THREE AGES PROJECT1

Three Ages Project

Carly Carter

16 November 2015

Professor Cosby

Education 245-50

We shall not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do

Within the scope of child development, throughout the process, there are times of massive change. I have chosen three age groups to observe and evaluate their levels of development physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally. The three subjects that I have chosen are Nes, age 16; Caleb, age 10; and Maria, age 3.

Nes was chosen because he is someone that I personally know very well and have known for years. He is someone that is very close to me and is an interesting subject to look at because he is currently suffering from depression. I thought that his responses would add some variety and an insight into the effects of mental illness on child development. This interview took place in Nes’s office- he has a bedroom and an office that acts as an extension of his own room. He spends most of his time there, and finds that it is a place where he feels safe and comfortable. The room is cluttered with papers and textbooks spread around the room and pens scattered around.

Caleb, though not talented in school, is extremely gifted at sports. Caleb had been playing baseball from a very early age. He currently plays on a team a grade level above his. I chose him because most people value book smarts over intelligences like his. I thought that looking at him in this way might shed a light on why his gifts are the way they are, and why it might be important to us. This interview took place in a house that is very close to both of our hearts. Both of our parents (his mom, my dad) grew up in this house, and our grandparents still live there. He has, throughout his childhood, spent much of his time in this house and he is very comfortable in this setting to open up and talk about the topics.

Maria was chosen because she is a young girl of Hispanicdescent. In our studies, we have observed that in general Hispanic students are lower achieving even from early on in childhood, and with Maria, that is just not the case. She is already showing signs of very high IQ and has phenomenal problem solving skills right off the bat. I think that she has a lot of potential, and I think that this will be a nice way to explore the reasons that she is better off, and how that advantage makes her different. Because Maria is such an active girl, we decided to do the interview while doing something because she does not like to sit still for a long period of time. We did the interview outside before we went to her swim lesson and while her abuelo was putting her car seat into my car. It was fall, so there were leaves and acorns all over the ground, and that was what she played with the whole interview.

I recorded all of these interviews by writing down important phrases, quotations, mannerisms, and actions. I did not find it necessary to record these interviews on audio or video because I have a good memory and am able to accurately recall the feel of the interview as a whole, as well as important details. Those details that were smaller or not as memorable, I wrote downso that I could look back at them and refresh my memory.

Our rationale for this project was to examine Erikson’s psychosocial stages in relation to our various age groups, and how they had done with each in the past. Erikson’s stages, for the three periods that have been chosen are:

  1. Trust versus mistrust
  2. Autonomy versus shame and doubt
  3. Initiative versus guilt
  4. Industry versus inferiority
  5. Identity versus identity-confusion
  6. Intimacy versus isolation

I will be focusing on the stages that they have successfully completed, where something might have gone wrong, or what needs to be done to complete a stage. Each of the questions gave insight to the state of my subject’s current level in each of the psychosocial areas that Erikson outlined.

The special area of interest that our group followed was through the subject’s values. Our subjects came from some diverse backgrounds, so we wanted to see how that affected what it was that they valued most in life. The answers that we found, in the most part, were not at all surprising to what we expected from the subjects.

I think that there are many things that I expect to find in my research, I think that Maria will have more value placed of the family, and we will find that all of her stages until now have been satisfied thoroughly. For Caleb, I believe that we will find that his values have been shaped by western culture and his own talents will be something that are important to him. His developmental stages I think we will find are shaped by his family more than himself. For Nes, I believe that we will find that he values something that may or may not be something achievable to him. His psychosocial stages I may havebeen left uncomplete or headed towards failure due to external factors out of his, or parental, control.

