Choose a period of development you are interested in. You will spend at least 30 minutes naturally observing (a naturalistic observation takes place in the natural environment and allows the observation to take place in everyday life) an individual who is in infancy, toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood or late adulthood. Please ensure you get consent from the individual you are observing and please only use first names in your paper. Your paper will be at least 4 pages long not including the title and reference page and should be completed according to APA. Please ensure you include in-text citations referencing at least 3 academic/professional sources
Select an environment for the observation (a family member’s home, your home, the
mall, a park, a place that you work or volunteer, etc.). You can observe someone you know (friend, family member or individual in your volunteer or work space), as long as you are not engaging or interacting during the observation. Since the class focuses on development within a family context, the individual must be interacting with at least one family member.
Your paper should include:
The chosen individual’s developmental period, gender (and other relevant descriptive information) and location of the observation.
An objective description of the behavior(s)/action(s) you observed focusing on providing the individual’s physical, cognitive, emotional and social development based on only what you saw without opinion.
A subjective description of what you observed using your opinion of the individual’s physical, cognitive, emotional and social development.
The incorporation of at least two topics of interest. These can be broad (cognitive development in adolescence) or specific (midlife adults’ caregiving relationships with aging parents).
An analysis of the individual’s development based on at least 2 developmental theories (psychosocial theory, cognitive development, ecological systems theory, etc.).
The life course theory as a lens. What do you make of this observation? How can you compare what you observed with the research provided within this stage? Does this individual meet the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development within this stage set by research? How might this person’s development be shaped by family, community, culture, geographical context, socio-historic time, the timing of a transition, or events in the past?
Sample Solution