Running head: PRISM III

PRISM III
Danielle Pertile
EDU220
12/09/2015
Professor Theri L. Wyckoff

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Introduction:
Lila is five years old and lives in Henderson, Nevada. Lilas parents are highly educated
and employed in the fields of technology, education, and law (CareerOneStop). Because Lilas
parents are educated, her familys socio-economic status (SES) falls into the middle class, or
creative class (Badger, 2014). Lilas nuclear family is made up of her father, mother, and one
older sister named Ella, who is eight years old (Edwards, 2009). Lila and her family are white
and Jewish; they celebrate Jewish holidays and observe Jewish traditions (Pew Research Center,
2015). Lila attends kindergarten at a top-rated elementary school in Henderson, and previously
attended a private Jewish preschool.
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs dictates that there are five basic tiers of needs that must be
met in sequential order (Snowman, 2013, p. 252). Because of Lilas stable family situation and
creative class economic situation (Badger, 2014), the three first and most basic tiers of Maslows
Hierarchy are being met. Those tiers are Physiological, Safety, and Belongingness and love.
Because Lila is so young, the need for esteem and respect is still forming and takes the form of
wanting to show accomplishments, and wanting her ideas to be heard. Lila is not yet at the fifth
tier of Maslows hierarchy, which is self-actualization (Snowman, 2013, p. 252).
I chose to observe Lila because I currently work as her nanny, and have done so since
October of 2014. My work with her occurs in her home, at school, and at her various after-school
activities. I have been able to observe Lila in every scenario and situation and can say with
confidence that I am well-acquainted with her personality, quirks, and developmental level. I
have witnessed first-hand how the theories of Erikson, Piaget, etc. apply to Lilas life and
development.

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Physical
At age 5, Lila is right on track in her physical development. According to Snowman, fiveyear-olds are active and energetic, but need downtimes and rest between periods of activity
(2013, p. 49). Lila is extremely active and enjoys running, climbing, swinging, and riding her
bike and scooter. This development is in line with the CDCs milestone checklist for 5-year-olds
which states that they like to hop, swing, climb and do somersaults (2014). Lila also enjoys her
afterschool activities of gymnastics, swimming, and soccer. After the activity, Lila needs
downtime and rest and can become cranky or upset in the evenings if she has been denied this
downtime, though the crankiness is usually not severe.
Snowman also points out that children at this age are experiencing growth in their frontal
lobes, and are better able to focus, organize, and carry out simple tasks (2013, p. 49). Lila, for the
most part, is able to focus on tasks and carry them to completion without becoming sidetracked,
though she does occasionally require reminders to stay focused. She is able to complete simple
tasks such as wiping counters and putting her laundry away.
Because Lila is a healthy and physically active child, it can be surmised that Maslows
first hierarchy level need, Physiological, is being met (Snowman, 2013, p. 252). Lila is not
worried about where she will have her next meal, where she will sleep, or whether or not her
other basic physical needs will be met so she is able to focus on happier physical activities like
play and sports. Lila is comfortable and secure in her physical environment, which allows her the
freedom to focus her concerns on other matters.
Based on Lilas physical activity level, ability to focus, and desire to help carry out tasks,
Lila is at the appropriate developmental level for her age. To continue to grow and develop, she

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should be given opportunities to practice fine motor skills, such as buttoning buttons, while being
allowed plenty of time to engage in gross motor skill activity such playground time. Snowman
says that around age 6, childrens gross motor skills are still superior to their fine motor skills,
but have advanced past that of the kindergarten year (Snowman, 2013, p. 53).
( R) Emotional
According to Snowman, 5-year-old children should be able to somewhat regulate their
emotions, and can articulate various feelings, such as being sad, mad, or happy (2013, p. 50).
Lila is generally a very happy child, and it takes a lot to upset her. When she does become upset
or angry, the emotion is usually fleeting and she will go back to giggling without much effort.
Lila is usually able to articulate her feelings to her friends or caregivers. When asked whats
wrong? she can respond with: Im sad because Her reasons for various feelings are not
always logical, but she is nonetheless able to explain them.
According to DSHS Fosterparentscope, Lila should be concerned with pleasing adults
(1993), and Ellsworth says she should Enjoy adult company - and bond with a warm teacher
(1999). These are both very true of Lila. She is very outgoing with adults and does not act shy or
nervous upon meeting new adults. She is very affectionate and loving toward caregivers and her
parents, always giving hugs and kisses. Being as outgoing as she is, Lila has no problem paying
for something by herself, asking a parent at the park about their baby, or asking a librarian for
help.
Lilas emotional characteristics and her comfort level around adults implies that
Maslows second tier in the Hierarchy of Needs, Safety, is being met (Snowman, 2013, p. 252).
Lila feels safe in her environment and with the people in her life, which allows her to be as

