Students will put together a report after completing an observation. The purpose of the developmental observation assignment is to synthesize and apply the theoretical concepts of child development to

Student’s Name

Developmental O bservation Report on

Rose ( 14, Female )

DEVELOPMENTAL OBSERVATION REPORT ON ROSE

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Developmental O bservation Report on Rose (14, F emale )

The following naturalistic observations of Rose lasted over the course of a month from

the 27 th of October until November 27 th in the year 2017 at her home in Miami , Florida . Rose is

a 14 -year -old female born on April 25, 200 3 in Los Angeles , California. Born into an upper -class

family, she is the daughter of affluent actress Gloria and Cuban actor /real estate agent Eddie , as

well as sister to Jillian 24, and Robert , 16 . Rose moved to Miami, Florida in 201 5, and is

currently an 8th grade student in Middle School; one of the top private schools in Miami.

Although this seamless passage from child to adolescence is not clearly defined by a

single event, Rose ’s physical development seems to be f ollowing the normal course of an

adolescent child her age . Her first menstruation, called menarche, occurred just a few months

before the observational period ; the same age as her mother. This is in line with studies which

have shown that menarche tends to be similar to that of a girl’s mother when eating and living

standards remain relatively stable from one generation to the next (Susman, & Rogol, 2004). The

“normal” timing of this physical developmental event in girls usually varies from 10 -16.5 years

of age (Martorell, Papalia, & Feldman, 2014).

Rose is in very good shape using the gross motor skills developed earlier in childhood as

the basis for physical a ctivity - she regularly exercises during school in her P.E. course, as well as

out -of-school during soccer practice, ballet class, and at home when she goes for a swim, or for a

run on the treadmill. This seems to be benefiting both her physical and mental health. With a

muscular frame defining her arms, stomach and legs and good posture she stands at a healthy 5

feet, 2 inches tall, and weighs about 110 pounds –she is about the same as that of her

peers/friends. She often displays a high level of self -esteem, maintains better -than -average

grades, and refrains from any participation in risky behavior. She reports that she hardly ever DEVELOPMENTAL OBSERVATION REPORT ON ROSE

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experiences headaches, backaches, or injuries; is comfortable with her physical ability as well as

her appearance; prefers high energy activities - such as running, rowing, and swimming, over low

energy activities such as walking. She is not overly obsessive with her body image or weight and

has mastered her manipulative (fine motor skills) by taking responsibility over her personal care

– brushes her teeth and hair regularly, maintains an overall tidy appearance.

Good nutrition is vital in establishing eating habits to persist through adulthood. U.S.

adolescents tend to limit their intake of healthy food items and consume foods higher in fat content and

calories ( American Heart Association et. al., 2006). Rose eats about 2.5 full meals a day, often snacking

in betwee n. The kinds of foods she “snacks” on are relatively healthy: freeze -dried organic mango,

pink -lady apples, strawberries and blueberries with a dollop of organic cacao spread, quesadillas with

organic cheese and soft spinach -tortillas, to name a few. Even though sleep deprivation has been named

an epidemic for children her age (Hansen, Janssen, Schiff, Zee, & Dubocovich, 2005), Rose actually

sleeps the recommended amount; during the week (Monday through Friday) about 7.5 -8 hours, and on

the weekends (S aturday and Sunday) roughly 6 -7 hours. She self -reports that she is a “morning person”

(rarely waking up irritable ) and maintains a high level of concentration in her school performance.

When classifying Rose to Jean Piaget’s cognitive developmen t stages, she characterizes the

profile of Piaget’s stage of formal operations . This stage is defined by the distancing of dependence on

definite, real -world stimuli, and developing the capacity for abstract thought - one way in which Rose

has demonstrated her mast ery of cognitive development. She is flexible , and conscious in the manner

she analyzes most situations , displaying a level of hypothetical -deductive reasoning frequently thinking

of the consequences that may come of her actions. F or example, she contempla tes aloud the level of

study required for an exam . She considers the imp lications of studying the concepts daily versus asking

her tutor to spend more time explain ing unfamiliar concepts closer to the exam date . She also DEVELOPMENTAL OBSERVATION REPORT ON ROSE

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demonstrates her ability to reason and solve for symbols (such as X in an algebraic expression) through

her high marks in her Algebra course. Additionally, she can be quite witty in her verbal exchanges with

family and friends and often challenges their ideals and likes to play “devil’s ad vocate” - acknowledging

the many perspectives an argument can take .

In identifying Rose ’s strengths , Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences comes to mind. Rose

is very much aware of her environment and her place in it , revealing her spatial strengths – she enjoys

drawing from life (often depicting appropriate proportions/angles) as well as from imagination , and

uses imagery as tools to help her understand foreign concepts (often neatly mapping out math problems

on her paper ). She is musical in the way she perceives and mimics almost identically the pitch and

rhythm of songs from her favorite movie “High School Musical ”. She displays her bodily -kinesthetic

strengths in the way she moves her body day to day with elegance, and good posture, but also when she

performs drills during her soccer practices. Rose’s sheer interpersonal strengths trump all. She’s an

aspiring actress, taking after both of her parents - quite empathic in nature, she maintains her ability to

understand and communicate with others in a ll social settings (at home, in school, on stage).

