Create and analyze a 1–2-page simulated case study of a child with developmental challenges, aged 2–5 years old.

Assignment: Early and Middle Childhood Case Intervention Analysis

Question Description
Create and analyze a 1–2-page simulated case study of a child with developmental challenges, aged 2–5 years old. Then, create a 5–7-page intervention plan based on evidence-based strategies that have proven effective in similar cases and make projections of possible long-term impacts that current challenges may produce across the individual’s lifespan.

Early childhood begins at the end of toddlerhood, at approximately age 2, and continues until middle childhood begins with formal school entry at age 5 or 6. During this period, there are greater changes in cognitive development than any other period of life. At the same time, family relationships provide individuals with their earliest social experiences. Attachment patterns developed during early childhood influence an individual’s ability to successfully develop and maintain peer and adult relationships throughout the lifespan.

PART 1: CREATE THE CASE: EARLY CHILDHOOD
Create a simulated case study, relevant to your area of specialization, of a pre-school child, 2–5 years of age, who presents developmental challenges related to factors described by Piaget’s or Vygotsky’s developmental milestones and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory.

Your case study should be 1–2 pages in length and it should describe:

The child’s strengths and challenges.
The medical, family, and social context.
The developmental challenges evident in the behavior of the child.
Individual and cultural factors that theory and/or research indicate could impact the child’s development.
Any other factors you deem appropriate based on your understanding of the theory and related research.
To develop this case, you should:

Explore theory and research related to early childhood development in the cognitive domain.
Use either Piaget or Vygotsky to describe those age- or stage-related milestones expected at the age of your selected child.
Develop your case by creating a challenge for the child in the cognitive domain in early childhood. Describe what the child struggles with in not meeting the expected theoretical milestones in the cognitive domain.
Explore, through theory and research, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of the various systems that can influence development. Describe the typical influences in those systems that would likely be most evident for a child in the preschool years.
Develop your case study further by creating an environmental context for the child in specific systems in Bronfenbrenner’s theory. Include any specific issues that you want to explore through research, such as influences of a specific culture or ethnicity, specific socioeconomic status, family structure, attachment issues, and neighborhood context.
Maintain a resource list of the materials you consulted to build your case.
Follow current APA guidelines for style and formatting, as well as for citing your resources. Include a reference list of the scholarly resources you use.

PART 2: CASE INTERVENTION ANALYSIS: EARLY CHILDHOOD
Research
Complete the following:

Research evidence-based interventions that have been effective in meeting the challenges of the child you described in your case study, from the perspective of your own professional specialization (as far as possible).
Explain how the deficits in the cognitive and other developmental domains affect development in early childhood.
Explain how the environmental contexts impact development and functioning.
State the recommended interventions that align with your specialization.
Include evidence for those outcomes from the professional literature.
Explore briefly the literature on cognitive development over time, considering that early influences can impact development across the lifespan.
Explain, from the perspective of your specialization, how the early cognitive challenges could be manifested across the lifespan.
Explain how (or whether) this might help in understanding and determining an approach to working with an individual who had early cognitive challenges.
STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT
Use the following format to structure your report:

Title page.
A descriptive title of 5–15 words that concisely communicates the purpose of your report and includes the name of the fictional subject. Be sure to follow Capella’s suggested format for title pages on course papers.
Introduction.
An overview of the paper contents, including a brief summary (approximately half a page) of the background information regarding the case study. (The complete 1–2-page case you developed will be included as an appendix.)
Body of the report.
The presenting challenges and primary issues.
An analysis of how lifespan development theory and research may account for the presenting cognitive challenges. Highlight why the child is developing as described.
A description of your selected child with attention to age-expected outcomes in cognitive development, as well as specific challenges the child has in not meeting those milestones.
A description of the factors in the child’s environment linked to Bronfenbrenner’s theory that have an impact on his or her overall development.
An assessment of the potential impact of individual and cultural differences on development for the current age and context described in the case study.
Evidence-based interventions that have been effective in meeting the described challenges of your selected child, from the perspective of your own professional specialization.
An explanation of how the deficits in the cognitive domain or environmental contexts impact functioning in other domains, such as social or emotional development (considering that in developing your case, the theoretical emphasis was on the cognitive domain).
Recommended interventions that align with your specialization. Include evidence for those outcomes from the professional literature.
Projections, based on research and/or theory, of possible long-term impacts that the current challenges may produce across the individual’s lifespan.
Conclusion.
A summary of what was introduced in the body of the paper with respect to the case study context, challenges, and interventions.
Reference page.
A minimum of five scholarly sources from current peer-reviewed journals, formatted in current APA style.
Appendix.
The simulated case study you created in Part 1.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Your paper should meet the following requirements:

Written communication: Write coherently to support central ideas, in appropriate APA format, and with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Length of paper: 5–7 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page, references page, or case study appendix.
References: At least five scholarly resources (peer-reviewed journals).
APA format: Follow current APA guidelines for style and formatting, as well as for citing your resources in the body of your paper and in alphabetical order on the references page.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 points.
Note: In graduate-level writing, you should minimize the use of direct quotes. Lengthy quotes do not count toward assessment minimums. It is your interpretation of the material and its application to practice that is assessed.

