Development psychology

Profile #1

Neighborhood grass field in Westborough, at 2:10, Sunday, 7/23.

Around 30 children, 10 teenagers, 10 adults present.

Boy, about two years old, plays toys with the mom who seems about 28, both in shirts and pants.

The child plays shape sorter and tries to put in the block. He struggles to find the right shape; the mom says, “try again.” The child then finds the right shape, and then mom responds with “Good job.” Then she hands another block to the child. The child continues with a new block and succeed. Mom celebrates with “Yeah!”, and then say, “What about this one.” She gives another block to the child. Child mumbles and struggles in finding the right shape. The child drops the block and looked away for a second. Mom soon gives another block. The child takes the block and tries to put it in. He struggles to find it for about 10 seconds. Mom starts to talk to the child and uses her finger to hint the right shape. The child continues to struggles for about 10 seconds while mom is saying something to the kid. The child finds the right shape. Mom celebrates right away and says, “Yea! You did it”, Child says “I did it.” He then picks up another and tries. He drops the block in a few seconds then say, “You try it.” Mom says, “my turn?” The child says, “Yea your turn.” Mom then picks up one block and put it in the right shape in 2 seconds. She says, “Your turn.” The child picks one and tries. After about 3 seconds, mom says, “Keep trying,” Child then stops and stand up. Mom says, “Keep trying,” Child then find s the right shape, and mom says, “Good job, yeh!”. A child celebrates with mom and says, “Yeh.”

According to my observation, the child has a secure attachment with his mother. The child seems comfortable around his mother. He takes things from his mother’s hand with little hesitation. He responds to mother’s encouragement and accepts the challenge. The child also interacts with the mother emotionally by celebrating together. He initiates the verbal exchange with confident. During this play, the child develops his motor skill. The child is also encouraged to explore and try out new options. The mother seems to be an authoritative parenting style. She keeps her attention on the child and maintains frequent verbal and physical interaction. She boosts his confidence through encouragement and offers limited help when needed (She vaguely points to the shape when the child is losing patient).