Observation Of Child Behaviors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Observation Of Child Behaviors - Essay Example Egocentrism was chosen as the relevant behavioral observation as it is a predominant characteristic of the preoperational stage of child development. Examining this aspect of youth behavior is important as children in the preoperational stage begin to learn important social lessons from peer reference groups that assist in healthy adult socialization. As the logic centers begin to form in the brain, children will establish the initial foundations of considering the perspectives and beliefs of others in their rationalization processes. During play, two children illustrated behaviors that supported egocentrism. One child, which the parent indicated was four years old, began to argue with another child in the sandbox about their methodology of play. The two children were burying action figures, using pretend play activities to essentially illustrate the perils of warfare. The child wanted the figures to remain buried, however, the other child continued to dig them up and pretend the figures could fly. The child chastised the other who unburied the figures, leading to a refusal to play together further. The main argument was that flying was wrong and that the action figure belonged in the sand in order to win the war. The child who demanded flight did not seem to care about the pressure being applied to keep the toy in the sand and told the chastising child that he was â€Å"stupid† and carried forward with his flight activities despite the protests and attempted lessons about the appropriate game play.