamiliar sound patterns. If possible, determine the

sound combinations that the infant typically vocalizes and those which are quite

familiar to him. After becoming acquainted with the infant and while he is in a
happy mood, say some sound combination that would be clearly different from the
ones with which the infant is familiar, such as bzz, about, ghrr, etc. Observe
the infants reactions

I asked Mackena to look at me, and I said dada, mama, mmm.

Mackena did not smile or show interest for those sounds; she
grabbed the blocks and played with them.

5. Imitation of familiar words

Find out from the person taking care of the infant the words that the infant has in
his
vocabulary, such as hi, doggie, juice, baby, ball, etc. After establishing a
relationship with the infant, while he is in a happy mood and not too engrossed in
play, repeat one of the words which is familiar to the infant several times. Since the
first words frequently denote familiar objects, it is often desirable to show the infant
a toy representing the object or a picture of the object, (such as dog, baby, juice)
while saying the appropriate word, in order to create a play situation. Observe the
infants reaction.
Attempt with at least three words in order to score a given level of responding

I showed Mackena a juice bottle and I said, juice. Can you say it
Mackena? Mackena extended her hand to grab the juice.

I showed her a baby doll and I told her to say doll. Mackena grabbed
the doll and played with her without repeating the word doll. Then, I
figured out maybe the word baby will be easier for her; I asked her to
say baby and she repeated the word baby.

6. Imitation of new words.

Find out from the person taking care of the infant the words that the infant has in
his
vocabulary. While the infant is in a happy mood, repeat a word that is not in the
infants
vocabulary and observe his reaction. It is usually desirable to let the infant play
with some object whose name he does know and, after getting him to imitate this
familiar word, to try a number of adjectives appropriate to the object or, to name
specific parts of the object, those words usually being new to the infant. For
example, if the infant knows

the word baby, present him with a doll and, after getting him to say the word
baby, try words like pretty, red (for the dress), arm, or animate the doll and
try words like run or dance, etc. Say the words one at a time repeating each
word several times and observing the infants reaction.

I started to sing the song ABCs and simultaneously I started to

dance Mackena looked at me and after about 2 minutes she started
to dance too. I said to her bravo and I clapped to her. Mackena
started to clap too and paid full attention to my face. This song
completely caught her attention because she danced and clapped
with me.

7. Extensive imitation of words

Determine whether the infant repeats practically all words said to him by saying a
number of new words to the infant and by asking the person taking care of the
infant. Note whether the infant imitates at least five new words directly.

No, Mackena does not repeat new words. I guess it is because she is only
13 months old. She is still too young to repeat new words.
I asked Mackena to say papa, mama, food, boo and toy. She did not
repeat any of these words.

B) Which of Piagets sensorimotor substages do you think this child is in?

She is in the development of Imitation Piagets Scale VI
3. What toys or materials do you see that would assist the child in moving to the
next sensorimotor substage and how would they help?
The materials that will help Mackena to move to the next step are
electronic toys that can speak words, or toys that make sounds. Also,
reading to this child will increase her vocabulary and will help her to speak
more words.
4. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child? (Examples of
available toys/personal interactions, etc.)
The teacher interaction was good. She continuously talked to Mackena and
asked her questions such as how does that block feel in your mouth? Are
you looking at a butterfly? She also told her, Shake this block and lets
see how its sounds. All these questions are helpful for Mackena speech
development and are powerful interactions between child and caregiver.

Part C - For this section, you will be utilizing a child between the age of
20 27 months (include exact age of child observed).
Childs name: Joshua
Age: 26 months
Place of observation: Genius Child Learning Center
1. Using the one of the Piagetian scales (scale 7 is NOT to be used) listed as a
file in the Content Module (week 8). Assess what step the child is at currently
by administering each step and writing how the child responded, whether
they successfully completed the step, etc.
For Joshua, Gestural Imitation was applied to determine his cognitive
development. Stage VI

1. Attempted imitation of familiar visible schemas. Observe the motor schemas

that the infant show spontaneously towards objects in order to find out which
are familiar to him. When the infant is engaged in some activity other than
applying one of these schemas, perform such a familiar schema as hitting an
object, waving an object, and observe the infants reaction. Attempt with two
or three schemas. Verbalizations may be used to encourage the infant: for
example, say boom boom boom as you hit an object on table surface.

A showed Joshua drum a drum, and I hit it with a stick. I asked him,
can you do the same? Listen to the sound boom, boom. Joshua
repeated the same action and repeated the words boom, boom.

2. Attempted imitation of complex actions composed of familiar visible gestures.

Select a schema which is familiar to the infant as indicated by his

spontaneous performance of that schema toward objects, and incorporate it
into a more complex action pattern. When the infant is not engrossed in any
activity, perform this action for him. For example, if shaking is a schema that
the infant has shown spontaneously in acting on objects, take some blocks
and a container) 1) place the blocks inside and shake the container vigorously
so that the blocks make some noise. Present the infant with the blocks inside
the container and observe whether he will imitate this action. Repeat several
times. Or, is hitting is a schema (2) take a block into each hand and hit them
together several times. If necessary, help the infant to get a block into each
hand. Observe the infants behavior.

