Synnamin Finley

Professor Westfall
ECE 252
25 March 2020
Cognitive Observation

Video used for observation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSR8PIGLkZY

Part A

1. a.) Using objective observation, state at least 2 examples of behaviors that might help
you to determine the child’s cognitive development.
● The child reaches out for two cars, picks them up, and looks at them.
● The child bangs the two cars together.

b.) Which of Piaget’s sensorimotor substages do you think this child is in?

● I think this child is in the sensorimotor stage ​coordination of secondary circular reactions
stages,​ that ranges from 8-12 months in which they begin to demonstrate intentionality.

2. What toys or materials do you see that would assist the child in moving to the next
sensorimotor substage and why?

● There are some ramps and a track that will fit the cars that the child is playing with, that
he could play with and create a new event by sliding it down the ramps and seeing how it
follows the track. This would help the child to begin understanding the relationship
between cause and effect and how they can initiate these events.

3. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child?

● The teacher helps to foster cognitive growth with this child by speaking clearly to suggest
what the children can do with their toys while gesturing to help make the connections
between their words and the objects.  

Part B

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

you to determine the child’s cognitive development.

● The child takes the lid for the container that held the play-doh and places it on and
removes it again.
● The child sticks the plants into her play-doh.
 b. Which of Piaget’s sensorimotor substages do you think this child is in?

● I think this child is in the sensorimotor substage internalization​ of schemas, ​from ages
18-24 months, in which they Imagine events and solve problems and invent through
mental combination.

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?

● Since this child is nearing the end of the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development, I
think the most important tool that would take the child to the preoperational stage is the
teachers. Asking questions such as, “What do you think will happen when we stick this
plant into the play-doh?” will help the child to begin thinking about how to verbalize
their understanding of cause and effect.

3. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child? (Examples of available
toys/personal interactions, etc.)

● The teacher held up the plants for the child to smell them, and then speaks to the children
as she molds and interacts with her own play-doh.

Part C

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=40&v=o-aFa3_DsxE&feature=emb_log
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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). Begin on the 2nd half of the scale chosen.

This video tests the child’s understanding of object permanence (Scale I) over time.

In the first part of the clip, the child is unable to understand that the ball will be placed in only
the white cup. The child tries to pick up each of the three cups, even after finding the ball in the
white cup. He seems to think that there will be a ball under each cup, even though he sees that
there is only one ball.

The father uses a bag in place of the screen as directed in steps 8-19 ​of Scale​ I. The child does
not understand that the ball remains behind the screen after his father removes it from the cup,
and instead, continues to check the cup to find the ball.

2. What toys might you offer to the child to facilitate her/him to the next level and why? There
is a Montessori tool used to help children develop their object permanence ​understanding​. It is
a box in which children drop a ball into a hole on the top, and it rolls out of another hole on the
side, helping them to understand that the ball does not ​disappear​ once it goes into the box.