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Introduction
Taking into account Piaget’s theory about the cognitive development of children, from four stages, the preoperational phase is chosen (Babakr et al., 2019). At this stage, the most obvious manifestations of intelligence are revealed. Children acquire new skills and ways of knowing the world, for example, through digital games, which Blumberg et al. (2019) mention. However, at an early stage, more traditional developmental mechanisms are involved.
Discussion
As an example, I consider a video of my five-year-old nephew at a psychologist’s appointment. This video was received personally from my sister, and during the interaction with the psychologist, my nephew took a test designed to assess the level of cognitive development in the context of preparation for school.
Qualitative data, such as the child’s responses to questions and level of communication, are better suited to this observation than quantitative data, such as specific test scores and statistics of correct answers. Qualitative data help assess the overall level of cognitive skills, although this format does not provide accurate results. Quantitative data provide a clear summary of the assessment, but this evaluation format is inflexible. Anecdotal records associated with qualitative data should be used to show the observation plan (Bates et al., 2019).
The following data should be recorded in the context of the observation:
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The child sometimes looks to his mother for support.
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He sits upright, undistracted.
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The boy hardly thinks about the answers.
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The child is aware of basic health and behavior patterns, which indicates successful adaptation (Dalton et al., 2020).
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He holds a toy car in his hands, which indicates his attachment to individual objects (Healey et al., 2019).
Based on the observation, the boy has a normally developed psycho-emotional background and sufficient cognitive skills for his age. The evaluation of his visit to the psychologist allows for assessing the level of the child’s readiness to communicate with the adult and shows his ability to analyze and interpret questions and existing knowledge. At the same time, this format does not allow for evaluating cognitive skills comprehensively but only through psychologist’s questions.
Conclusion
The observation has made it possible to learn more about the specifics of assessing children’s cognitive development. I have identified the age-appropriate features of the boy and utilized the qualitative data as a convenient form of analysis. Third-party observation has helped me notice how the child constructs sentences and interprets the knowledge he has, which, in turn, allows for talking about his cognitive skills.
References
Babakr, Z., Mohamedamin, P., & Kakamad, K. (2019). Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory: Critical review. Education Quarterly Reviews, 2(3), 517-524. Web.
Bates, C. C., Schenck, S. M., & Hoover, H. J. (2019). Anecdotal records. YC Young Children, 74(3), 14-19.
Blumberg, F. C., Deater‐Deckard, K., Calvert, S. L., Flynn, R. M., Green, C. S., Arnold, D., & Brooks, P. J. (2019). Digital games as a context for children’s cognitive development: Research recommendations and policy considerations. Social Policy Report, 32(1), 1-33. Web.
Dalton, L., Rapa, E., & Stein, A. (2020). Protecting the psychological health of children through effective communication about COVID-19. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 4(5), 346-347. Web.
Healey, A., Mendelsohn, A., Childhood, C. O. E., Sells, J. M., Donoghue, E., Earls, M., Hashikawa, A., McFadden, T., Peacock, G., Scholer, S., Takagishi, J., Vanderbilt, D., & Williams, P. G. (2019). Selecting appropriate toys for young children in the digital era. Pediatrics, 143(1), e20183348. Web.
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