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outgoing and open about her emotions as she is. Lila is surrounded by many adults on a daily
basis including her parents, caregivers, teachers, and parents of friends, but instead of feeling
insecure about the amount of interaction with adults, Lila knows shes safe. This safety allows
her to be confident and outgoing, and this safety allows Lila to be the happy and carefree little
girl that she is.
To further aid Lila in her emotional development, parents and caregivers can encourage
Lila to use feeling words to describe her emotions. For the most part, Lila is adept at conveying
her emotions, but occasionally struggles with speaking clearly enough to be understood. If Lilas
anger becomes strong enough, she is unable to find the words to describe why she is angry,
which makes fixing the problem more difficult. Snowman says that adults can contribute to a
childs emotional development by explaining why we feel the way we do about various events of
circumstances and how we should respond to those emotions but also says that because 5-yearolds are preoperational, this approach may not be successful every time (Snowman, 2013, p. 51).
Intellectual/Cognitive
According to Piaget, Lila is in the Preoperational stage of cognitive development, which
is marked by the gradual ability to conserve and to decenter (Snowman, 2013, p. 25-26). Lila
is a bright child and has the ability to learn quickly and retain information. She sometimes
struggles with what Piaget called decentration, which is the ability to consider more than one
aspect of an issue at a time (Snowman, 2013, p. 25). An example of this is when Lila is reading,
she struggles with words that have the same beginning sound but not the same ending sound
(such as this and that, what or with, or words that are plural), as she tends to not look at
all of the letters, but rather the first one or two and will guess the word from there. This relates to

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the concept of decentration in that Lila has a hard time seeing the whole word, and rather focuses
on the individual letters.
Vygotskys theory of cognitive development states that social interactions produce
advances in cognitive development (Snowman, 2013, p. 34), which is very true of Lila. An
example of this is that she likes to play school and family with her older sister Ella (age 8),
and Ellas best friend Jacob (age 9). This game consists of Ella and Jacob teaching Lila to read
basic words or to complete simple math problems. Because Ella and Jacob are older, they know
the correct answers to their questions and can show Lila how to find the answer as well. Lila is
then able to use those tricks and practices on her actual homework.
Because Lila is preoperational, her intelligence according to Sternberg (Snowman, 2013,
p. 74) is more practical than creative or analytical. She is not yet ready for abstract thought. She
is a very creative child when it comes to art and play, but her creativity does not extend to her
problem-solving. For example, when asked to put a toy away on a high shelf her first response is
I cant reach that high rather than to use the stool that is present in her playroom. This is
evidence of her inability to assess a problem to figure out a solution.
According to Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences, there are eight intelligence
categories (Snowman, 2013, p. 75). Lilas learning ability tends to span many of them, but
probably falls best into the Bodily-Kinesthetic and Musical categories. She is a sensory
learner and likes to manipulate, touch, sing, and dance. Lila also has an incredible memory for
song lyrics, and can recite songs and poems easily and with drama and inflection.
Though not technically included in Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, cognitive needs were
considered by Maslow to be equally important to stable developmental growth (Snowman, 2013,