Three large Legos were placed inside a Kleenex box, I shook the box
and I left the box on the carpet. Joshua grabbed the Kleenex box and
repeated the same thing. Then, I removed the Legos and I hit them
on to the other. I gave them to Joshua and he repeated the same
thing and hit the Legos one to the other.

3. Familiar invisible gestures. Note: A gesture is called visible if the infant is

able to see himself performing it. For example, hitting a surface is a visible
gesture, since the infant can observe his own hand while it attempts to hit,
but wrinkling the nose in not visible, since without a mirror, the infant cannot
observe himself perform this action.

For this step, I say to Joshua shake it, shake it, and I moved my
whole body. Joshua smiled at me and danced with me, and he
repeated the words shake it, shake it.

Observe the motor schemas that the infant shows spontaneously towards objects in
order to find out which are familiar to him. When the infant is engaged in some
activity other than applying one of these schemas, perform such a familiar invisible
schema as nyum- nyum mouth opening and closing motions, or tongue wagging,
and observe the infants reaction.

I said to Joshua meow, meow, he smiled to me and repeated the

sounds and he copied the same expression of my face and hands.

I said to Joshua, roar, roar. He repeated the words and my wild

face and the movement of my hands.

4. Imitation of unfamiliar gestures

Observe the infants play with several different objects in order to determine
which
gestures are familiar to him as indicated by spontaneous performance of
these gestures. Select several gestures that are likely to be unfamiliar to the
infant, such as 1) with horizontal hand, spreading the fingers apart and them
bringing them together, 2) bending the index finger, 3) opening and closing
the fist with thumb on top, 4) turning hand over and back again so that
palmar surface alternates with back of hand, 5) scraping or shuffling feet.
Perform them for the infant, one at a time, several times, in succession.
However, if at all possible, ask the person taking care of the infant whether
these gestures are actually unfamiliar, since some of them may have been
taught o frequently demonstrated to the infant. Make sure that the infant

attends to the demonstration of the gestures and observe his reaction.

Attempt with two or three unfamiliar gestures.

I crossed my fingers and Joshua tried to cross his finger too, but he
could not do it. I opened and closed my index finger and he copied
me. I moved my hands from right to left and he copied the
movement and follow my hands with his eyes. I jumped and he
jumped. I kicked a ball and he kicked it too.

I asked his teacher if he usually imitates everything he sees and she

said, yes. While I was talking to the teacher, she was sitting with
the other toddlers gluing an Easter egg. Joshua grabbed the glue
and paper and copied the teacher. Joshua started to glue on the
paper too.

5. Imitation of unfamiliar gestures invisible to the infant

Obtain the infants attention and perform several gestures, one at a time,
which the infant
is unable to observe himself perform, such as a) opening and closing the
mouth with smacking sound, b) blinking the eyes, c) patting the cheek, d)
pulling the ear lobe, etc.)

I opened wide my mouth and I said, blah, blah blah. Joshua

laughed and said blah, blah.

I touched my left eye and I said, Left eye. He copied me and

touch his left eye and said, left eye.

I touched my stomach with my right hand and I said, Tummy,

tummy. Joshua smiled to me. He touched his tummy and
repeated the words tummy, tummy.

I started to comb my hair with my closed hand. Joshua kept

smiling to me and started to comb his hair with his hand.

I put my tongue out and I said, Tongue Joshua copied me

too, and put his tongue out and said, Tongue.

6. Deferred imitation of new actions perform some action that is likely to be

unfamiliar to the infant such as hopping on one foot, marching, making a

funny face, etc. Make arrangements to find out whether the person taking
care of the infant does observe the infant attempting to imitate such actions
at a later time; (e. g., you demonstrate clap-hands on each cheek and

teacher reports child stands in crib at nap time and practices this gesture).
Inquire whether the infant has been observed to imitate new action seen on
TV or demonstrated by other children immediately and, from memory, after a
delay.

I hopped with my left foot. Joshua hopped too with his feet.

I put my hands behind my back. I started to march and I said

marching, marching. Joshua smiles and put his hand behind his
back too, and starting to march; he followed me.

I moved my lips left to right and right to left. Joshua tried to copy
me. He smiled to me and tried to move his lips too, but it was
difficult for him to do it.

I held my right hand op in the table with my left hand. Joshua held
his right hand up too, with his left hand.

I rolled over the floor. Joshua smiled to me and rolled over the floor.

2. What toys might you offer to the child to facilitate her/him to the next level
and why? (Next step on scale or next cognitive level.
Joshua is a bright child, who repeats the actions he observes. My
recommendation is to keep talking to him because he was already talking,
not only the words that I said, but he is already speaking and has good
vocabulary for his young age. The teacher was interacting well with him,
and she showed him her fingers and counted to him 1-10. She told him to
repeat after me, and show me your fingers. My recommendation is that
the teacher needs to continue interacting with him verbally and continue
playing with him to help him development cognitively. For Joshua, it will
be beneficial that the teacher play with him with puppets to increase his
vocabulary, his face expressions, and body imitation.