Jaime Hoonsan

ECE 252
Cognitive Observation

COGNITIVE OBSERVATION
Part A
On the afternoon of Friday, October 10th 2014 I observed Easton, age 5 months in the Starfish
room at Lighthouse Academy. Easton was on the floor rolling around, exploring a group of toy
rattles. Easton made a few vocalizations as he made the choices of which rattle to mouth next.
His teacher, Ms. Mariah, sat down in the rocking chair near where Easton was exploring. Easton
began to make movements with his arms and legs that caused him to move his body forward
toward where Ms. Mariah was sitting. When he made it to her, his eyes were very engaged in
Ms. Mariahs fuzzy purple socks. Using both hands, Easton began to grab at Ms. Mariahs socks,
just as she bent over to pick him up. Easton let out a squeal and started to fuss. Ms. Mariah said
Oh, do you want to look at my socks, Easton? and put Easton who was leaning forward
peering down at the floor, back down on the floor. Easton, grabbed one sock with both hands and
pulled his face very close to Ms. Mariahs sock. He held her sock this way for a few seconds,
then began to try to put it in his mouth. Ms. Mariah giggled, then she picked Easton up and said
Easton, lets find you another soft fuzzy to look at. She then gave Easton another textured toy
to look at and said Lets try this one, buddy. Easton took the textured dog toy and began to
explore this toy with his mouth.
1.
a. Examples of Behaviors That Help Determine Cognitive Development

Easton, attempted to go to Ms. Mariah when he noticed that she sat down near where he
was. Easton was actively seeking out human contact.

Easton sought out an object (Ms. Mariahs sock) which was partially obstructed from his
view due to body positioning as he was being picked up.

b. Which of Piagets sensorimotor sub stages do you think this child is in?
Based on Eastons actions, I believe that he is at stage IV or intentionality. Easton planned his
movements to move closer to his teacher, then planned his movements in order to explore her
sock.
2.
What toys or materials do you see that would assist the child in moving to the next
sensorimotor sub stage and why?

I think for Easton, in order to get to the next stage, a pot and wooden or plastic spoons would
help him start to experiment with cause and effect.
3. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child?
Ms. Mariah helped to foster Eastons cognitive development by placing herself in a position near
Easton, allowing him to make the choice of visiting her or continuing in his current activity. Ms.
Mariah then, thinking that Easton had come to see her, began to pick him up, but as she was
picking him up, he was curious about her fuzzy purple socks. His body language and
vocalization allowed Ms. Mariah to understand what Easton was trying to communicate. Ms.
Mariah then made her textured socks a learning tool, until the moment when it became a health
hazard when Easton began to try to put her foot in his mouth. Ms. Mariah then appropriately
redirected Easton to another object which would hopefully fulfill his current need of sensory
exploration of textures.
Part B
On the afternoon of October 13th, as I was observing in the Seahorse room at Lighthouse
Academy, I watched Ms. Stephanie interacting with a group of children in her care. 15 month old
Noah was sitting at the table practicing baby sign as he was eating his afternoon snack. Noah had
his spoon and some yogurt and was attempting to feed himself. Ms. Stephanie, said Noah,
where is Ms. Jenny? Noah turned his head to look at Ms. Jenny and pointed at her. Ms. Jenny
and Ms. Stephanie both smiled. Then Ms. Stephanie asked Noah Where is Ms. Stephanie?
Noah didnt respond. Ms. Stephanie turned to me and said He ignores me! He prefers Jenny!
and laughed. She asked Noah Noah, where is Ms. Jaime? Noah turned and looked at me and
pointed. We all began to giggle. At that point, I said Noah, where is Ms. Stephanie? Noah
turned to look at Ms. Stephanie and pointed at her. We all cheered, and Noah clapped his hands.
After we clapped, Noah looked at his spoon and then at his hand. He sat the spoon down, then he
took his hand and stuck it inside his yogurt and began to lick his fingers.
1. a. Examples of Behaviors That Help Determine Cognitive Development

Based on Noahs behaviors and reactions, Noah is very aware of the people around
him, who they are, and how to interact with them.

Based on Noahs reactions to Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Jenny, he is letting us know that
he has a preferred caregiver (Ms. Jenny)

b. Which of Piagets sensorimotor sub stages do you think this child is in?
Based on what I observed, I believe that Noah is at the Experimentation Phase of the
Sensorimotor Stage. Noah is able to feed himself. He knew how to use a spoon and knew how to
use his fingers to self-feed prior to that. Noah was showing us that his preferred method for selffeeding was still his hands.
2. What toys or materials do you see that would assist the child in moving to the next
sensorimotor sub stage and how would they help?

