Stefanie Gonzales

ECE 252

Spring 2017

Cognitive Observation

Part A-

4 12 months.

1. a. Using objective observation, state at least 2 examples of behaviors that might help

you to determine the childs cognitive development.

I observed a child that was 11 months old (turns 1 year in May). One example to

determine the childs cognitive development was the stacking of blocks. The child was

sitting on the floor with his toys and chose a few blocks. His mother stacked 2 then gave

him one to stack. He did and then they fell. He had the awareness that the blocks can be

stacked. The child then stacked them without his mother helping. After they fell he

continued to stack again. The second example is when the child seen some figurines and

then went over to them and attempted to stack those as well. To no avail the figurines

did not stack up and therefore showing limited awareness and the child stopped stacking

things and played with other toys.

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

 I feel this child is in the sensorimotor substages of 4-8, 8-12, & 12-18. My reasoning for this is

that he repeatedly stacks the blocks after they fall. He has intentions to build them up again and

again. He also experiments with the figurines to see if they stack like his blocks.

2. What toys or materials do you see that would assist the child in moving to the next

sensorimotor substage and why?

I didnt see any other toys or materials that could help him move to the 18-24 month

stage. Maybe if there was something that he could stack his figurines in that would hold

them in place this would help him problem solve it??

3. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child? (Give examples of available

toys/personal interactions, etc.)

The mother was continuing to stack the blocks even though the child was trying to stack the

figurines. By her showing this example repeatedly he would come to realize that objects the

shape of blocks will be stackable and not oddly figured items.

Part B (15 points)

13 19 months.

1. a. Using objective observation, state at least 2 examples of behaviors that might help

you to determine the childs cognitive development.

 The child I observed was 18 months. One example of the childs cognitive development is

this child was cooking. She knew that you had to put food in the bowls to mix

together. She was actually putting flowers and grass in the bowls. Another example was

the knowledge of her saying owie when she touched another bowl I believe she thought

was a pot on the stove.

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

I feel this child is in the 18-24 month sensorimotor stage due to the fact she is imagining cooking.

She also used the word owie to indicate potentially getting hurt.

2. What toys or materials do you see that would assist the child in moving to the next

sensorimotor substage and how would they help?

There were wooden utensils for her to play with. She preferred to stir the food with

sticks but perhaps if she used the wooden utensils she would have more of a working

knowledge of how things work in the kitchen.

3. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child? (Examples of available

toys/personal interactions, etc.)

By having real kitchen utensils this fosters cognitive growth with the knowledge of how

you are actually supposed to mix food. Also the caregiver was sitting alongside the child
mixing food with the utensils. After a while I feel the child may come to imitate what

her caregiver is doing. (The caregiver did not tell the child to do what she was doing, the

caregiver let the child do it her way).

Part C (35 points)

20 27 months

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.

I observed a child the age of 2 years old. I had to watch a video on youtube for this as

I had no 2 year old to observe.

https://youtu.be/0P4w9zwcmgw

I believe the child is in stage V. Developmental achievement of the construction of the

object in space. The child in the video is playing with knob cylinders. The cylinders are

different sizes and need to be put back into the whole with the appropriate size. The

child is understanding object in space by trial and error. When one knob cylinder

doesnt fit then she tries to place it in another until its correct.

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)

I think by repetition and also giving the child similar toys that do the same thing will

strengthen her understanding between object and space.