Running head: Psychologists 1

PRISM Psychologists Paper

Introduction

For my observation, the child I chose to observe for this paper is my friends sisters

daughter, Jailene. Jailene is a three-year-old girl. Shes an only child raised by her grandmother.

Jailenes mother is not present in her life because she has a serious drug addiction. Currently

Jailenes mother is in a rehab center in California to help better herself so she can be a part of her

daughters life. Jailene lives at her grandmothers ranch house. Her grandmother works a full-

time job and drops Jailene off at her babysitter before work. Her babysitters are two retired

school teachers. So, while Jailene is being watched by them she is learning a lot at such a young

age. They teach her the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes and create kid-friendly activities to

help her develop knowledge and skills. Jailene is Caucasian and was born here Las Vegas,

Nevada. English is her primary language. Shes very smart and talkative. Jailene uses advanced

words and already knows her colors and shapes. I noticed that shes very observant too.

I had the opportunity to observe Jailene because of my friend Kyle. I had already met

Jailene at a family function before and she loved hanging around with me since then. I spent two

weekends with her and my friend so I had many opportunities to closely interact with her and

observe.

Physical

First are the physical developmental milestones. From what I know, she has no health

issues. She loves to play with her toys and plays with her grandmothers farm animals and pets.

Jailenes grandmother owns a farm right in the backyard of their ranch home. Jailene is a very

active and playful little girl. She is well-mannered and shows excellent behavior and manners. I
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was playing with her in the back yard and she loves to play hide-n-seek, tag, and catch with her

colorful bouncy balls (DSHS Fosterparentscope, 1993).

Jailene loves to be independent and at the same time she is eager to learn new things. She

loves to color, pick out her outfits of the day, brush her teeth and comb and style her hair on her

own.

Looking at the chart of the Child Development guide, it states that the normal

characteristics of children her age should be very active, manipulate small objects with their

hands (drawing, dressing self, using objects or tools for their purposes), and begin potty-training.

Jailene meets all the developmental milestones for this category because she is loves to run and

play outdoors with the animals, she can color and draw, and is already potty-trained (DSHS

Fosterparentscope, 1993).

According to Snowman and McCown (2013), the physical characteristics of children of

ages three-to-five years old, should be extremely active. Jailene appears to be very active, as I

observed her playing catch outside with her older cousin Zion (p. 49). Snowman states that, the

frontal lobes of the brain grows rapidly. The frontal lobes control functions such as, planning,

organizing, and focused attention. In result, children can complete simple commands by their

elders, such as, put away your toys, and maintaining their behavior and manners, for example,

using their quiet voices when they are in a church (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p. 49).

Emotional.

Next to the developmental milestones is emotional progression. Jailene is a very well-

behaved child. She understands that No, means No and does not throw a temper tantrum. Aside

from being well-behaved she can be sensitive at times if her feelings get hurt. She responds to
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emotions very well and is a very sweet, loving and caring kid. One time Jailene wore a very cute

dress and I asked her if I could borrow it sometime and she responded, No silly! It wont fit you

because youre a giant!. I laughed out loud when she said that because it showed that she kind

of has a sense of humor. She doesnt fear large animals since she grew up on a farm. And as far

as her fearing her mothers departure, it doesnt seem to bother her since her mom was rarely

present in her life since she was born.

From my observations, she is not a shy girl. She doesnt mind being the center of

attention. In fact, she loves to sing and dance. Jailene also enjoys praise when she does a great

job or exhibits good behavior (DSHS Fosterparentscope, 1993).

Looking at the chart of the Child Development guide, it states that the normal

characteristics of children her age should be developing a sense of self, enjoys being praised,

control her behavior/manners, and fears anything loud, animals and mothers departure (DSHS

Fosterparentscope, 1993). Jailene appears to meet all the developmental milestones for this

category because she enjoys praise for a good job, her grandparents discipline her so she is

very aware of when she knows that she is being bad or good, and fears her grandmothers

departure when she leaves somewhere.

According to Snowman and McCown (2013), the emotional characteristics of children

ages three-to-five year olds are now in touch with their emotions and can regulate them to an

extent (p. 51). Jailene sometimes struggles with controlling her emotions because she is spoiled

by her grandfather, but Jailenes grandmother disciplines her to an extent to teach her a lesson on

what is right or wrong. Jailene has to exhibit good behavior to be rewarded with something she

wants.
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Intellectual/Cognitive.