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p. 252). The need to understand and to know about the world in which we live is vital to feeling
safe and accepted. Lila is constantly asking questions and striving to understand her world.
Because she has family and caregivers who indulge this need for knowledge, Lila is able to feel
safe in her environment. When Lila discovers something that does not make sense, she
understands that she can makes sense of it with help from those around her, and that
understanding fulfills the second and third tier of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs: Safety, and
Belongingness and Love (Snowman, 2013, p. 252).
To further Lilas intellectual and cognitive ability, Lila should be given more
opportunities to practice conservation and decentration. According to Piaget, these concepts are
very difficult for children in the preoperational stage, but become more easily understood as the
child grows (Snowman, 2013, pp. 26-27). Lila should be given many opportunities to inspect the
properties of various objects and to compare and contrast them. To help Lila move from practical
problem solving to a more creative or analytical approach according to Sternberg (Snowman,
2013, p. 74), adults can ask leading questions to allow her to come up with more creative
solutions on her own. In the case of reaching a tall shelf, caregivers can ask Lila what tool she
could use to make her taller. By asking questions, adults will allow Lila to come up with her own
solutions and further her cognitive development.
Social/Psychosocial
Socially, Lila is very outgoing, friendly and independent. Lila definitely fits into the
Initiative v. Guilt stage of Eriksons stages of Psychosocial Development (Snowman, 2013, p.
18). She is eager to complete tasks independently, and has the ability of deciding what those
tasks should be. She is fully capable of directing and planning activities, though not very far in

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advance. There is also still evidence of the Autonomy v. Shame & Doubt stage (Snowman,
2013, p. 18), as Lila is adamant that she does certain things like dressing or buttoning a coat
without adult help, and becomes frustrated when adults try to take over the task in order to do it
for her.
Being only 5, Lila hasnt given much thought to her identity and falls into Marcias
Identity Status category of Identity Diffusion (Snowman, 2013, p. 21). Lila falls into this
category simply because of the fact that she is not yet old enough to grasp the abstract concept of
identity. Being only 5 years old, Lila has not come into contact with views from the outside
world telling her that she should be a certain thing, so she has a limited but very strong view of
herself: she is independent and happy, smart, strong, and silly. Being a girl, she is sure to face
challenges to her identity, especially in regards to being smart and strong as gender stereotypes
become more pronounced.
According to Maslows third tier on the Hierarchy of Needs, Lila needs to feel
belongingness and love (Snowman, 2013, p. 252). This need is being met. Lila is very secure in
her social standing and is confident in her place within her family and community. She
understands that she has many friends, which covers belongingness, and has a strong family
structure, which covers love. Maslow also considered aesthetic needs such as harmony,
symmetry and order equally important to the basic needs on the hierarchy (Snowman, 2013, p.
252). Concepts such as harmony are instrumental to the feelings of love and belonging. Lila lives
in a loving and harmonious home. There is order and a schedule, and that leads to Lilas
confidence in feelings of belonging and being loved.

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To further Lilas social and psychosocial development, adults should continue to

encourage Lilas confidence in her identity. Lila has a long way to go until she enters the
Foreclosure stage of Marcias Identity Statuses (Snowman, 2013, p. 21), but can be helped
along by parents and caregivers who work to instill in Lila a positive and strong identity.
According to Erickson, Lila can be helped to grow her initiative by adults who answer questions
and allow her a measure of freedom (Snowman, 2013, p. 18). A stronger sense of initiative will
naturally lead into Ericksons next level of development crises: Industry vs. Inferiority
(Snowman, 2013, p. 18), and if Lila enters that stage with confidence and initiative, she will be
better able to handle those crises with successful outcomes.
Moral
Lila has a very simple and primitive view of morality, which is in line with all of the
major theorists mentioned in the Snowman textbook. According to Piaget, Lilas morality is
considered the Morality of Constraint (Snowman, 2013, p. 41), which perfectly describes
Lilas views: rules are black and white, and breaking a rule will inevitably end with someone
getting in trouble. With Kohlbergs Theory of Moral Development, Lila falls between Stage 1
(Punishment-obedience orientation) and Stage 2 (Instrumental relativist orientation). Lila sees
rules and the consequences of breaking them as absolute, and puts a very strong emphasis on
fairness and an even exchange (Snowman, 2013, p. 42). If she and her sister are caught making
a mess and Lila is disciplined first her response will be but Ella made a mess too! which is
evidence of her desire for fairness.
Gilligans more female-based view of moral development does not match Lilas
attitude toward morality. Gilligan argued that females care less about separation and