When assessing Rose ’s language and thinking abilities, she was asked approximately a series

of questions (in English, as this is her first language) regarding her interests, perspectives on social

issues and the like via an in -person interview. She demonstrated a strong understanding of what was

being asked (using longer sentences and with more detail) , and answered the question appropriately in

a con cise, easy -to-understood manner - using advanced languag e while pronouncing words correctly

and using appropriate tenses . Rose was both analytic, and practical in her responses. She didn’t

impulsively answer the questions, instead, taking time to think aloud and come up with a “final answer”

for each. She displ ayed playfulness , and age -appropriate immaturity in the tone, and way she responded

to some questions that required less thought. DEVELOPMENTAL OBSERVATION REPORT ON ROSE

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When asked about her likes she mentioned alpaca’s, sleep, food, alone time, running, hanging out

with friends, making art, lis tening to music, singing, and playing soccer. She dislikes oregano, racism,

hate, commercials, rude behavio r, when something is not clean or out of order . Some of her interests

include dancing, acting, swimming, spending time with family, drama & mystery movies. Her two

favorite b ook s are The Outsiders, and To Kill a Mockingbird . She looks up to her mother and father,

and other celebrity figures like Alicia keys and Selena Gomez . When asked about her hopes she replies

with a sense of metacogniti on , “ Hmm, that’s a tough one. Let me think. .. Well, I want to make a

difference in the world, to inspire people, to help people in need, and become successful . My definition

of success is a healthy family, doing charity work, being able to travel and having the monetary ability

to help support people in need . In time , I also hope to become an actress and benefactor to a cause ”.

Rose deeply fears losing people she loves, global warming, terrorism, weapons, and scaling a

mountain. She enjoys school, especially whe n she is interested in the learning material, but mostly

because she gets to spend time with friends (she says with a higher pitch, and a hair flip). She recognizes

that society is advancing really fast and exclaims sophistically , “It needs to slow down ! We need to

really think about what we can do now, to save future generations from suffering the consequences of

our current decisions .”

Rose is very self -regulated in her me ntal (has a calm, and placid disposition) and behavioral

functioning (controlled in the way she reacts to the outside world ). If ap ply ing the concepts of higher -

order personality traits she shows a willingness to try new things, and as aforementioned, ability to

think abstractly - proving her to be quite complex in openness . While she may not partake is risky or

daring behaviors, she shows a curiosity for the unknown and admits that she would like to try new

things she finds scary such as skydiving. She also excels in her ability to work within constraints, and

delay gratifi cation. She is both conscientious and resourceful in her day to day life, finding solutions to DEVELOPMENTAL OBSERVATION REPORT ON ROSE

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seemingly impossible problems. For example, when she couldn’t understand a concept in Algebra, and

her teacher was unavailable, she googled persistently, and con tacted her friends to help better explain

to her these concepts. She is quite extroverted in that she draws her energy via interactions with famil y

and peers.

Rose display socially confident behavior , making friends easily and sparking up intellectual

con versations with both children and adults alike. She admittedly has a tendency to be shyer around

new faces. Rose demonstrated her gregariousness by maintaining a high level of engagement in adult

conversation with her mother and friends regarding Donald Tr ump’s ideas on corporate taxes. Another

instance in which she showed her proneness to action rather than contemplation, was when she

emergency dialed her tutor to come over as she did not understand the majority of the lesson on

scientific notation. Accord ing to Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages , Rose is confronting the crisis of

identity vs. identity confusion. She is the process of trying to identify her valued role in society . She is

actively partakin g in this discovery by taking on new sports such as soccer, as well as asking her parents

to set her up with an advisor to help her transition to high school more smoothly and discover her

strengths and weaknesses as a student.

Rose Rose’s behavior somewh at reflects specific gender characteristics . According to Carol Giligan

(1982) , her female sense of self is being developed via her relationships and ability to care for others.

Rose ’s self -esteem seems to be dependent on her connection with others, and th eir perceptions of her.

She also places huge emphasis on developing the ability and skills to survive in a male -dominated

career where men still largely outnumber women in Hollywood. Following Phinney’s model of ethnic

identity development, she would fall under the achieved identity status. She understands the meaning

of her ethnicity in the bigger picture and is quite proud of who she is – A Cuban -English American

simply trying to make a name for herself, and a difference in the world. DEVELOPMENTAL OBSERVATION REPORT ON ROSE

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In conclusion, Rose’ s adolescent development seem to be “going according to plan”. As a 14 -year -

old, she characterizes this stage in her life when she makes evident her ability to think independently,

but also demonstrates dependence on her caregivers for financial and e motional security . Rose

maintains a healthy and active physical lifestyle by eating nutritional foods and snacks while exercising

regularly . She is determined in her wit, and cognitive ability, seemingly knowing who she is and w here

she stands on most issu es - aspiring to change the dynamic of the world, indubitably her first priority

being “helping those in need FIRST, of course!”. Lastly, her psychosocial quest for identity is being

manifest ed in the relationships she is creating with her parents, sibling s, and peers .

DEVELOPMENTAL OBSERVATION REPORT ON ROSE

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References

American Heart Association, Gidding, S. S., Dennison, B.A., Birch, L.L., Daniels, S.R., Gilman,

M.W., et al. (2006) Dietary recommendations for children and adolescents : A guide for

practitioners. Pediatrics , 117, 544 -559.

Giligan, C. (1982) In a different voice: Psychological theory and women’s development. Cambridge,

MA: Harvard University Press.

Hansen, M., Janssen, I., Schiff, A., Zee, P.C., & Dubocovich, M.L . (2005) The imp act of school

daily schedule on adolescent slee p. Pediatrics, 115, 1555 -1561.

Papalia, D.E., Martorell, G., Feldman, R.D. (2014 ). A child’s world: infancy through adolescence :

Chapter 15: Physical development and health in adolescence (13 th ed., p. 430 ) New York, NY :

McGraw -Hill Publication

Susman, E.j., & Rogol, A. (2004) Puberty ad psychological development. In R.M. Lerner & L.

Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (2nd ed. , pp. 15 -44). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley