Instructions
Warm-Up Activity 4.1: Continue to Work on Signature Assignment
Take your research for your Signature Assignment to a new level by searching the Northcentral University databases. Take the Search Like an Expert tutorial, and locate at least three articles, one for each of your subtopics. Think about how you plan to use the article in your Signature Assignment.
 
Assignment
According to Piaget, learning takes place in stages. These stages occur through maturation of individual capacities as well as through interaction with the environment. Of course, Piagets original observations were made on his own children. For this activity, you will observe two children, no older than eight years old. With Piagets stages in mind, note the stage at which the child seems to be performing. Feel free to add some simple instruments (rattles, glasses of water) to elicit the type of behavior you want to measure.
Prepare a chart that tells (for each child):

¢ The age of the child
¢ The behavior or thought you observed
¢ The name of the stage at which the child was performing
¢ Whether the child was performing at, above, or below age expectations

Based on your observations, write a reflective essay that addresses the following:

¢ How well do you think Piagets theories applied to the children you observed?
¢ Since psychology usually bases its findings on studies done on large numbers of individuals in different settings, what are your thoughts about Piagets initial use of only his own children on which to base his theories?
¢ Is this a valid research approach?
¢ If so, why is this not used more often? If not, how did it work out that Piaget seems to have been correct?

Length: 3- 5 pages