Introduction
The current paper is concerned with behavior observation and behavior assessment of the four-year-old child Jack. The boy has just started preschool this year. He is a rather curious child, he is excellent at school. But when it comes to interaction with other kids, he is out of control. Jack doesn’t like playing with other children; he throws their toys, pushes and hits them. When parents try to use discipline techniques to change his terrible behavior he does not react as his parents want him to. He just laughs and tries to avoid any possible conversation. Jack often runs off, therefore, parents have to keep a watchful eye on him.
Main body
The observation enabled us to characterize Jack’s developmental milestones. As far as physical and motor issues are concerned Jack shows improved balance and can hop on one foot without losing it. He is active at physical exercises and can already throw a ball overhand with coordination. He can use scissors, tie shoelaces, and button the coat. Sometimes the boy wets the bed that is quite normal at his age. As a child of four, he gains weight of about six grams per day and grows to a height that is doubled if compared to the length at his birth (Olson, 1949, p. 56).
As for Jack’s cognitive abilities, he is interested in reading alphabet books and looking at the pictures there. He can name up to twenty uppercase letters, writes ten of them. He counts to 20. He is able to compose simple stories describing daily events. Due to these abilities, he succeeds at school.
In Jack’s speech, one can observe the use of basic prepositions and possessives consistently. The child can adequately ask the questions “Whose?”, “Who?”, “Why?”, and “How many?” Though a lot of wordplays is present in his speech, it appears to become more and more intelligible. He can freely state his first and last name, his relatives’ names, and the telephone number. The child’s social development is characterized by rapid and unpredictable moods changes. Though he is aggressive in interaction with children, he imagines invisible friends and shares his emotions with them. In school, he tries to do things independently but when something goes wrong (the toy does not work, the pen does not want to write) he gets angry.
The family of the child is able to provide him with necessary nutrition; the child gets healthy food that contributes to his healthy development. The child is fond of dancing and swimming; he likes pets and takes care of them. Thus, Jack’s lifestyle is active and the parent’s and the teachers’ task is to preserve the child’s activity throughout the period of his personality formation.
As the child has problems in his social behavior behaviorism becomes a necessary tool for improving Jack’s conduct. Behaviorism positive and negative reinforcement techniques are very important in dealing with the problem. Both teachers and parents can resort to behaviorism to reward or punish Jack’s behavior.
Organismic theories are also relevant to observed behavior. According to these theories, the interaction between a person and the environment affects motivation. As the problem of Jack’s aggressive behavior is a burning one, much effort should be made to establish adequate interaction between the child and his classmates. When such interaction is established, the child’s motivation will increase and he will show even better results in his studies.
Conclusion
The nurse practitioner practice should be aimed at the child’s strengths development and reducing the instances of his anti-social behavior to a minimum. The children of his age easily mix with their classmates, Jack needs professional and parental help to adjust to the surroundings and develop his skills and abilities in their company. Co-operation between parents and teachers becomes crucial for solving this problem. Helping Jack to master language, autonomy, motor skills, and social development should be of prime importance for those engaged in the child’s upbringing.
References
Phillips D. C. & J. F. Soltis. (1987). Perspectives on Learning, Chapter 3. Teachers College Press.
Horowitz, F. D. (1987). Exploring Developmental Theories: Toward a Structural/Behavioral Model of Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.