Child Observation Of Lucy's Cognitive Development

1. Analysis

Lucy is 9 months old. Through observing Lucy I was able observe her cognitive development and notice that she is on track for her age. I first noticed how she used her infant language. She communicated by crying and cooing which most children that age do at this age. Crying at first is reflexive but then becomes intentional. “The process of communication begins when babies begin to learn that crying can act as a signal that brings relief from whatever is bothering them because it motivates adults to do what it takes to make it stop” (Levine and Munsch, 2016, p. 200). Lucy cried a lot over the time I was there observing. The teacher would respond to Lucy by picking her up, talking to her, and seeing if she was hungry. Lucy would often calm down only for a little bit but then begin crying again. Lucy would have a burst of crying but would occasionally stop and look around the classroom and at other children. While the teacher did try to soothe her she eventually put Lucy in her crib for nap time. When Lucy was falling asleep in her crib I noticed she put her thumb in her mouth. Piaget called this circular reaction. “The action produces
Lucy watched the teacher prepare her food closely watching the teacher's every move. Lucy watched the food move from the teacher's hand to the table and the her eyes watched the teacher drop the food on the table. Once the teacher started to feed her she would watch the teacher feed her but would often stop and look at another child ignoring the teacher. This could be described as selective attention. “Selective attention is the process of tuning in to certain things while tuning out others” (Levine and Munsch, 2016, p. 189). She would get distracted and only focus on one thing until the teacher would have the spoon of food touch her lips or if the teacher talked to her. Overall Lucy is right on track with her cognitive