APA RESOURCES
Because this is a psychology course, you must format this assessment according to APA guidelines, since it is the writing style of the profession. Use the following resources to guide your work. Additional resources about APA can be found in the Research Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

APA Paper Template [DOCX].
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
This book is available from the Capella University Bookstore.
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SUGGESTED RESOURCES
The resources provided here are optional and support the assessment. They provide helpful information about the topics. You may use other resources of your choice to prepare for this assessment; however, you will need to ensure that they are appropriate, credible, and valid. The PSY-FP7210 – Lifespan Development Library Guide can help direct your research. The Supplemental Resources and Research Resources, both linked from the left navigation menu in your courseroom, provide additional resources to help support you.

Child Development Theories
You may use the following resources to learn about how child development theories address cognitive development, attachment, language, and the child’s interaction with the whole environment (systems).

FMG Video.
Child Development Theorists: Freud to Erikson to Spock . . . and Beyond | Transcript.
This video was purchased through Films Media Group for use in this Capella course. Any distribution of video content or associated links is prohibited.
Ecological Systems Theory | Transcript.
WGBH Educational Foundation. (Producer). (2001). Discovering psychology: Language development [Video] | Transcript. Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/series/discoveringpsycholog…
This video is part of series that, although recorded several years ago, presents seminal ideas.
Early Childhood and Individual and Cultural Influences on Development
These resources provide both introductory information and additional depth about individual and cultural influences on early childhood development.

Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2015). The life span: Human development for helping professionals (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
This resource is available from the Capella University Bookstore.
Chapter 3, “Cognitive Development in the Early Years,” pages 78–123.
Chapter 4, “Emotional Development in the Early Years,” pages 124–167.
Chapter 5, “The Emerging Self and Socialization in the Early Years,” pages 168–201.
Chapter 6, “Realms of Cognition in Middle Childhood” pages 202–243.
SchoolsWorldTV. (Producer). (n.d.). Creativity [Video] | Transcript. Retrieved from http://www.schoolsworld.tv/node/2191?terms=737
TED Conferences, LLC. (2010). Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/temple_grandin_the_world_…
TED Conferences, LLC. (2008). Stuart Brown: Play is more than fun [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/stuart_brown_sa…
FreshConcentrate. (Producer). (n.d.). New York now: Over scheduled kids 1 [Video] | Transcript. Retrieved from
FreshConcentrate. (Producer). (n.d.). New York now: Over scheduled kids 2 [Video] | Transcript. Retrieved from
Sample Research on Individual and Cultural Influences on Early Childhood Development
The following articles are examples of current research on individual or cultural influences on development. Search the Capella library to select articles specific to the focus of your topic.

â??Borghans, L., Golsteyn, B. H. H., & Zölitz, U. (2015). School quality and the development of cognitive skills between age four and six. PLoS ONE, 10(7), 1–20.
Bremner, A. J., Doherty, M. J., Caparos, S., de Fockert, J., Linnell, K. J., & Davidoff, J. (2016). Effects of culture and the urban environment on the development of the Ebbinghaus illusion. Child Development, 87(3), 962–981.
Brosseau-Liard, P. É. (2017). The roots of critical thinking: Selective learning strategies in childhood and their implications. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 58(3), 263–270.
Caughy, M. O., Mills, B., Owen, M. T., Dyer, N., & Oshri, A. (2017). Ethnic differences in mothering qualities and relations to academic achievement. Journal of Family Psychology, 31(7), 855–866.
Heberle, A. E., & Carter, A. S. (2015). Cognitive aspects of young children’s experience of economic disadvantage. Psychological Bulletin, 141(4), 723–746.
Howe, N., Della Porta, S., Recchia, H., & Ross, H. (2016). “Because if you don’t put the top on, it will spill”: A longitudinal study of sibling teaching in early childhood. Developmental Psychology, 52(11), 1832–1842.
McCoy, D. C., Zuilkowski, S. S., & Fink, G. (2015). Poverty, physical stature, and cognitive skills: Mechanisms underlying children’s school enrollment in Zambia. Developmental Psychology, 51(5), 600–614.
Whedon, M., Perry, N. B., Calkins, S. D., & Bell, M. A. (2016). Changes in frontal EEG coherence across infancy predict cognitive abilities at age 3: The mediating role of attentional control. Developmental Psychology, 52(9), 1341–1352.
Sample Research on Interventions for Cognitive Development Challenges in Early Childhood
These articles provide a sample of current scholarly research on interventions for cognitive development challenges in early childhood. Search the Capella library to select articles specific to the focus of your topic.

Goodvin, R., & Lee, S. C. (2017). Promises and pitfalls of evidence-based policymaking: Observations from a nonpartisan legislative policy research institute. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 23(4), 490–502.
Nagle, G. A., & Usry, L. R. (2016). Using public health strategies to shape early childhood policy. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 86(2), 171–178.;
Niklas, F., Cohrssen, C., & Tayler, C. (2016). Parents supporting learning: A non-intensive intervention supporting literacy and numeracy in the home learning environment. International Journal of Early Years Education, 24(2), 121–142.
Wheeler, N., & Dillman Taylor, D. (2016). Integrating interpersonal neurobiology with play therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 25(1), 24–34.