Essay about Developmental Psychology

Submitted By VanTrinh2014
Words: 2238
Pages: 9

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY JOURNAL 1.Yesterday, I came to visit my friend. She had to baby sit her 9 month old niece. I was watching my friend playing with her niece. She showed the baby a small teddy bear and then hid it under the blanket, the baby started to use her hand to touch the blanket to search for the teddy bear. This reminded me of Piaget’s Sensorimotor stage, achievement of object permanence. 2. Last weekend, my family went out for a dinner, across from our table, I saw a toddler boy approximately 24 month old, using a spoon to feed himself mashed potatoes. After a while, his mom gave him small pieces of chicken and a fork. He immediately began to stick on a piece of chicken to feed himself. At that moment, I remembered what I had studied in developmental psychology class about cognitive development. The boy has assimilated the fork into his schema for utensils. 3. I had dinner at my friend’s house and after everybody was done eating, a four-year-old girl saw that all of the adults pitched in to clear the dinner table. Not wanting to be left out, she wanted to give a hand. She picked up a glass and carried it to the kitchen. Unfortunately, the glass slipped out of her hand and broke, just as she was trying to put it on the kitchen counter. The mother came and asked her daughter, “Are you ok, honey” and thanked her for trying to help. During this situation, I was reminded of Diana Baumrind’s parenting style that would include high warmth since the mother was caring. 4. Last Saturday, my son and I went to the ice cream store. We were waiting on the line and in front of us was a little girl around 6 years old. She told her mom that she wanted a strawberry and vanilla ice cream with gummy bears because those are her favorite. This remind me of decentering from Piaget’s Concrete Operations, because at this age children can focus more than one issue. 5. I took my son to the dentist on Monday and at the waiting area I saw a little girl who was about 4 years old. She was sitting and playing with the doll house and from time to time she would look up her mom and dad. They gave her a smile and she ran over to give them a hug and went back to play. This reminded me of attachment theory and secure attachment. The girl seem content to be on her own and playing by herself without needing constant attention from her parents 6. My friend and I took our kids to Chuck E. Cheese to play. After parking the car at parking lot, we walked toward the front door. As soon as we arrived, my friend’s son, the 3 year old, didn’t want to go inside. He was crying and wanted to go home. My friend tried to calm him down but nothing can helped. This situation reminded me of Alexander Thomas & Stella Chess theories about temperament of difficult child.
7. Today I went to the park. I watched 4 year old boy playing by himself in the sand with his big toy truck. Closest to him there was a girl about same age playing in sand with a bucket. The two of them were talking and making space for each other, then continued to play by themselves. This reminded me of Associative type of play, since the kids were playing together but they were focused on different goals.
8. Last week, I was babysitting my 4 year old nephew for a few hours. At snack time, I had 2 graham crackers that were the same size. I broke one of the crackers up into 2 pieces. My nephew said to me that he wanted the one broken into 2 pieces, even though the graham crackers are equal amounts. His choice reminded me of Piaget’s concept of conservation because he didn’t understand that the amount remains the same no matter the shape. 9. After snack time, my nephew brought an alphabet book and came to me. We sat on the couch. I started to quiz him on the alphabet by picking out the letters randomly. I asked him, “What is letter “G” stand for” he said, “for girl”, “how about letter “B’’”, he answered, “For a boy