Week 6 — Where Did the Toy Go? Reading Infant Thinking, First Words, and Checklists

Assignment 6 of the term — count the running case's hidings, work the two substage windows and the checklist rule, read records R2 and R3 against them, and explain a milestone checklist to a worried parent.

This adaptive assignment uses a coaching dialogue to help you turn a first attempt into a clear, evidence-based report. You remain the author. The coach asks questions, checks the reasoning you show, and waits for you to revise before it produces the required report. This week's lecture tutorial, quiz, discussion, and Child Observation Workshop practice the same ideas from other angles; this assignment is where you put them together. It builds on Week 3's habit of keeping what a child did apart from what it might mean, and on Week 5's rule that every age is a range, never a deadline.

The task

The running case is an illustrative, unnamed child built for this course; it describes no real child. Record R2 was written at 9 months in the family home, with a parent present: the infant finds a toy twice under the left cloth, watches it hidden under the right cloth, then searches under the left cloth again, and babbles "ba-ba-ba". Record R3 was written at 14 months at a childcare center's morning drop-off: the toddler says "ball", "up", and "more". Dataset D, the standard Piaget tasks, gives the typical earlier and later responses on the A-not-B task. The CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early." checklists were revised in 2022 so that each lists what most children (75 percent or more) do by an age.

A parent of a 14-month-old (illustrative) reads the CDC's 15-month checklist early, sees an item the toddler does not do yet, and says, "So my child is behind." Your job is to answer the way a child development student would, starting from a few plain numbers.

Work these four problems, showing your arithmetic:

1. In record R2 of the running case, the toy is hidden 2 times under the left cloth and then 1 time under the right cloth. How many hidings are there in all?
2. In Dataset D, Piaget's fourth sensorimotor substage, whose typical A-not-B response is to search under A, runs from about 8 months to about 12 months. How many months wide is that approximate window?
3. In Dataset D, Piaget's fifth sensorimotor substage, whose typical A-not-B response is to search under B, runs from about 12 months to about 18 months. How many months wide is that approximate window?
4. The CDC's 2022 milestone checklists list what most children (75 percent or more) do by an age. If at least 75 of every 100 children do a listed milestone by that age, how many of every 100 children may not yet do it?

Beside each count, add one brief interpretation:

• Problem 1: name cloth A and cloth B and identify R2's search under the left cloth as the A-not-B error, writing what the infant did apart from what it might mean, and explain that finding the toy twice already shows object permanence, which grows in steps rather than all at once.
• Problem 2: place record R2's search at 9 months inside the fourth sensorimotor substage, and explain that Piaget's stage names and their order are fixed while the ages are approximate, never a timetable.
• Problem 3: state the typical fifth-substage response on the A-not-B task, and explain what the later looking-time research adds to Piaget's account, as a refinement rather than a refutation.
• Problem 4: state the CDC's 2022 checklist rule as the body states it: each checklist lists what most children (75 percent or more) do by that age, and checklists were added for 15 and 30 months.

Explain it to a non-expert

Write a 3–5 sentence message to the parent. Explain, in everyday words, what a checklist item means under the CDC's 2022 rule, how many of every 100 children may not yet do a listed item, and that a missed item is a reason to talk with the child's health professional, never a diagnosis. You may add that understanding words usually runs ahead of saying them, as R3's 3 first words remind you. Name one limit, such as that this course never judges whether a real child is behind and that questions about one child belong with that family's health professional. Be respectful: the parent is paying close attention, which is a good thing. More than one good message is possible.

For a different, ungraded example, imagine a friend whose library hold notice says "most holds arrive within two weeks," and it has now been sixteen days. Model message: "The notice describes what usually happens, not a promise for every hold, so a hold that takes longer is not lost. A few extra days is not a sign that anything went wrong. The useful next step is to ask the library desk, because the notice cannot tell you about your one book."

Use that pattern for the parent, with your own wording and evidence.

Your reflection. After you revise, write two or three sentences on one of these, your choice: (a) which problem changed how you would describe a baby's thinking or talking, and why; or (b) which word or phrase in your first draft you replaced, and what the new wording gets right.

Part 1 — Student instructions

1. Draft all four counts, the four brief interpretations, and your message to the parent before opening a chatbot.
2. Open any course-approved chatbot. Copy the entire Coach Prompt box, including its first and last marker lines, and paste it as one message. The coach will ask for your draft and then work one question at a time.
3. Answer in your own words. Show calculations when asked. Use the coach's feedback to revise at least one calculation or explanation, even if your first attempt was correct.
4. Continue until the prompt's exit condition is met, and write your reflection.
5. Save the chat's share link and copy the final report exactly as the coach gives it.

The chatbot is a coach, not a ghostwriter. It must draw out your reasoning rather than write the work for you.

Coach Prompt

COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE
ROLE: You are a careful learning coach for an introductory child development course. Draw out and challenge MY thinking about infant cognitive and language development: the running case's records, Piaget's sensorimotor substages and the A-not-B task, the later looking-time research, and the CDC's 2022 milestone checklists. Do not write my assignment for me, do not invent work I did not show, never invent an age norm, a study, a researcher's name, a statistic, a quotation, or a guideline, write every age as an approximate range rather than a deadline, never judge any real child as ahead or behind, and never treat a checklist item as a diagnosis.

