Psychological Assessment of Children and Infants Essay Example
Essay on some of the theoretical aspects relating to the assessment of young children
1. Introduction - reasons and rationale for psychological assessment in early childhood
The assessment of the development and learning of young children (two and a half to six years old) and infants (birth to approximately two years old), is a complex, lengthy, and often multi-professional process. Several factors, such as cultural differences, language barriers, accessibility to developmental tools such as books, television, toys, media, etc. and the accessibility to and functionality of social structures including friends, family, peer groups and the community influence the rate at which a child develops and learns. Consequently, assessment of infants, toddlers, and young children requires sensitivity to and knowledge of the child's background as well as knowledge of testing limitations and procedures applicable to young children.
This essay addresses the reasons and rationale for psychological assessment of young children and infants. In addition, it also investigates the differences between tests for infants and preschoolers as well as the content areas of typical tests and provides examples of appropriate tests. Furthermore, the essay discusses the issues relating to the predictive validity of infant tests, the difficulties inherent in testing small children, factors that need to be considered when interpreting test results and ethical considerations in early childhood assessment.
The above discussion incorporates the writer’s experiences in conducting a test on a five year old girl-child as well as the findings from this test to illustrate the theoretical principles discussed. The paper presents first a comprehensive theoretical discussion of the various headings and then provides a discussion of how theory was incorporated and applied in and to the assessment of the young child.
2. Reasons and rationale for psychological assessment in early childhood
The
1. Introduction - reasons and rationale for psychological assessment in early childhood
The assessment of the development and learning of young children (two and a half to six years old) and infants (birth to approximately two years old), is a complex, lengthy, and often multi-professional process. Several factors, such as cultural differences, language barriers, accessibility to developmental tools such as books, television, toys, media, etc. and the accessibility to and functionality of social structures including friends, family, peer groups and the community influence the rate at which a child develops and learns. Consequently, assessment of infants, toddlers, and young children requires sensitivity to and knowledge of the child's background as well as knowledge of testing limitations and procedures applicable to young children.
This essay addresses the reasons and rationale for psychological assessment of young children and infants. In addition, it also investigates the differences between tests for infants and preschoolers as well as the content areas of typical tests and provides examples of appropriate tests. Furthermore, the essay discusses the issues relating to the predictive validity of infant tests, the difficulties inherent in testing small children, factors that need to be considered when interpreting test results and ethical considerations in early childhood assessment.
The above discussion incorporates the writer’s experiences in conducting a test on a five year old girl-child as well as the findings from this test to illustrate the theoretical principles discussed. The paper presents first a comprehensive theoretical discussion of the various headings and then provides a discussion of how theory was incorporated and applied in and to the assessment of the young child.
2. Reasons and rationale for psychological assessment in early childhood
The