8-19 Months

1. Describe and give examples of changes in your child’s exploratory or problem solving behavior from 8 through 18 months and categorize them according to Piagetian and information processing theories. Note that 8 months is included, so you'll need to use the time-line to look back at 8 months for examples.

Cillian was a very active crawler at 8 months, at home (although not so much during his 9 month development assessment.) I attempted to encourage this by allowing him free roam of the entire “baby-proofed” household.

Cillian was able to discover hidden items (object permanence) at 8 months, although he could be distracted, and would get confused when the item was hidden in a different place from the one he was accustomed to.

Cillian seemed to be formulating simple two-part schemes at 8 months.

Cillian was able to imitate new words and actions at 12 months.

Cillian had improved at the object permanence test by 12 months, was not confused when the hiding spot was moved, and was not as easily distracted. He seemed to enjoy this game very thoroughly.

At 15 months Cillian was performing experiments on objects in his environment (tertiary circular reaction, 12-18 months.)

At 18 months, Cillian was fascinated by blocks and puzzles and would spend much time playing with and studying their properties.

At 18 months, Cillian would sometimes take on problems too complicated for him and get frustrated. I attempted to encourage him by getting involved in the activity, showing him how to solve part of the puzzle and explaining it as I did.

Cillian demonstrated deferred imitation at 19 months (mental representation stage, 18 months-2 years.)

At the 19 month assessment, Cillian was above age-norms in building block towers to mimic a design and other spatial skills. However, he was slightly behind in terms of gross motor skills. He also seemed to have trouble concentrating on any one activity for more than a few minutes.

Overall, I think Cillian has shown an aptitude for problem-solving, ahead of his age-group, and have tried to encourage this.



2. Analyze your baby’s temperament in more detail at 18 months than you did at 8 months. How would you describe your baby in terms of the five aspects of temperament utilized by the Virtual Child program (activity, sociability, emotionality, aggressiveness vs. cooperativeness, and self control)? Has Cillian's temperament been stable over the first 18 months? A blurb defining and providing examples of the five aspects of temperament is provided at 12 months, but you should seek out further explanations of temperament from your textbook. Explain how the concept of goodness of fit (also discussed in the blurb on infant temperament) applies to your interactions with your child.

Activity- Cillian was highly active. He would stay up late, often into the early morning, and had a tremendous drive to use his motor skills. This was fairly consistent with his temperament when he was younger, at least during situations when he was secure. He was rather shy during his assessment, but at home was a very active crawler, and grew up to be a very active toddler as well.

Sociability- Cillian was more introverted than extroverted. There were only a handful of adults that he was comfortable with, and would become easily upset by new situations. He was typically very shy in new situations and around new people.

Emotionality- Cillian’s emotionality seemed to decrease from 9 months to 18. When he was younger he would have massive mood swings with very little provocation, but this tendency seems to have lessened a great deal as he has become more confident. At his 19 month assessment, the examiner noted that he did become irritable or lose his temper with other children at times, so he definitely still has emotional tendencies.

Aggressiveness v. Cooperativeness- Cillian was generally not aggressive at the assessment, unless another child tried to steal a toy from him in which case he resisted. He was fairly cooperative with the examiner. I have not noticed any particularly aggressive behavior from him at home.

Self Control- I did not notice any particular instances of Cillian having serious issues with self-control. He has issues with emotionality and sociability, but I have no examples of him exhibiting a lack of control at home that I can think of.

3. Were you surprised by anything in the developmental assessment at 19 months? That is, does your perception of your child's physical, cognitive, language and social development differ from that of the developmental examiner? Give specific examples. If you were not surprised, write instead about some aspects of your child's development that need the most work.

I had thought that Cillian was progressing fairly well with his motor skills, but then was told at the assessment that while he was advanced in his fine motor skills and problem solving abilities (building specified towers from blocks, for example) he was rather behind in gross motor skills. Furthermore, I thought I had been taking appropriate actions to better condition him to social situations, and had hoped he might not exhibit those same tendencies after another year. Perhaps he just needs more time around others.