Samantha Mirabal Observation

Observation of Samantha Mirabal
Samantha is a-three-year-old Cuban- American girl. She was born in Miami, on August 25, 2010. She lives with her mother, her father, and her two sisters, which are older than her. Her mother was born in Miami and her father was born in Cuba. They are Christian and they go to church every Sunday. Samantha can communicate either in English and Spanish. She goes to daycare from Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. The reason Samantha goes to the daycare is because both of her parents work. Her mother is a nurse and her father is a lawyer. Also she goes to ballet class twice a week. According to her mother Samantha is a smart, healthy and happy child, who most of the time is having fun and loves to play.
The

observation was taking place on Sunday, June 7, 2015 around 3:00 pm at Samantha’s house in the backyard of the house where there is a playground. It is huge, about two hundred square feet, surrounded by a metallic fence and trees. The floor was covered with beautiful green grass. There is a colorful play set structure made in wood and plastic with two belt swings, six to seven feet tall slide, acrobat bar and step ladder. In the back of the playground there is an area with sand, covered with many toys. The area also included a little blue table with four chairs covered by a large umbrella. The day that the observation was performed there were 4 children of different ages playing and others members of the family who were enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Samantha was watching TV siting in the living room, when she saw the other children playing in the playground she walked in to it accompanied by his mother.

She went to the sand area and sat down next to her sister. Her sister was playing with the sand, building sand castles putting sand into a bucket and flipping it around. The subject observed her and wanted to perform the same activity, but she could not. It was difficult for her to put the sand in to the bucket and flip it around. The sister saw that Samantha was having difficulties performing the activity. Then the sister explained to her how to do it and after several tries Samantha was able to perform the activity perfect by herself. After this Samantha started noticing that her mom was walking away from her, on her way inside the house. Samantha soon started panicking, dropped the bucket of sand and ran crying all the way to her mother. Once the mother heard Samantha crying she immediately picked her up and right away, the crying

stopped.
Soon the mother and Samantha began walking towards the playground again.

Samantha sat down on the mini table and began playing with her Edushape building blocks, which are building blocks that have different shapes and colors. They are 2-3 inches tall depending on the shape. Samantha was making bridges and towers. Minutes later, a 3-year-old child walked over and wanted to join Samantha and build with her. Samantha grabbed all her Edushape building blocks and would not let the other child play with her. Samantha’s mother walked over and explained to her how important sharing is and that she should play with the other child. Samantha understood immediately and they began to play together. As the sun began to go down, Samantha’s mom told Samantha it was getting late and they had to leave. Samantha refused and kept on playing. The mother convinced Samantha that it was late and she still had to shower. Once they got to the house her mother gave Samantha a lollipop as a reward for obeying her. After this, she went to her room and used the restroom by

herself.
When Matthew was trying to draw the snowman and his mother saw that he was having difficulties, she helped him draw, after helping him several times, he was able to d According to Vgotsky’s theory of “zone of proximal development”(Mandich, 2016, p. 47). These theories define the relation between an independent performance and the assisted performance( ). Samantha falls under stage one that is “assistance provided by others” (Mandich, 2016, p. 47). In this theory, Vgotsky emphasize the importance of the sociocultural influence on cognitive development; he maintains that learning is obtained from observing and interacting with others (Mandich, 2016). Samantha by observing and interacting with her sister when she was playing with the sand, building sand castles, putting sand into a bucket and flipping it around and the sister explained to her how to do it and after several tries Samantha was able to perform the activity perfect by herself.
According to Ainsworth and Bowlby’s theory of attachment the subject is classified in the categories of secure (Mandich, 2016). When Samantha saw her mother walking away from her and started to cry and then once the mother heard Samantha crying she immediately picked her up and right away, the crying stopped. This stage emphasizes that attachment is the emotional bond that develops between the child and the parent or caregiver. The emotional security that is provided in this stage is essential for proper development of personality. In this category, the children use crying as a strategy to engage with parents when the parents are not present. According to the theory they are upset when the parents are absent but are happy when they see their parents return (Mandich, 2016).
Gesell’s theory is based on the biological maturation in children. Gesell says that all children go through the same stages of development based on the maturation of the body and brain (Levine & Munsch, 2010). This ranges from body movements, motor coordination, coordination of eye and hand movement to reach and manipulate objects (Levine & Munsch, 2010). When Samantha was playing with Edushape making bridges and towers, she showed good manipulation with both hands and he was able to put one on top of the other. Also, he showed good range of body movement and motor coordination.
According to Piaget’s preoperational stage, the first aspect of cognitive development is symbolic function. The mother explained to Samantha how important sharing is and that she should play with the other child. Samantha understood immediately and they began to play together. This is evidence that Samantha has fully developed his symbolic function since he was able to understand and communicate with his mother (Mandich, 2016).
According to Skinner’s theory of reinforcement. Learning is conscious and responses are related to the desired reward (McLeod, 2007). When As reward, his mother gave him a chocolate chip cookie for sharing his toys. This sharing action by Matthew shows that he understand that behaviors have consequences. In this case, his action resulted in a positive reinforcement when his mother gave him a cookie as a reward for sharing his toys (McLeod, 2007).
According to Freud’s biologic stage theory, Samantha falls under the anal stage. He controls his physiological needs and the subject is completely potty trained (Mandich, 2016).
These observations were very useful and allow occupational therapist to understand and implement their knowledge about the different theories when analyzing subjects and evaluate the biological, cognitive and psychological aspect.

References
Levine, L., & Munsch, J. (2010). Child development and active learning approach (2nded. p.61). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Mandich, M. (2016). Classic theories of human development. In A, Cronin & M. Mendich (Eds), Human development and performance throughout the lifespan (2nd ed, pp.37-57). Boston, MA: Cengage.
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Skinner - Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html.

Zone of proximal development and scaffolding (n.d.). Retrieved from:

http://www.toolsofthemind.org/philosophy/scaffolding