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independence and more about remaining loyal to others through expressions of caring,
understanding, and sharing of experiences (Snowman, 2013, p. 43), but Lila does not
necessarily fit this view. She is certainly a caring person, but is independent more than she is
caring. Likewise, Noddings care theory states that a caring orientation to social and moral
development is an alternative to the orientation of justice, fairness and individual rights
(Snowman, 2013, p. 44), which is not quite where Lila is at in her moral development. Lila is
still very much on the side of justice and fairness, though that view is expected to change as
she grows older.
Morality fits into Maslows Hierarchy of Needs in the form of Esteem, which is the
fourth and second highest tier (Snowman, 2013, p. 252). Respect is an important part of moral
understanding, and Lila is just beginning to feel the need to be respected and esteemed. Her view
of justice and fairness underline her developing need to be esteemed by those around her.
Because she is so young, this need is not fully developed and so cannot be fully met until the
concept of respect is better understood.
Developing Lilas concept of respect and esteem will help to develop her moral
understanding as well. Adults can do this by pointing out how morality ties to respect. An
example of this is the old adage do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This will
help Lila understand that her actions affect other people, and that other peoples actions affect
her. This is likely to have the outcome of gradually reducing Lilas egocentric thinking, and
producing a moral structure closer to the theories of Gilligan and Noddings. Gilligan and
Noddings both believe that females are more geared towards caring and relationships than justice
and strict fairness (Snowman, 2013, p. 43), and these theories should be the natural consequence
of Lilas worldview being broadened to consider the feelings and needs of others.

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Conclusion
In conclusion, Lila is on track and in the correct stages of every aspect of her
development. Physically, she is active and energetic and able to function very well if allowed
periods of rest in between periods of activity. Her gross and fine motor skills are also at the
appropriate level for her age, and can be further developed with practice. Emotionally, Lila is an
even-tempered and mostly well-spoken child, with a general happy mood and desire to please.
Her emotional regulation can be advanced by learning to use more specific words to describe her
feelings. Intellectually, Lila is unable to think logically or creatively about problems, but can
learn quickly and uses what she observes in social interactions to aid in her cognitive growth.
Lilas cognitive development would benefit from leading questions and opportunities to explore
the properties of the world around her. Socially, Lila is extremely independent and confident in
her abilities, while at the same time enjoying the comfort and safety of a core group of friends
and a loving family. Lilas social development can be aided by being given freedoms and
answers by caregivers. Morally, Lila is very primitive and strict, with a justice-oriented attitude
towards what is fair. While this is normal for children her age, Lila can grow in moral
understanding by being shown by adults and peers what it means to respect and be respected.
Because Lila has a stable home and school life with educated and dedicated parents, Lila does
not have to spend her energy worrying about finding food, shelter, safety, friendships, or love.
This allows Lila to develop normally and at an expected pace.

REFERENCES
Badger, E. (2014, September 29). Mapped: How the creative class is dividing U.S. cities.

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In The Washington Post. Retrieved from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/mapped-how-the-creativeclass-is-dividing-u-s-cities/
CareerOneStop. (2015). More education means more money. In CareerOneStop. Retrieved from
http://www.careerinfonet.org/finaidadvisor/earnings.aspx
CDC. (2014, March 27). Important milestones: Your child at five years. In Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-5yr.html
DSHS Fosterparentscope. (1993). Child development guide. In DSHS Fosterparentscope.
Retrieved from
http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/chidev/cd06.htm
Edwards, J. O. (2009). The many kinds of family structures in our communities. In Sonoma
County Office of Education. Retrieved from https://www.scoe.org/files/ccpc-familystructures.pdf
Ellsworth, J. (1999). Online lesson: 'PEPSI' as a screening tool. In ESE 504: Methods and
Materials in Special Education. Retrieved from
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/lesson2-1-1.html
Pew Research Center. (2015, May 12). America's changing religious landscape. In Pew Research
Center: Religion and Public Life. Retrieved from
http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/

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Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2013). ED PSYCH (pp. 18-252). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth,
Cengage Learning.

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