Child Observation Report

Lecturer: Dr. Stephanie L. Knight
Observer: Afra Mohamed Taha
Observant: 3-4 year old boy
Topic: Entire Observation
Setting: Airport. A family consists of a father, a mother, three daughters and a son.
Goal: Observing the boy to see his entire behavior, in addition to his reaction to reinforcement and punishment.
Time: 52 minutes
Method used: Systematic Observation (Specimen Record and Event Sampling)

Data collection:
This report is based on a “Systematic Observation” (Berk, 2003, p.44). I designed a simple form to record the data based on specimen record and event sampling in which the
The warning and punishment have positive response but for only a short time. Parents can use positive reinforcement to encourage the child to decrease the undesirable behavior and /or increase the desirable one. Instead of the punishment, if the mother told the child that this movement is dangerous and he might fall and hurt himself, she might have gotten a better response. Children at this age cannot differentiate between dangerous and safe movements; they have to be under supervision of adults.

My Reaction to the Observation:
I enjoyed observing that child very much. The milestones guidelines helped me analyze and assess his behavior. However, I felt disappointed and upset when his mother punished him. In my opinion it would have been a better idea for the mother to explain to her child the consequences of his actions. Children get bored easily; therefore the mother should have occupied her child by giving him a toy or telling him a story so the child would stay still.

Behavior Record Form
|Time |Behavior Record |
|9:03 pm |He was lying on an arm chair moving his legs up and down. |
|9:14 pm |He put his feet on the armrest of the chair next to him, where one of his sisters was sitting he repeated this |