From the above table, the behaviour of the child P is clearly observed. According to the cognitive-behavioural theory of child development, P stands at the pre-operational stage of development where...

From the above table, the behaviour of the child P is clearly observed. According to the cognitive-behavioural theory of child development, P stands at the pre-operational stage of development where she has learnt to talk and learn from the surroundings (Berk, 2003). P has developed an idea of playing with symbolic things and developing mixed emotions. By observing the child the whole day for half an hour, it could be effectively judged that she had developed various feelings and emotions within themselves. The way she responded to her mother’s call and warning during the time she was jumping all around clearly indicated her negligence towards her. When her mother said, “Stop shouting and jumping on the bed or else I will punish you”, she did not listen to her and instead she went on jumping on the bed. But in this respect it should also be highlighted that she was reciting a poem all by her during jumping on the bed which portrays that despite her play, her mind was diverted towards the poem which she would have learnt.
Her mother shouted and scolded her for the second time. She warned, “I do not want one more word. Keep quiet and sit down”. This time P has stopped her activity and sat down on bed thereby starting playing with her dolls. It has been observed during her playtime with the dolls that she was considering all her dolls as her friends and has intended to cook for them. This instant change of her play mood indicates her fickle mind and also shows her ability of switching over from one activity to another. She went to find her utensils and got her drawing book. Just then she forgot all about cooking food and friends and focused on drawing. She was observed saying to herself, “I will draw tiger and elephant”. But later it was seen that she was singing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle little star’. This shows that she was completely engrossed in her play but she has no idea of the colours to put in case of drawing tiger and elephant.
Later when the doorbell rang and her father arrived, P was very excited and she clung to him asking him to come and see her drawing. As her father was tired and did not agree with her, she was angry and started shouting. Her mother asked her to go to the room and play. P immediately engages herself in building blocks; which indicates her instant change of mind (Feldman, 2001). At this age she has learnt to identify the symbols and signs and thus building blocks in perfect shape at this age shows her immense intelligence level. She was angry with her parents but she has spontaneously engaged herself in a new game. Later when her father accompanied her in her game, she felt glad and hugged him showing an innocent feeling of comfort and love.