Dang/Reonal 1

Melinda Dang

Reesa Reonal

Ms. Robin

AP Psychology

Observation B Write-up

For Observation B, Melvin will be observed playing with his cousin Nathan. Melvin is

four years old, while Nathan is seven years old. According to Piaget, Melvin’s actions and

thinking would place him in between the preoperational stage and concrete operational stage

(Myer 144). Based on his actions in Observation A. Melvin shows that he can represent objects

with words and shows signs of language development and egocentrism, thus placing him at the

preoperational level along with other children his age (Myer 144). On the other hand, in some of

his actions, he displayed a small amount of logical reasoning and a limited sense of

conservation. Logical reasoning and a sense of conservation are both characteristics acquired

by those in the concrete operational stage (Myer 144). Nathan appears to be in the concrete

operational stage because he is able to think logically about concrete events, understand

concrete analogies, and understand the concepts of conservation and mathematical reasoning.

Physically, both Nathan and Melvin would be in the last stage of gross motor development,

which is normally reached by five year olds. Although Melvin is a year younger than that, he and

his cousin show signs of this stage by having good balance, walking skillfully, and having the

ability to run, climb, and throw. In the fine motor category, Melvin is on track for his age. Like

the typical 4 year old, he is able to print in large letters.

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Data

Melvin and Nathan come downstairs from the upstairs toy room. In their arms are a

variety of toys, even though the living room downstairs has multiple boxes of toys. As Melvin

and Nathan search together for the right toy to play with, Melvin suddenly says, “Hello, I’m a

robot,” in a mechanical voice imitating a robot, Nathan responds by saying , “Boom!” Nathan

climbs onto the coffee table and grabs on of Melvin’s toys. Melvin sits and watches Nathan play,

exhibiting signs of onlooker behavior, according to Parton’s 6 forms of play (Parton 6). He does

not play but remains interested in Nathan’s actions. This behavior is interrupted when Nathan

crashes Melvin’s toy. Melvin exclaims, “Hey! I don’t like that.” Melvin grabs the toy from

Nathan. Nathan says, “I want that toy!” After a brief struggle with each other, Melvin and Nathan

return upstairs to the toy room. Nathan asks Melvin what the top bunk is used for. Melvin

answers, “It’s for old clothes.” Nathan then picks up a toy car from a pile of toys. Melvin

responds by shouting, “No no no!” Nathan drops the car to the ground. Irritated, Melvin picks it

back up. He glances at Nathan, saying, “Never touch this.” In this situation, Melvin shows signs

of associative play (Parton 6). He lets Nathan play with his toys, but tries controlling how Nathan

plays with those toys. Also, Nathan and Melvin interact with each other, but without any

common goal. Each just does what he wishes. Melvin continues rummaging for toys. Each time

he fines a new toy, he says to Nathan, “Look what I’ve found!” At one point, Melvin finds a toy

and shows it to Nathan. That was the toy that Nathan was looking for also. Melvin then tries

teaching Nathan how to play with the new toy. Nathan says matter-of-factly, “I already know

how to play with it.” Melvin and Nathan return to the downstairs living room again. They both

start playing with a toy shooter, yelling “Emergency! Emergency!” Melvin then grabs an action

figure. He exclaims, “I am Iron Man!” The two boys decide to play tag. Melvin runs around the
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living room while Nathan chases him by sliding across the wood floor. Melvin’s dad interrupts

their game by scolding Melvin and telling them both not to speak English. Melvin ignores him

and continues to do so. Melvin’s dad then asks both boys to stop running around the living room

but they do not listen to him and proceed with their play. At this point of the observation, Melvin

and Nathan have switched to cooperative play because they are playing different roles (in tag,

Nathan would be ‘It” and Melvin is the one running from him) while playing the same game

(Parton 6). After tag, Melvin then begins making engine noises and yells, “Engine attack!” He

then walks around the room nonstop with an airplane in his hand. While Melvin does this,

Nathan picks up a new toy to play with. Melvin sees him and reaches for the toy and tells

Nathan, “You have to do this.” Again, he attempts to teach Nathan how to play with his toy.

Nathan asks Melvin for some help playing with another toy. Melvin first appears hesitant. He

agrees to help Nathan only after Nathan changes his voice to a more powerful/persuasive tone.

Melvin then asks Nathan if he can play with the other toy. Nathan refuses, but then agrees later

on when Melvin asks more politely. In this part of their playtime, the boys show parallel play.

The children play independently but remain close to each other and play with similar toys

(Parton 6).

Analysis

In this situation, Nathan should be the dominant child. Nathan is the alpha animal. Even

though Melvin shouts much more than Nathan, Nathan exhibits more authoritarian control over

the situation. Nathan can persuade Melvin to follow his actions more quickly and doesn’t always

listen to what Melvin says. Nathan shows his dominance by changing the tone of his voice,

making it more challenging for Melvin to refute.

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Melvin is more of the beta animal. Melvin is only dominant with Nathan some time and

has less power than the beta. Melvin tests Nathan by arguing about toys and trying to seem more

dominant by teaching Nathan how to play with his toys. Nathan knows that Melvin makes some

of the decisions but Nathan has a greater influence over Melvin.