Child Observation Paper

Lawrence Kohlberg, a developmental psychologist, identified six developmental stages of human moral reasoning. The first stage that he recognized was the Punishment-Obedience Orientation, where the person’s concern is for avoiding punishment through obedience. The second stage was the Instrumental Relativist Orientation, where the person’s concern is to work in their self interest, and better their position. The third stage of moral development was the Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation, where the person’s concern lies with their reputation. Next was the Law And Order Orientation, where the person was less concerned with their own immediate well being to the maintenance of a larger society. The fifth stage was the Social Contract

Based on her reaction it appears she has developed deferred imitation. According to Piaget, deferred imitation is defined as ¨a sequence in which and infant first perceives something that someone else does and then performs the same action a few hours or even days later¨ (Piaget 166). According to table 6.1, stage six intellectual accomplishment, involving both thinking and memory appears at around 18-24 months. Based on this information, Isabella, at 20 months of age, would be within the age range for development and therefore within the norm for her age (Piaget 162).

First, Kohlberg’s theory of moral development started at preconventional stage. Preconventional stage is mostly found in children mindset where people follow the basic norms of obedience and consequence. Basically, this stage children or anyone who’s have this mindset accept and believe on authority, such as; parents, teacher or anyone who’s has jurisdiction over someone. Since this stage is whoever follow the rules will get accolade; therefore, there will be consequences on people who don’t follow the authority rules. The preconventional stage has two sub-stages that clarify the mindset children have. The first substage is: obedience and punishment; indeed it exemplifies that anyone's behavior is motivated to avoid any kind of punishment. For example, there’s a boy who wants a new smartphone; but the only approach is that the boy can’t get in trouble in school or at the house. The possible manner the boys has is to behave and avoid any activity that can hurt his chance of getting that new smartphone. This example, supports the claim where the boy avoids any activity that can prevent

The date of my observation was April 27th, 2010. It was about 9:30 in the morning when I began my study. I went to Grossmont College’s Child Development Center. The first thing I began looking for was if the child-teacher ratio was correct. The child ratio was 2 teachers to about every 8 children. The ratio was good. As I entered there was one large room that almost looked as if it could be two rooms they way it was set up. One half consisted of a large bookshelf with numerous books on it with a couch in the front of it. The other half of the room was almost like a little kitchen. It had a table with chairs around it with a sink and cabinets behind it. There were “age appropriate” toys as well as books all over the

The second level of Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral development is the Conventional Level. The Conventional level consists of stages 3 and 4. Stage 3 is based on interpersonal expectations. Those who are at this stage try to be a “good” boy or a “good” girl and live up to others’--such as close friends and family’s-- expectations. Stage 4 is based on Law-and-Order. They are not only focused on what their family and friends say; they are now focused on society. These stages are usually reached by early teens. They don’t blindly follow rules;

Lawrence Kohlberg is known for his theory of moral development developed in 1958. His theory was dependent on the thinking of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and American philosopher John Dewey. It consists of three levels of moral reasoning: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. These levels are based on the degree to which an individual accommodates to the conventional standards of society. Each level aquires two stages that serve as different standards of sophistication in moral reasoning. Overall, Kohlberg affirms that moral development is a process of maturing that emerges from thinking about about moral issues (“Kohlberg’s Moral Development”).

Jackson appeared withdrawn, and was somewhat embarrassed before stating that he did not do well in school. Jackson knows that he can perform better in school. When the other children began to tease Jackson, he was ready to fight some of them. This is typical behavior for Jackson, and is also a pattern of disorganized attachment. Children with a disorganized pattern in infancy tend to show disturbed patterns of relationships, subsequently, their relationships with peers can often be characterized by a “fight or flight” pattern of alternate aggression and withdrawal. Jackson’s coping skills when upset, threatened, or embarrassed is fight, unless the person is physically bigger than him. If this is the case, Jackson uses flight to cope, and seeks his grandmother for protection and comfort.

In middle childhood (aged 6-12), the child will experience the Industry vs. Inferiority stage. This is the fourth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial stage. With the previous three

After observing a nine month old child for this Child Observation paper, the author of this paper has taken copious notes during the session. The purpose of this paper is recognizing the biological, cognitive and psychosocial development of the child. The author of this paper identified the background history of the child, the observation made and the development process of the child.

This study is intended to document my observation of a child between the ages of 2-5. The small child I observed is a 4 years old male. Family arrangements consist of the mother being the primary caregiver of her son. Since the child is not old enough to consent to my amateur study, I have received permission from the mother and father. The method used in this clinical report is a naturistic observation in which I went to the family’s household where I recorded his behavior for an hour.

Erik Erikson founded the psychosocial stages of development in which he believed there were 8 stages. Erikson felt that the Industry vs. Inferiority stage (5-12) was a critical time for elementary age children, as this was time to gain recognition from teachers and peers. During this stage, children are encouraged to try new things and are acknowledged for their accomplishments; resulting in increased self-confidence. My parents did their best to raise my brother and me, but due to circumstances with my dad’s work, we moved around a lot. This meant I was always the “new kid” in school. When I was eight years old, my parents decided to homeschool my brother and me, which resulted in us not benefiting from the social interaction with teachers and peers. I think this may be a reason that both my brother and I were not able to master this stage leading to feelings of inferiority and low self-esteem.

Kohlberg (1963, 1981, 1984; Colby & Kohlberg, 1987) expanded Piaget’s work, developing a most influential cognitive developmental theory of moral development. Kohlberg proposed the progression through the invariant, universal sequence of three moral levels each composed of two distinct stages. According to Kohlberg, no stage can be skipped, neither will there be a regression to an earlier stage.

According to the developmental theorist Erik Erikson, every child proceeds through a series of social stages in which there is a core, essential conflict that must be addressed. If that conflict is not fully resolved, the child carries that unresolved issue into the next stage, and cannot truly mature. During the preschool-age stage of 'industry versus inferiority,' for example, although I gained a sense of competence as a caregiver, I also gained a sense of inferiority because my needs were supplanted by

The theory of moral development, advanced by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg is one of the most well-known persuasive theories in the field of cognitive science and stems from the work of Jean Piaget, which hypothesizes on the direct correlation that exists between moral and cognitive development. Kohlberg speaks of the appearance and understanding of what is right and wrong from childhood to adulthood and explains by this transition through the identification of various levels of morality known as pre-conventional, conventional and post conventional. People will make decisions based on the understanding of the possible outcome and through reasoning of morals. (Target Concept)