In each interview there were four questions that were asked. One physical, one cognitive, one social, and one about their values. For each we aimed to examine that aspect of the child’s level of development. By asking, “What would happen if you ate candy every day?” we were able to get a sense of what the child thought their own physical ability, and how they are able to comprehend that in terms of themselves. When we asked, “What are three things you would bring to a desert island and why?” we were able to determine how the subjects were able to use problem solving skills to best survive alone using only three things. This also helped us determine the values of the subjects which was our special area of interest. By asking, “Who is your best friend and what makes you different?” we were able to gather what kind of people the subjects’ value as well as developmentally where they were on a socioemotional level. Finally, we asked the subjects, “What in life is most important to you?” as a measure of exactly where their values are placed and as a reference to the other developmental answers.
The first interview conducted was with Maria. Maria at age 3 and a half has passed through the stages of Trust versus Mistrust and Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt. She passed through each with positive outcomes in that she feels trust in her environment, and she knows that she has immense support behind her. She is also very independent, signaling that she has positively left the Autonomy vs. Shame and Guiltstage. Maria is currently facing the stage of Initiative versus Guilt. This period is one that will allow her to initiate actions or cause her guilt from her actions. She is already showing promise, and her preschool seems to be encouraging this stage in her social development.

The first question I asked Maria was one to judge her physical sense of well-being. Her answer was one that needed a lot of prompting, but overall was, “I don’t know.” At this age there is not as much of an understanding from a child that they need to eat healthy foods to grow. They need less food to survive because they are growing at a much slower rate. The food that they do eat needs to contain a healthy level of nutrients. Her mother is constantly worrying that her daughter is not eating enough, but the truth is she is eating all that she needs. Maria does have a problem sometimes going overboard with the sweets which may be linked to her physical understanding of her physical self.

When asked the cognitive thinking question, Maria answered that one thing she would take with her to a desert island was a boat “to float on because it floats by itself.” This was a very sophisticated answer showing that she may have retained it from something else demonstrating significant use of autobiographical memory from when she learned about or played pretend at her preschool. Maria also shows that she understands the concept of “why?” when she answers these questions by adding her reasoning without much prompting displaying intuitive thought, as she must have asked why to others in the past to be able to give this answer now. The last two things that Maria would bring to the island were the same thing, a yo-yo. Aria seemed to think that it was so funny the way she gave those answers. She laughed for some time. Maria was not looking to make a joke for anyone else, it was solely for herself. This shows her egocentric tendencies. She does not think of others, and when she does it is done almost guiltily by a caregiver’s prompt. This is common in her stage of cognitive development, and is a stage that she will have to pass through.

Maria, though she has friends, spends much of her time with her family. As she grows, she has begun to associate more with her peers, but it is still predominantly amongst her family whom she associates with. To the socioemotional question, Maria answered, “Yo-Yo, my ‘boss’” who is also “a girl yo-yo and she knows how to talk” they have known each other “a little times” and they are different because Yo-Yo is imaginary. I thought this was an interesting way to answer a question. She picked a name of an object used before and created something new with it. The fact that she can also understand relationships is an important aspect to her social development as well.

The thing that Maria said was most important to her was her mama because “she loves me and tells me not to eat leaves and grass.” Maria said this as she pretended to put leaves and grass into her mouth. She made the joke, again to herself and laughed. This value on the family is one that is common in families of Latin American decent. According to Marcia Cartaret, “Latinos tend to be highly group-oriented. A strong emphasis is placed on the family as the major source of one’s identity and protections.”(Carteret, 2011) Maria’s answer demonstrates this clearly.

My next subject was my 10 year old cousin Caleb. He has passed through the stages Trust versus mistrust, Autonomy versus shame and doubt successfully as well as Initiative versus guiltmarked by his want and need to start and act on his own. Caleb is currently in and almost complete with Industry versus inferiority. In this stage “the child’s peer group will gain greater significance and will become a major source of the child’s self-esteem. The child now feels the need to win the approval by demonstrating specific competencies that are values by society, and begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments.” (McLeod, 2015)

When I asked Caleb the physical question, he answered, “I would get fat. DUH.” He has good use of language in his middle childhood years which is what one would expect at this age. Caleb demonstrates an understanding of his own physical state, and the consequences to his body should he mistreat it. Caleb is an athlete, and therefore knows that he needs to eat healthy to “get big and strong.” He is a grade younger than his teammates, and the difference is staggering. Caleb has not hit his growth spurt and the smallest on the team by far. He has less muscle than his teammates, yet still manages to play on this advanced level due to his gross motor skills that are highly developed. He has a high reaction time and advanced hand eye coordination.

Caleb decided that on his deserted island that he was going to have fun rather than worry about getting off of the island or surviving for that matter. He thought that it would be fun to be stuck on an island as long as he had his baseball gear. He also talked about how he could use the bat to catch dinner and then he could practice and get better at sports. Caleb is showing his ability to take initiative, and how he can practice baseball so that he can be more competent at it. This shows Caleb’s level of development cognitively in that it shows his ability to appropriately use logic in Piaget’s concrete operational stage.