Next of the developmental milestones is the intellectual stage. Jailene loves to sing her

favorite nursery rhymes that her grandmother reads to her before her nap time or bed time. She

also watches educational children TV shows. For example, Dora the Explorer and Cailou.

Also, since her babysitters are retired school teachers, they always create fun activities to keep

her busy and engaged in learning. Such as, art, painting, drawing, cut and pasting, and sculpting

with playdoh or clay.

From what I observed while speaking to her, she speaks very clear, annunciates her words

correctly and uses big words for her age.

Looking at the chart of the Child Development guide, it states that the normal

characteristics of children her age should be learning through their senses, gets easily distracted,

and can use three-to-four word sentences. Jailene meets two of the developmental milestones for

this category because uses a lot of her sensorimotor skills, such as, the smell of food, and scents,

she can get easily distracted when something catches her interest, and is able to use more than

four-word sentences, such as, Can I go outside and play with the dogs? (DSHS

Fosterparentscope, 1993).

According to Jean Piagets studies, he concluded that schemes evolve through four stages

of cognitive development that is used to help describe the patterns of cognitive development

(Snowman & McCown, 2013, p. 25). Piagets four stages of cognitive development include,

sensorimotor (birth to two years), preoperational (two to seven years), concrete operational

(seven to eleven years), and formal operational (eleven years and older. Jailene appears to fall

under the preoperational stage. In text, Table 2.2 of Piagets stages of cognitive development

states that the characteristics of children in the preoperational stage should, gradually acquire
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ability to conserve and decenter, but is not capable of operations or mentally reversing actions

(Snowman & McCown, 2013, p. 25). Jailene appears to have formulated many schemes because

she interacts with her environment and family well. When Jailene is in a new environment, it

may take a little while before she can adapt to her surroundings until she is used to it.

Lev Vygotskys theory of cognitive development was often referred to as sociocultural

theory because it maintains that how we think is a function of both social and cultural forces

(Snowman & McCown, 2013, p. 32). Vygotskys cognitive development is influenced by

instruction in the zone of proximal development. Zone of proximal development is Vygotskys

term for the difference between what a child can do on his or her own and what the child can

accomplish with some assistance (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p. 36). Jailene is a very

independent little girl. She loves to learn things on her own and she closely watches everyone

else in her surroundings to learn how to do things.

Per Snowman and McCown (2013), Robert Sternberg formulated a triarchic theory of

intelligence that is composed of three main parts: practical ability, creative ability, and analytical

ability (p. 74). Jailene exhibits the practical ability because she can apply knowledge to everyday

situations that she is used to doing, such as daily routines. She also exhibits abilities in the

analytical category because she can compare differences in shapes and sizes and makes

judgements if she sees something odd or out of place.

Howard Gardner formulated a theory of eight multiple intelligences. Gardners eight

multiple intelligences include: logical-mathematical, linguistic, musical, spatial, bodily-

kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p. 75).

Jailene exhibits multiple intelligences such as, linguistic, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, and

naturalist. She exhibits the linguistic intelligence because she is very attentive to sounds and
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rhythms when she hears them. When Jailene watches her educational TV shows she sings along

with the songs and loves listening to music. Jailene loves to dance and organize her toys in the

different bins when she is finished playing which displays bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Lastly,

shes a naturalist because she loves nature and playing outdoors with the farm animals and dogs.

She also helps her grandfather gather eggs that the chickens laid.

Social/Psychological.

Next in the developmental milestones is the social and psychological stage. Jailene still

considers her mother very important and she also loves meeting new people (DSHS

Fosterparentscope, 1993). Shes also very helpful in helping her mother with feeding the farm

animals, setting up the dinner table with plates and silverware, and cleaning up after herself.

During my weekend stay with her, we played with pretend makeup and she did my hair. She

mentioned how she loved how I did my makeup and how I curled my hair. So she wanted to try

it out herself on me like I was her Barbie doll ha-ha. I ended up looking like a clown and my hair

was tied up in many butterfly hair clips. That same night she wanted me to read a bed time story,

so I read Dr. Seusss, Green Eggs and Ham. She loved it!! Jailene also has a wide-sense of

imagination. We played house, she was the mother and I was the baby. From what I seen first-

hand she knows the role of what a mother and baby does for the most part.

Looking at the chart of the Child Development guide, it states that the normal

characteristics of children her age should still consider their mother important, does not warm up

to strangers, likes to help their loved ones, and can do things with others (DSHS

Fosterparentscope, 1993). Jailene meets all of the developmental milestones for this category

because she still does think about where and what her real mother is doing, she is shy around
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strangers if they dont know any of her family members and she loves to help set the dining table

when its time for supper.

