Infant Observation

Introduction

The infant under observation is 2 years and 2 months old, an African American boy whose birthday is August 11, 2007. He weighed 7lb 1oz at birth was 19” in height but is currently weighing 32 lb. He lives with both his parents and sister Cherrelle who is 3 ½ years old. For purposes of confidentiality and privacy for both the child and family, the name of the child has been changed to Eric Simon.

1. Reaction to People:

            Eric is very a very friendly boy. He seems comfortable around the company of adults and curios about them in a way that it seems funny and goes on his business without worry in their midst. He also likes to play with them especially ball games. He usually picks a ball and throws it towards the adults whom he expects to do the same. He however likes to play alone without the company of other children especially as he plays with his favorite toy, a rolling car. He is always on the move exploring different things here and there in the classroom. He seems to love being chased around by his mother or any other person or playing hide and seek. He is also very comfortable with the caregiver to an extent that he plays more with the caregiver than with other children. He is very respectful of the caregiver and listens cautiously to whatever instructions he is given.

2. Exploration: Describe how the infant explored the environment.

            He is very curious about the environment around him. He therefore likes to explore and walking around the classroom. He does not stay still in one position but is always one the move and this is seen as he climbs up things in his surrounding and jumps of from them. He is also interested with people in his environment especially the adults whom he is very curious about. Due to his undying curiosity with the environment, he does not stay close to his caregiver since as mentioned above the environment seems more captivating to him. This is also seen when he picks up toys, presses buttons or shaking toys that he finds around him. He also likes to open cabinets in the classroom and playing in trash therefore we can see that he is very aware of the environment than he is with his caregiver.

3. Affordances:

            He has a very healthy relationship with the environment that he is in. He is curious of everything and is very noticeable by others in his immediate environment. He is however, a selfish boy, as he likes to play alone with his toys and thinks everything as his. He however gets into a fight with another boy, Christian over a little disagreement.

4. Body Movement:

            He is also very mobile and very hard to settle him down. He is always a running in the room and likes been chased around.            If he is not running, he is climbing up things and jumping from them. He is a busy body, and has the ability to play himself out until he is burnt out. However once he sleeps, he wakes up with the same energy and goes back to his games as his mother points out.

5. Habituation:

            Although he is very interested with the environment around him, he does not stay focused on one thing long enough. He is easily distracted and seems to gain focus on other things in the environment immediately. This behavior has become a habit of getting used to certain things but quickly loosing interest in them. He is easily distracted by other things, for example if he is playing and sees another child playing with a different toy he quickly abandons his toy to pick the other Childs toy. At times, he leaves his toys for other objects or activities like jumping of objects

6. Hidden Objects:

            Whenever objects are hidden from him, he cries and starts to search for them. He opens cabinets in search of them in classroom and sees everything as his.

7. Temperament:

            He is a very happy boy and cheerful but seems to loose his tempers quickly whenever he is wronged in anyway. This is seen when wants to play ball with adults or being chased around where he picks up the ball and throws it to get adults to play with him. However when he is wronged he quickly looses temper and gets into fight with them. His temperament is therefore easy.

8. Language:

            His communication is not well developed. However, there some words which he can be able to say like, no and I do not want, but has difficulty in pronouncing other words. He however seems to understand adult communication, this can be seen when the caregiver cautions him to stop certain actions he quickly does so. Whenever he wants to communicate he, screams and yells long enough for others to understand him.

In general, the boy is very energetic and happy. He appreciates people around him especially adults whom he finds interesting. He also likes to explore his environment without caution. His mobility is well developed and he can do his tasks without assistance of adults. He has a low concentration and is very distracted by other things happening around him. Though he is cheerful, he has a low temper and constantly gets into fights with others. His language is not fully developed but he can communicate by screams and yells which adults can understand his needs. The infant development has progressed well according to the stage that he has so far reached, also a child’s development takes place stage at a time and at this stages different characters and abilities are developed by them.

Works Cited

Berk, Laura E. Development Through the Lifespan. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, 2004

Berk, Laura E. Exploring lifespan development. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2007