I feel that for Noah, real life bowls and different sized spoons would be of great use for
him and would give him the extra assistance he needs to help him gain more control of
feeding himself and hopefully promote his ability and success at it.
3. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child? (Examples of available
toys/personal interactions, etc.)
Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Jenny were promoting Noahs cognitive growth by giving him his
spoon and yogurt and allowing him to feed himself in whatever manner he chose. They also
were promoting his cognitive growth by asking Noah questions about different people he
sees on a daily basis and their identities. Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Jenny also gave Noah praise
when he successfully identified who each of his teachers were. Ms. Stephanie, knowing that
Noah has a preferred caregiver, did not take it personally and still cares for Noah in the same
loving way that she cares for all of the other children.
Part C
On the morning of Friday, October 24th, 2014 I Observed Brayden in the Otter room at
Lighthouse Academy. Brayden is 24 months old. I decided to complete Piagetian Scale 3
Development of Schemas in Relation to Objects on Brayden. I used the following 12 items
respectively while doing this observation on Brayden: A rattle, a musical toy, a toy car, a doll,
a cotton ball, Aluminum foil, a drinking cup, 6 blocks, a plastic animal, Stuffed animal, a doll
shoe, necklace. The items that I offered as choices for Brayden that I interspersed were a ball,
a tissue, a piece of string and a character from a Little People set.
Based on Braydens reactions to several objects, it is obvious that Brayden is in stage VI New
Means Through Active Experimentation on Piagets sensorimotor scale.
1. Holds the object for more than 30 seconds
Brayden held and examined the following objects for more than 30 seconds: the cotton
ball, the toy car, the aluminum foil, the drinking cup, the necklace, the toy blocks, the
doll and the string.
2. Brings the object to the mouth
Brayden brought only one object to his mouth: the drinking cup.
3. Brings the object before the eyes or holds and looks at it
Brayden brought the following objects to his eye level to look at: The necklace and the
aluminum foil.
4. Hits the object with his hand
Brayden hit the truck with his hand. It was more of a pushing movement than a hitting
movement.
5. Hits the object on a surface
Brayden banged the toy truck on the surface of the table and Brayden banged the musical
on the table.
6. Shakes or waves the object

Brayden shook the rattle in the air, which produced sound. Brayden shook the aluminum
foil in the air which also produced a sound.
7. Hits two objects together
Brayden hit the necklace on the table. Brayden also hit the cup onto the aluminum foil.
8. Pats the object
Brayden patted the toy doll. Brayden patted the aluminum foil, Brayden also patted the
blocks.
9. Examines the object (i. e., turns object about or around or otherwise exploits it with
hands while viewing it with eyes)
Brayden examined the following objects with his eyes and hands: The foil, the cotton
ball, the necklace. Brayden also examined the toy truck.
10. Slides the object on some surface
Brayden slid the cotton ball along the surface of the table. Brayden slid the doll on the
surface of the table. Brayden slid the foil and the string on the floor.
11. Crumples the object
Brayden crumpled the aluminum foil, the string and the cotton ball.
12. Stretches the object out
Brayden did not stretch out any of the objects
13. Attempts to tear object
Brayden tore the cotton ball and the aluminum foil
14. Drops the object systematically
Brayden did not drop any of the objects systematically.
15. Throws the object
Brayden threw the ball, the rattle and the cotton ball
16. Puts another object into it
Brayden put the necklace inside the cup.
17. Demonstrates drinking from cup
Brayden brought the cup to his mouth, and the dolls mouth.
18. Wears necklace
Brayden did not try to wear the necklace, but he attempted to put the necklace on me.
19. Builds something with blocks
Brayden stacked 5 blocks
20. Drives car on some surface
Brayden drove the toy truck on top of the table, along the tile floor and the carpet.
21. Makes doll or animal walk
Brayden picked up the stuffed animal and bounced it on the top of the table. It appeared
that he may have been attempting to walk the stuffed animal along the table, but it
appeared to be more of a bouncing or jumping motion than a walking motion.
22. Hugs doll or animal
Brayden hugged the truck, but not the doll or the animal.
23. Listens to sound of musical toy
Brayden turned on the musical toy, then pointed at it and said Whats that? while
dancing.
24. Shows the object to another person
Brayden showed me the necklace and the musical toy.
25. Points to one object in association with another one

Brayden when shown the doll shoe pointed at the doll and attempted to put its shoe back
on. When shown the necklace, Brayden pointed at me then tried to put the necklace on
me.
26. Names or labels the object
Brayden labeled the following objects: Doll, ball, cup, truck, cotton ball (ball), plastic toy
cat, stuffed bear, and blocks.
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)
For Brayden, I think continued use of balls with different sizes and textures would help further
his curiosity with round objects. I also would offer Brayden some toy baby bottles and a blanket
which would help further his interest in caring for the doll (he tried to put its shoes on).
Normally, Brayden is very interested in cars or anything with wheels on it, so I also think some
smaller sized cars or car accessories such as a leveled gas station (as long as they are not small
enough to be a choking hazard) would further his interest in objects that move and help to begin
an early building up of Braydens fine motor skills. I would also offer