Socioemotionally, Caleb is at a fairly high level. He has a best friend who is similar to him and shares his values. He and his friend play baseball together where they became friends. Caleb says they are different because they are different ages, and because he is better at baseball than his friend. Caleb is very developed socially according to Erikson, and he encompasses other things that mark for a more socially developed person.

Caleb puts great value on sports. He says that the thing he values most is his baseball that he got from a Nationals game. “We won tickets right behind the dugout from [my older brother]’s Team and one of the players gave me a ball.” He seems to enjoy and value his athletic ability, and this will be valued by society as he grows.

Nes, my final subject, has passed through Trust versus mistrust, Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt, Initiative versus Guilt, and Industry versus Inferioritywith positive outcomes. Nes is currently facing hisIdentity versus identity-confusionstage and is coming to a conclusion as to who he is and what he wants out of life. Concurrently, he is enteringIntimacy versus isolation stage and is pulling towards isolation. His depression has hindered his socioemotional development from moving further into the right direction. According to the results of a journal,

Teens with depression and their parents reported more impairment in all areas, compared with teens without depression at baseline, and reported more coexisting emotional and behavioral problems. Both depression and coexisting problems were related to impairment. There was a lasting impact of depressive symptoms on most measures of peer, family, and school functioning 6 months later, but controlling for coexisting baseline emotional and behavioral problems attenuated this relationship for some measures. (Jaycox et. al, 2009)

Nes, like his counterparts answered all of the questions completely, but his answers were all coated in melancholy and apathy. His answers suggest a person who is falling behind developmentally. Cognitively, his decisions didn’t make sense; physically he had a good understanding of his body, but not necessarily aplication; and socially, he had no friends that were important to him. The one thing that Nes had was a strong sense of value. Nes values his computer, his videogames, and the creativity to put those things together.

Physically he answered, that he “would get sick and die of malnutrition” which is correct. He displays logical thinking, but not abstract. He also does not follow this in practice. Nes eats mostly sweets and candy. He spends most of his time in a sedentary position as well. He is kept thin through his high functioning metabolism. This does not mean that he is healthy and this could lead to problems later in life.

Cognitively, his thinking is lagging as well. Nes is failing to think abstractly, as the stage suggests that he should be able to do so. He answered the question in a way that makes little sense. He said that he would bring “A lot of food including but not limited to chicken, fried chicken, bananas, apples, berries, and lots of CHOCOLATE… A solar panel to power my computer… last I guess my computer to play games on.” These answers display a lack of effort. Nes’s memory has also been failing him recently. He has been having trouble remembering things so that is cognitively an issue.

Socially, Nes is falling behind as well. As has been discussed as he enters the stage of Intimacy verses Isolation, he faces coming out on the negative side because of his depression. Nes said in his interview that his computer was his best friend. Nes seems to have gained a fairly negative idea of self-concept and self-esteem, and that fuels his depression and anxiety issues.

Nes does have legitimate values such as his value of creativity over other things. He finds that humans are not worth his time or effort and chooses to value intangible things over the tangible. This is not to be confused with abstract thinking as a whole, as it seems that Nes is not as capable of that currently, despite being extremely bright and talented.

Compared to his counterparts, Nes is very different. All of them had very little trouble passing through Erikson’s stages, only Nes has run into trouble, and his family is working hard to fix that now. All three of the subjects have supportive and present families that have helped with development. All children attended, or currently attend, preschool and all have had parents that encourage success in various forms.

The subjects seem to differ greatly on their information processing skills. Nes is the only subject who has current ongoing memory problems, as explained by depression’s effect on the brain that causes it to work in a way that slows the brain’s overall functions. In the past, Nes’s skills of memory were top notch, so they are still good compared to most despite the problems he is currently facing. Caleb, however, is not the best with his memory. He generally has to work harder to remember things. He finds it hard to focus and remember information in a sequence, though has a decent emotional memory. Maria seems to have more skill with this than the other two currently do, as she, from a young age, is able to process and store information well. She has great developing skill with language which seems to help her.