Lab Observation Report It was very interesting to sit in the observation window during last Thursdays lab.

Seeing what happens during the lab was very eye-opening. I liked being able to see everything that happened from an unbiased area. Watching the conservation and gender experiments, free play, and lesson provided me with a lot of insight into child development. Piagets conservational theories were made very apparent during the experiments performed with the preschoolers in lab last Thursday. Piaget suggests that understanding conservation is a major gap in the preoperational stage. When the experiments were performed with Elissa in lab, she responded exactly as Piaget would have expected. Both short glasses were full of the same amount of water, and Elissa said that the glasses were the same. When the water was transferred from a shorter glass to a taller glass, Elissa said that there was more water in the taller, skinnier glass. When the balls of Play-Doh were compared, Elissa also said that the balls were the same size. Once one ball was flattened, she said that the flatter one was bigger. When the rows of coins were compared, Elissa said that they were same size. Once one row of coins was spread out, even though there were still five in each row, Elissa said that the longer row was bigger. The textbook suggests that appearance trumps logic when it comes to conservation in preoperational children. This was evident in the way Elissa approached these tasks. This probably occurred because younger children in the preoperational stage become more hung up on the appearance of items, and do not realize that actions are reversible. An older child, who is out of the preoperational stage, would be able to understand the concept of conservation. This is because a child of seven or eight has reached a level of cognitive development that allows them to think more logically and realize that the actions can be reversed.

It was also enlightening to see how Elissa responded to the bag of toys. For almost every toy I pulled out, Elissa categorized it as a boy or girl toy based on the color of the item. It was almost startling how easily she categorized the toys. This shows that toys are extremely gender based for children starting at a very young age, most likely due to the influence of parents and the way these items are marketed. The gender pattern was also noticeable during free play. During free play, the boys migrated toward to blocks and trucks, but the girls preferred the kitchen area and playing with dolls. There are some exceptions to this, however. For instance, Gabe prefers to sit quietly on the couch and read, and an equal amount of both genders enjoy playing with puzzles. Another difference between the genders is that boys seem to take part in more exploratory play, while girls take part in more symbolic play. The boys manipulate objects like blocks and push trucks, while the girls play pretend house in the kitchen area. A common trait of childhood development that was observed in both genders was animism. For instance, during the lesson, when the Cat in the Hat was passed around, almost every child hugged the cat, as if it had feelings. This is also observable when the children play with baby dolls and puppets. They like to have these objects kiss others and say things like the baby is sleepy. This is a habit that is very common of children at this age, and it was neat to be able to see it occur from behind the observation window. As a whole, it seemed as if the children got along well with each other. There did not seem to be any major issues or hurdles during Thursdays lab. The only child that I saw exhibit aggressive behavior was Phillip, but this was usually when he was pushing trucks, and it was not directed at other children. Overall, the children seemed to be very in tune to the teacher and aides. The children were all very eager for adult approval. They were constantly seeking out

adult interaction. From the observation window, it seemed as if every child felt comfortable with their surroundings, which means that the child development lab has provided the children with a safe and nurturing environment. Spending an entire lab in the observation window helped me apply many important course concepts to the children I interact with every Thursday morning. It was beneficial to be able to put these concepts and ideas to actions. I think that the experience in the observation window will help me be more aware of the course ideas that are happening in lab for the rest of the semester.