Psychological Development
CEP 801
Michael Clinton
Upon returning
home from a long stint away, I was showered with one the most joyous words the
English language has to offer. Just under two years old, my nephew had learned
to say ‘Mike.’ Having the chance to sit down with my nephew and observe his
actions over the course of a few hours, it was apparent in the way my sister
would occasionally spell out words (N-A-P), that young Charlie had developed
some more vocabulary. The words he knew were all either highly relevant to his
needs or wants (cookie/mom) or words that were commonly used on a daily basis
(ball/dog). In addition to his impressive language skills, Charlie was also
able to move around quite a bit. Since he first discovery of moving his two
feet to walk, he has not stopped. With an occasional stumble, Charlie moves
about the house with little worry. And whether innate or not, Charlie fits the
stereotype of a typical boy as he can often be seen either crashing trucks
together or punching the dog. Having the chance the observe my young nephew
upon the near completion of this course, has allowed me to grasp a better
insight on what exactly might be going on in that young boy’s head.
As happy as I was to hear Charlie say my name for the first time, I was equally entertained knowing that he was able to say my name before my other my sister’s name. Instead of the full pronunciation of Kelly, he is just able to say ‘Ka.’ Fortunately, he is on his way. Through one of the videos we watched this semester, as well as watching my sister and her husband work with Charlie, young children learn language through imitation. Young Steven in the video eventually was able to spit out the word ‘bigger’ after much prodding from his mother. I wish able to get Charlie to say the word ‘fish’ after holding up a plastic toy and saying the word over and over again.
Still relating to language, I was able to witness Charlie exhibit what Siegler referred to as the mutual-exclusivity constraint. (Siegler, 1998) With hors d'oeuvres on the table (only chips and celery sticks) I pointed over to them, knowing that he knew what chips were but not celery, and asked him to bring me a celery stick. Watching him go to over to the table and pause with some confusing he was eventually able to make sense of what I was asking him. Charlie had two options to choose from. Once I pointed to the table and asked him for the unfamiliar option, he must have calculated that the unfamiliar word match the unfamiliar hors d’oeuvres option. Charlie had delivered his first celery stick.
Seeing a child take his or her first steps must be one of the most excited times for a parent but I would guess it is short lived. I say that because much more attention must be paid to the child as he or she can get into considerably more trouble or danger. Such is the case with Charlie. Apart from the close calls my sister had mentioned, I was able to see him in action on a new thrill that he had learn. Charlie would spin around and around before he would get dizzy and then fall down only to do it all over again. During these cycles, Charlie would be constantly laughing in joy as would those watching this bizarre practice. Charlie had an audience and was not going to stop entertaining. That is until his mother walked in the room and directed everyone to pay no attention to the spinning, laughing boy. Once Charlie realized he did not have an audience any more he stopped and avoided the chance of cutting his head on one of the nearby corners. Here we can say Vygotsky’s child-in-activity-in-context comes into play. When we were laughing along with Charlie he would continue spinning yet, when the laughing (and attention) stopped so too did Charlie’s spinning. He learned that his actions no longer gained the attention he was seeking so he stopped.
The third observation I made of Charlie was gathered from how he would play with his toys. It was not difficult to see him acting out some aggressive towards the trucks and tools and boxes Charlie had in his possession. Although having no immediate sister or girlfriend of the same age there to compare to, he demonstrated with no provocation the desire to crash trucks together and pound toy tools on household objects—acts of aggression more likely to be seen among boys than it is among girls.
Just reaching the age of two, it is fascinating to watch this young child develop. Though my sister says he is getting bigger and bigger everyday, I am most excited to listen to the progression of his speech and cognition. It is through his speech that one will be able to get a better understanding as to what young Charlie is thinking.
As happy as I was to hear Charlie say my name for the first time, I was equally entertained knowing that he was able to say my name before my other my sister’s name. Instead of the full pronunciation of Kelly, he is just able to say ‘Ka.’ Fortunately, he is on his way. Through one of the videos we watched this semester, as well as watching my sister and her husband work with Charlie, young children learn language through imitation. Young Steven in the video eventually was able to spit out the word ‘bigger’ after much prodding from his mother. I wish able to get Charlie to say the word ‘fish’ after holding up a plastic toy and saying the word over and over again.
Still relating to language, I was able to witness Charlie exhibit what Siegler referred to as the mutual-exclusivity constraint. (Siegler, 1998) With hors d'oeuvres on the table (only chips and celery sticks) I pointed over to them, knowing that he knew what chips were but not celery, and asked him to bring me a celery stick. Watching him go to over to the table and pause with some confusing he was eventually able to make sense of what I was asking him. Charlie had two options to choose from. Once I pointed to the table and asked him for the unfamiliar option, he must have calculated that the unfamiliar word match the unfamiliar hors d’oeuvres option. Charlie had delivered his first celery stick.
Seeing a child take his or her first steps must be one of the most excited times for a parent but I would guess it is short lived. I say that because much more attention must be paid to the child as he or she can get into considerably more trouble or danger. Such is the case with Charlie. Apart from the close calls my sister had mentioned, I was able to see him in action on a new thrill that he had learn. Charlie would spin around and around before he would get dizzy and then fall down only to do it all over again. During these cycles, Charlie would be constantly laughing in joy as would those watching this bizarre practice. Charlie had an audience and was not going to stop entertaining. That is until his mother walked in the room and directed everyone to pay no attention to the spinning, laughing boy. Once Charlie realized he did not have an audience any more he stopped and avoided the chance of cutting his head on one of the nearby corners. Here we can say Vygotsky’s child-in-activity-in-context comes into play. When we were laughing along with Charlie he would continue spinning yet, when the laughing (and attention) stopped so too did Charlie’s spinning. He learned that his actions no longer gained the attention he was seeking so he stopped.
The third observation I made of Charlie was gathered from how he would play with his toys. It was not difficult to see him acting out some aggressive towards the trucks and tools and boxes Charlie had in his possession. Although having no immediate sister or girlfriend of the same age there to compare to, he demonstrated with no provocation the desire to crash trucks together and pound toy tools on household objects—acts of aggression more likely to be seen among boys than it is among girls.
Just reaching the age of two, it is fascinating to watch this young child develop. Though my sister says he is getting bigger and bigger everyday, I am most excited to listen to the progression of his speech and cognition. It is through his speech that one will be able to get a better understanding as to what young Charlie is thinking.
