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PSYCHOLOGY 206 WINTER 2005 OPTION A: CHILD-STUDY TERM PROJECT DUE: THURSDAY, MARCH 10. 1. When you have chosen a child for your study and you are securing the parents' consent, explain that you are doing this research for a course in life-span development, that the child's name will not be used in the report, and that the main purpose of the report is to help you see the relationship between textbook knowledge of child development and real children. Also explain that you are not making a psychological evaluation of the child - you are not qualified to do so. (Indicate that you would be happy to talk with the parents informally about their child.) 2. Before you begin the study, read the trio of text chapters that apply to the age group to which your subject belongs. 3. Collect the information for your paper by using these research methods: (a) Naturalistic observation. Ask the parents when the child is likely to be awake and active, and observe the child for an hour during this time. You should try to be as unobtrusive as possible: you are not there to play with, or care for, the child. If the child wants to play, explain that you must sit and write for now, and that you will play later. Write down, minute by minute, everything the child does and that others do with the child. Try to be objective, focusing on behavior rather than interpretation. Thus, instead of writing "Jennifer was delighted when her father came home, and he dotes on her," you should write " 5:33 : Her father opened the door, Jennifer looked up, smiled, said 'dada,' and ran to him. He bent down, stretched out his arms, picked her up, and said 'How's my little angel?' 5:34 : He put her on his shoulders, and she said 'Getty up horsey.'" After your observation, summarize the data in two ways: (1) Note the percentage of time spent in various activities. For instance, “Playing alone, 15 percent; playing with brother, 20 percent; crying, 3 percent.” (2) Note the frequency of various behaviors: “Asked adult for something five times; adult granted request four times. Aggressive acts (punch, kick, etc.) directed at brother, 2; aggressive acts initiated by brother, 6." Making notations like these will help you evaluate and quantify your observations. Also, note any circumstances that might have made your observation atypical (e.g., "Jenny's mother said she hasn't been herself since she had the flu a week ago," or "Jenny kept trying to take my pen, so it was hard to write"). Note: Remember that a percentage can be found by dividing the total number of minutes spent on a specific activity by the total number of minutes you spent observing. For example, if, during your 45-minute observation, the child played by herself for periods of 2 minutes, 4 minutes, and 5 minutes, "playing alone" would total 11 minutes. Dividing 11 by 45 yields .244; thus the child spent 24 percent of the time playing alone. (If the figure in the third decimal place is 5 or more, round the second decimal place up to the next digit-for example, if your quotient were .246, you would round to .25, which is 25 percent. (b) Informal interaction. Interact with the child for at least half an hour. Your goal is to observe the child's personality and abilities in a relaxed setting. The particular activities you engage in will depend on the child's age and character. Most children enjoy playing games, reading books, drawing, and talking. Asking a younger child to show you his or her room and favorite toys is a good way to break the ice; asking an older child to show you the neighborhood can provide insights. (c) Interviewing parents and other adults responsible for the child's care. Keep these interviews loose and open-ended. Your goals are to learn: (1) the child's history, especially any illnesses, stresses, or problems that might affect development; (2) the child's daily routine, including play patterns; (3) current problems that might affect the child; (4) a description of the child's character and personality, including special strengths and weaknesses. You are just as interested in the parents' attitudes as in the facts, so it might make sense to concentrate on conversing during the interview, and then to write down all you have learned as soon as the interview has been completed. Please see the “Suggested Format for Interviews” for general guidelines regarding how to conduct interviews with adults. (d) Testing the child. Assess the child's perceptual, motor, language, and intellectual abilities by using specific test items you have planned in advance. The actual items you use will depend on the age of the child. For instance, you would test object permanence in an infant between 6 and 24 months old (see text pages 150-151); you would test conservation in a child between 3 and 9 years old (see text pages 219-220); and logical thinking in an adolescent (see text pages 366-371s). Likewise, testing language abilities might involve babbling with an infant, counting words per sentence with a preschooler, and asking a school-age child to tell a story. 4. When writing the report, do not simply transcribe your findings from the various techniques you used (although you can attach your raw data to your paper, if you want to).
The final paper should be between 10 and 12 pages, keyboarded and double-spaced with one inch margins. Please use font size of 12. Feel free to include photographs, raw data, or any other material that you would like as long as you have the required 10-12 pages of substantive written material.
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