CASE STUDY 2 1

Case Study 2: Observing the Behaviors and Motor Skills

of Children in Early and Middle Childhood

Rylea Royer

Life Span Developmental Psychology

Indiana University Kokomo

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Case Study 2: Observing the Behaviors and Motor Skills of Children in Early and Middle

Childhood

Recently, I had the opportunity to take my younger brothers to a local park where I later

observed the behaviors and motor skills demonstrated by other children in early and middle

childhood, the former falling between the ages of 2 and 6, and the later falling between the ages

of 6 and 11. Upon arriving at the park, I observed numerous children interacting together;

running around, playing catch, swinging, going down slides, and playing on various playground

equipment. I let my brothers go and play amongst them, sat on a bench close by, and began my

first observation focusing on a small girl who appeared to be in the early childhood stage of

development.

The first girl I observed was about 3 feet in height, and had a thin, lean build. I observed

the little girl run quickly amongst the playground equipment with coordination without

stumbling as a child younger than her might. I then observed the girl waiting in a line to climb a

ladder up the back of a slide, which she did quite quickly and with ease. These demonstrations of

improved gross motor skills, social interaction, and taking turns are evidence of continued

myelination of axons in the brain which enhances the speed of signals. Enhanced gross motor

skills are also evident of further maturation of the prefrontal cortex of the brain. I noticed that the

girl was quite social, energetic, and joyful, and would usually interact with children similar in

age to her that crossed her path in some way or another as she ran around the playground. Based

on my physical and behavioral observations, I estimated the girl’s age to be about 5 years old,

which I later confirmed with her mother who was watching her play close by. Based on the girl’s

age, she falls in Erik Erikson’s third stage of psychosocial development, also known as the

“initiative versus guilt” stage (Berger, 2020). Because the girl shows confidence in exploring her
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environment and interacting and playing with other children, she has successfully mastered the

third stage. Her success is likely from being raised in an encouraging and supportive

environment that allows independent yet social play, exploration, and making the right choices.

The second child I observed was a young boy who appeared to be about the same age as

the young girl I observed first, also belonging in the early childhood stage of development. He

was about 4 feet tall, and had a slightly heavier build than the girl, but still quite lean. The boy

was not near as energetic or social as the girl I observed. He spent much of his time playing with

toy trucks in the rocks and dirt independently in close proximity to his father who sat on a bench

on his phone. The father looked up every now and then to watch the boy play. While solitary

play is expected of young children, as Mildred Parten describes as one of her 5 stages of play, I

found it odd that the boy showed no real interest in the mass amounts of screaming and playing

children around him. I expected such an exciting environment to be irresistible to a young child,

but the boy never got up from his toys to join in and interact with any other children. From my

physical and behavioral observations, I estimated the boy to be about 5 or 6 years old, in the

same psychosocial stage as the first young girl. However, while the girl has shown that she has

thrived in Erikson’s third stage of “initiative versus guilt”, I feel that the boy has not made as

much progress in this stage, and may be experiencing “guilt” rather than “initiative”. Because of

this, the boy stays in close proximity to his father because he is mistrustful of the world around

him and has not developed any ambition or initiative to experiment and explore with his play

(Cherry, 2019). His distant social behaviors and reluctance to join in on play with his peers as

well as the dismissiveness of his parent indicate that the boy has been raised in an environment

that does not put an emphasis on exploration.

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The third and final child I observed was a boy who was roughly 5 feet tall with a lean

build and long limbs, falling into the middle childhood stage of development. I observed him

playing amongst children his own age as they engaged in various activities such as freeze tag and

pushing each other on the swings. The boy was nearly inseparable from his group, hardly leaving

their side except to get a drink from their parents who sat together on nearby benches. The boy,

along with all his friends, would ask one another what they wanted to do next when they became

bored of an activity, and would all take each other’s ideas into consideration. Based on my

physical and behavioral observations, I estimated this boy to be about 10 years old. The boy I

observed demonstrated Jean Piaget’s theory of concrete operational thought by showing an

increased interest in the social aspects of peer groups as well as in the ideas and thoughts of

others (McLeod). The boy’s demonstration of Piaget’s concrete operational stage was indicative

of a home environment that encourages social interaction and play.

After my observations at the park, I felt that my understanding of the psychosocial,

biosocial, and cognitive development of children throughout the lifespan was significantly

improved. Watching children in a natural social setting where they were free to interact with one

another authentically was surprisingly informative and is a method of observation I would

suggest to any researcher, student, or parent to partake in to better understand the minds of

children.
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References

Berger, K. S. (2020). The developing person through the lifespan (11th ed.). New York: Worth

Cherry, Kendra. (2019). Understanding initiative vs. guilt: stage 3 of psychosocial development.

Verywell mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/initiative-versus-guilt-

2795737

McLeod, Saul. (2018). Jean Piaget's theory and stages of cognitive development. Simply

Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

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