Today we introduced the theorists associated with Child Development. There are five major theorists, we discussed Jean Piaget and his cognitive theory. We also covered, behavioral, social, psychosexual and psychosocial. We identified similarities and differences for each. We also discussed how a therapist would use these theories as part of their practice when assessing a child.

Abby was off site testing at Palm Beach. I worked on site preparing notes and reviewing her journal entries while waiting for her to return. She arrived as our scheduled session would be ending. I provided her with copies from the text and three discussion questions for review during our next class.

Today we focused the session on child development, assessment of children and the use of play therapy. We revisited Bandura's modeling and explored how it closely supports play therapy for children. This class introduced Piaget and will continue with his theory during next session.

Today we started the class with a writing exercise. We spent five minutes freely writing whatever came to mind during that time. Following the five minutes we exchanged writing and compared. We discussed each and incorporated psychology terms as they related to the topics in the paper. We also observed the pre-k students as they walked through the school in their costumes, and received candy as they visited each classroom. We then discussed our observations.

Today we began discussing child development and assessment of children. We introduced the term flight or fight, coping skills, and problem solving techniques. We listed common diagnosis given to children and the stigma that can follow. I explained why it is important to be conservative in diagnosing a child. Even with adults it is important to be conservative but the point with children being, they are constantly developing and changing through childhood into adulthood.

Today Abby completed a 15 question quiz. Ten questions were multiple choice and fill in the blank, and the remaining 5 were essay. Abby completed the quiz 14/15. In addition to the quiz, we reviewed an article from the text book discussing happiness and the findings from research. We each completed the four questions prior to reading the article, Abby answered all as true and I had 2 true and 2 false. To both our surprises, the research supported the questions as all being false.

Today, we concluded the topic of personality. We introduced introspection and interpersonal. We discussed the similarities and differences. We also discussed happiness and passion as they relate to personality. We introduced into the discussion differences between male and female personalities.

We continued discussing personality, and concluded the session with a full recap. We reviewed the theorists and their work, Bandura with modeling, B.F. Skinner with conditioning, Alfred Alport with traits, Maslow, Jung, Freud, and Erikson. We summarized how an assessment is conducted with the interview, observation, testing and a report. I brought in samples of the WAIS-III, MMPI-II, and the Rorschach bringing together the complete assessment for a patient/client.

We briefly reviewed the bios and theories for these psychologists, specifically as they relate to personality, B.F. Skinner, Alfred Alder, Carl Jung, Karen Horney, Abraham Maslow, Bandura and Gordon Alport. Our primary focus was with Gordon Alport and his work regarding traits. We discussed traits vs. habits and our innate abilities. We continued with identifying the differences between coping and expressive behavior.

Today we discussed personality with feelings, behavior and thinking. We identified similarities, and differences between the three. We discussed how these three elements can be impacted by one's culture or religious beliefs. We revisited the nurture/nature theory and how it applies to personality. We discussed personality tests/inventories used by therapists and how they are an additional component to aid in assessing an individual.