Custom «Cognitive assessment development» Essay Paper

Age of Assessed Child: 4 Years

Brian is a four year old boy; he is the only child to parents of middle income. He lives with his parents in a gated community, and goes to kindergarten school in a high cost boy school run by missionaries. His friends are mainly from school and the neighborhood. At this developmental stage, children are still egocentric; they want people to see the world in their own perspective.

Assessment

Results of Number Task:

When the two sets of dices are under each other, the boy responds to the affirmative. He is very sure that the dices in the bottom row are the same number as those in the upper row and as such, a dice is ‘’carrying another’’. In the second instance, the child says that the bottom row dices are more than the upper row ones.

Results of Liquid Task:

When the liquids are put in glasses of the same size, Brian agrees that they are of the same volume. When one glass of water is transferred to a taller glass, he says that the water in the taller glass is more than the one in the first glass.

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Results of Matter Task:

The play dough balls appear the same and Brian affirms this. However when one ball is rolled into a snake, Brian says that the ball that is not rolled into a snake is smaller in size than the first one.

Results of Area Task:

Brian finds it challenging to determine which farmer has more grass .after observing the cards for a while .He says that the farmer with blocks scattered on the barn has less grass in the barn because the blocks have ‘’eaten the grass’’.

Results of Seriation Task:

From the jargon of straws, Brian could pick them out but would not arrange them in accordance to length.

Results of Classification Task:

Brian could not classify the objects according to similar characteristics that they exhibit.

Summary for Brian:

According to Piaget, four years fall under the pre-operational stage, the child tends to view things according to his own perspective .this is called egocentrism, Brian appears to want the dices to be more, just as he sees them. In his view, the liquid in the taller glass has to be more because the glass appears bigger than the first one due to the length. He also exhibits a developing form of Animism; this is evident when he alleges that,’ the coins are carrying each other and ‘’the blocks have eaten the grass in the barn’’.

Given his family and economic background, Brian should exhibit an advanced cognitive developmental level. His playgroup should be more diverse to include children from large families; who interact with their older siblings. Such an exposure will enable Brian to hasten his cognitive development.

According to Sternberg (1984) children are able to mentally represent objects and events and take part in symbolic play. Brian gives life to non human objects, this is Piagetan stage of Animism, he attaches importance to things and believes the dices can carry each other.

Age of Assessed Child: 6 Years                                                                                         

Nick is a last born child in a family of eight children. His elder siblings are away from home and he spends most of the time at home with his two sisters and his mother. He is in first grade and goes to a local public school. His family is not financially stable. His father died while he was young. They do not own a television hence, most of his information is from people around or real life experience.

Assessment:

Result s of Number Task:

Nick agrees that the dices are the same in number during the first test. Questions that would otherwise   tend to alter this belief are met with adamancy, the belief stands. When the bottom dices are spread, H e quickly claims that the bottom dices may have magically increased, he then insists on physical confirmation to which he notices that the numeracy of the bottom dices arise out of physical distortion.

Result of Liquid Task:

Nick shows keenness when the liquid is being put into the two identical glasses, when I ask him about the similarity of the levels, he moves closer, observes and agrees. When the content of one glass is transferred to a taller glass, he quickly says that the transferred liquid has magically increased.

Result of Matter Task:

Dough balls seems interesting to Nick, this is because he moulds objects with his playmates from the riverbed clay. When the balls are molded into the same object, he affirms that the mass of the clay is the same. Rolling one mass of clay into a snake appears to confuse Nick, he has a difficulty to discern if the two masses are still the same or have changed. He tends to answer the questions on the resulting mass of clay according to my questions, an indicator that he thinks I repeat the question in order to get an expected answer.

Results of Area Task:

In the test of blocks and grass, Nick says that the scattered barns spoil the grass and as such, the farmer with barns scattered in the barn has less coverage of grass.

Results of Seriation:

Nick can pick out the straws from the mixed jargon and arrange them according to lengths.

Results of Classification:

Nick classifies the objects with ease according to similarity in characters.

Summary for Nick:

Nick exhibits vague preoccupation state although most of his actions seem mature. He disapproves the Pageant theory that asserts that children of his age have not fully developed conservation. His background informs most of his mature tendencies. The fact that he has no other means of entertainment other than the environment leaves him with no option but to master the realities of things in the environment. According to Piaget, culture and experience in a world full of experiences matures a child’s brain to the concrete operational stage. The case of Nick refutes research that claims that conservation is often delayed in children from non western societies (Kiel, 1989).The practical nature of Nick’s lifestyle may be the reason as to why he exhibits a higher cognitive ability.

Age of Assessed Child: 8 Years

Imelda is an eight year old grade three girl; she lives with her mother in a small apartment in a ghetto. She stays by herself most of the day when not at school .She knows how to cook and perform most of the household chores. She appears brilliant and engages in conversations with flair.

Results of Number Task:

There is no confusion in this task, she quickly points out the alteration that leads to the bottom row appearing more. She maintains nothing has changed and the number of dices is still the same.

Results of Liquid Task:

Imelda shows lack of concentration during the pouring of the two fluids. When one is transferred to a taller glass, she seems confused; her answers seem to border on surety and confusion.

Results of Matter Task:

Imelda seems to understand that the mass of the dough balls remains the same despite the fact that one ball is transformed to a seemingly smaller object.

Results of Area Task:

Shockingly, Imelda is sure the scattered barns affect the grass in the farmer’s compound and is of the opinion that the farmer with blocks of barns has more surface area of grass than the farmer with barns scattered on the grass.

Results of Seriation Task:

In arranging the straws, she performs the task meticulously and brings out an artistic finish.

Results of Classification Task:

Imelda rearranges the objects well and puts each into its category

Summary of Imelda

Children of Imelda’s age are past preoccupation age and are able to reason logically. Imelda is able to derive logical decisions on situations. However, her situation may be responsible for this logic, given that she has to cook for herself. Her mother may be has exposed her to an adult way of thinking. Kiel points out that at this stage, egocentrism has fizzled out and a child is able to accommodate other diverse point of view on a matter (Kiel, 1989).Contextual logical thought characterizes this stage.