Per Snowman and McCown (2013), Erik Eriksons theory of psychosocial development

is based on the epigenetic principle that the notion that a childs personality develops through a

series of genetically predetermined stages that interact with social interactions in the childs

environment (p. 17). Erikson proposed five stages of psychosocial development. Of these stages,

Jailene is falls under the autonomy versus shame and doubt stage. Children in this stage are two-

three-year olds that should begin to establish their independence, are encouraged to do things at

their own pace and accomplish it, explore their environments, and play with toys. This helps

them develop a sense of autonomy, which is their willingness and ability to direct their own

behavior (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p. 18). Jailene exhibits these behaviors through her

independence of visual learning, playing with her toys without a playmate by using her

imagination and explores her environment by playing outside.

James Marcia established four identity statuses that vary in their degree of crisis and

commitment: identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement. Of the four

identity statuses, Jailene is at the identity diffusion stage because is too young and not

experienced yet to understand the importance of values, occupations and gender roles (Snowman

& McCown, 2013, p. 21).

Moral

Finally, the last of the developmental milestones is morality. Jailene appears to be very

independent. She can feed, dress, play, clean up her toys, and pick out her own clothing by

herself. She likes to be helpful, express emotions by showing her loved ones that she cares and
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listens very well. Furthermore, at the same time, she acts like how a normal kid should be

without needing an iPad or any other digital device to keep her entertained.

Looking at the chart of the Child Development guide, it states that the normal

characteristics of children her age should be self-reliant and wants to display good behavior but

is not old enough to know how to keep promises yet. Jailene meet all the developmental

milestones for this category because she loves to do things on her own, for example, feeding

herself, dressing herself, and brushing her teeth, she also like to be praised for good behavior

because she doesnt like to be punished for bad behavior, and lastly, she makes promises

sometimes but forgets to about it later (DSHS Fosterparentscope, 1993).

According to Snowman and McCown (2013), Jean Piaget was fascinated by how all

children learn and interact in different ages (p. 40). Piaget stated that preschool and early

elementary school age interpreted rules as an example of how older children behaved when they

played together (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p. 40).

Lawrence Kohlberg was fascinated by Piagets studies of moral development. Kohlberg

then expanded on Piagets research by creating six stages of moral reasoning (Snowman &

McCown, 2013, p. 41). The six stages of moral reasoning are: punishment-obedience orientation,

instrumental relativist orientation, good boy-nice girl orientation, law-and-order orientation,

social contract orientation and universal ethical principle orientation. Currently, Jailene falls

under the first two stages which is known as the preconventional stage because young children

her age doesnt understand the conventions or rules of society (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p.

41).

According to Snowman and McCown (2013), Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings are

pioneering educational scholars. Gilligan opposes Eriksons view of identity development and
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Kohlbergs view of moral development more accurately describes what occurs with adolescent

males than adolescent females. She argued that females are more understanding, helpful and

cooperate with others well (p. 43). Jailene is extremely helpful and understanding of feelings and

emotions.

According to Snowman and McCown (2013), Nel Noddings created a care theory in

which she published a book entitled Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral

Education. The book has remained as an important source of ideas in matters of moral education.

Jailene is a caring and loving child. She developed this attribute because her family shows her a

lot of love and attention. In result, she knows how to express her feelings and emotions in many

ways.
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References

DSHS Fosterparentscope Training: Child Development Guide: Two to Three Years. (1993).

Washington State Department of Health and Social Services. Retrieved from

http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/cdevguid/cdg10.htm

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2013). Ed psych. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
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Appendix A

Observation Notes:

Jailene

Three years old

Female
Only child
Father (unknown) and mother is in a rehab center for her drug addiction
Her current guardian is her grandmother
Middle class
Caucasian
Fluent in English
Lives in a household where only English is spoken

Environment and Time spent:

Lives at her grandmothers full-time

Watched my babysitters during weekdays

Physical:

No health issues
Very active
Loves to play catch
Play dress up
Potty-trained

Emotional:

Well-behaved
Well-mannered
Respectful
Caring, loving and sweet
Has a sense of humor

Intellectual/Cognitive:

Loves to draw and color

Paint
Sculpt with playdoh
Loves to sing and dance
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Social/Psychological:

Loves to role play

Be read to
Meet new people
Very helpful

Moral:

Independent
Still can be a kid at the same time