Case Study: Child Development
Cynthia Denise Bussey
Psychology 210
April 6, 2015
Professor Jennifer Kennedy
Case Study: Child Development
According to our justice system, a six year old cannot form criminal intent, therefore not held responsible for their actions. As some might wonder why this can be, some considerations should be put into perspective under a few developmental factors of the brain. Myelination, which is a fatty coating on the axons that speeds signals between neurons in which case, six year olds have less than older kids, and slower information processing abilities (Berger, 2014). Guided participation, theory-theory, emotional regulation, and reactive aggression should also be considered. There is a lot to consider when
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The speed of thought from axon to neuron becomes pivotal when several thoughts must occur in rapid succession (Berger, 2014). This by itself; could cause disaster if the child is angry, and only knows what he sees at home as a solution to the problem. His brain is not fully developed making it hard for him to make sense of his many thoughts going on in his mind. In other words, when he decided to bring a gun to school and shoot his “enemy”, his brain did not think through the consequences of his actions.
Cognitive development, according to Vygotsky’s developmental theory, a child constructs knowledge, and development cannot be separated from its social context (Berger, 2014). As made clear in the case study, the adults in the house apparently interacted with guns on a near daily basis. Both nature and nurture of this sort seemed natural to the child as his brain developed. Guided participation as in a child learning by others guided experiences (Berger, 2014), led the boy to the shooting since those around him in the home treated guns in a criminal manner, the boy also followed that
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Reactive aggression as defined to be an impulsive retaliation for another person’s intentional or accidental action, verbal or physical, which is common in most young children (Berger, 2014). Although children are less likely to respond with physical aggression (Berger, 2014), in this case the child only knew physical aggression; considering his background at home. This in turn, was one of the only outlets his mind was able to comprehend, due to the guided participation previously came understand at