ASSIGNMENT: Work through these four problems in order, one at a time. Do not invent, replace, or reorder a problem. The data: the running case, an illustrative child built for this course, whose record R2 (9 months, family home) finds a toy twice under the left cloth, watches it hidden under the right cloth, then searches under the left cloth again, and babbles "ba-ba-ba", and whose record R3 (14 months, childcare center) says "ball", "up", and "more"; Dataset D's A-not-B task, in which the fourth sensorimotor substage (about 8 to 12 months) typically searches under A and the fifth (about 12 to 18 months) typically searches under B; and the CDC's 2022 rule that each checklist lists what most children (75 percent or more) do by an age, with checklists added for 15 and 30 months.
PROBLEM P1: In record R2 of the running case, the toy is hidden 2 times under the left cloth and then 1 time under the right cloth. How many hidings are there in all?
PROBLEM P2: In Dataset D, Piaget's fourth sensorimotor substage, whose typical A-not-B response is to search under A, runs from about 8 months to about 12 months. How many months wide is that approximate window?
PROBLEM P3: In Dataset D, Piaget's fifth sensorimotor substage, whose typical A-not-B response is to search under B, runs from about 12 months to about 18 months. How many months wide is that approximate window?
PROBLEM P4: The CDC's 2022 milestone checklists list what most children (75 percent or more) do by an age. If at least 75 of every 100 children do a listed milestone by that age, how many of every 100 children may not yet do it?
After the four counts, I must briefly interpret each one: for P1, cloths A and B named and R2's search read as the A-not-B error with behavior written apart from interpretation, plus finding the toy twice as object permanence that grows in steps; for P2, R2's 9 months placed inside the fourth substage, plus stage names and order as fixed and ages as approximate; for P3, the typical fifth-substage response, plus the looking-time research as a refinement of Piaget rather than a refutation; for P4, the CDC's 2022 checklist rule stated as the body states it. I must then write a 3-5 sentence message to a parent who reads one missed checklist item as proof that a 14-month-old is behind, explaining the rule and that a missed item is a reason to talk with a health professional, with one limit. I must explain technical terms in everyday words, and then write a short reflection on my revision.

SCORING CRITERIA: Score only evidence I supply: working the counts and the windows (40 points), reading the records and the checklist (32 points), clarity for a non-expert reader (16 points), and showing work so it can be checked (12 points). For each of P1-P4, give 2, 1, or 0 evidence units per criterion; one unit is worth 5 working points, 4 reading points, 2 clarity points, or 1.5 showing-work points. Sum all four problems within each criterion. Count my message to the parent only with P4, not again with P1-P3.
WORKING UNITS: A correct count or window width = 2; the right two values and operation with only an arithmetic slip = 1; a missing count or the wrong values or operation = 0. Do not penalize an alternative valid method or equivalent correct notation.
READING UNITS: For P1-P3 separately, an interpretation that meets both parts named for that problem = 2; exactly one part = 1; neither = 0. For P4, BOTH the CDC's 2022 rule stated as the body states it AND a message to the parent that reads a missed item as a reason to talk with a health professional and names a limit = 2. If full P4 evidence is absent but at least one accurate substantive part appears, give 1. No accurate reading = 0; naming a term alone does not earn a unit, and a real child judged as ahead or behind, an age stated as a deadline, a stage age read as exact, or a checklist item read as a diagnosis is not accurate. An arithmetic slip alone is not a reading error.
CLARITY UNITS: For each problem, labeled evidence understandable to someone new to child development, with technical terms explained = 2; intelligible evidence that needs rereading because of ambiguity or jargon = 1; absent or unintelligible evidence = 0. Include the message to the parent with P4 if submitted. Missing reasoning alone does not lower clarity for otherwise clear submitted work.
SHOWING-WORK UNITS: For each problem, the two values and the operation shown so it can be checked = 2; a relevant but incomplete value or step = 1; a bare final number or no method = 0. A visible method stays checkable despite an arithmetic slip.

Do NOT invent grading rules.

DIALOGUE RULES: Ask exactly one question per message and wait for my reply. Start by asking for my complete first attempt. Build each next question from my exact words. Probe an unsupported claim and ask me to examine its evidence. Keep the conversation focused on questions rather than completed work.

ENGAGEMENT GUARDS: A greeting, copied prompt, yes/no reply, or one-word reply is not a substantive exchange. Do not flatter or accept agreement as evidence. Praise only a concrete move I made. If evidence is missing, say what is missing and ask for it. Require a real revision plus a short reflection on why the revision is better. Do not issue the report early.

EXIT CONDITION: Continue until at least five substantive exchanges have occurred AND I have supplied all four counts and their brief interpretations AND written my message to the parent AND revised at least one calculation or explanation AND reflected on the revision. Stop only after whichever requirement happens last.

REPORT: After the exit condition is satisfied, output exactly these labelled lines in this order. Replace X with the exact earned score; it may end in .5 and must not be rounded to a whole number. Base every line only on evidence in this chat; write "Not supplied" for missing evidence and never raise the score for polished chatbot prose.
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
EVIDENCE FOR THE SCORE: [specific evidence from my counts and reasoning]
REVISION MADE: [what I changed and why]
STRENGTH: [one earned strength]
NEXT STEP: [one concrete improvement]
Then tell me to submit this report, my revised work, and the share link.
COPY EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE

Deliverables

Submit these three items in the assignment entry:

• your revised work with all four counts, their brief interpretations, your message to the parent, and your reflection — written, or recorded as audio or video with a transcript, or as a labelled sketch of the two substage windows with a short explanation; every form is graded by the same scoring criteria;
• the coach's five-line report; and
• the conversation share link.

Submit in any accessible file type or as a link; a recorded response may be submitted as audio or video with a transcript, or as text.

Equivalent route (no AI required)

This route assesses the same Week 6 skills — counting and placing the running case's A-not-B search on Dataset D, reading Piaget's substage ages as approximate, describing the looking-time research as a refinement, keeping what a child did apart from what it might mean, and stating the CDC's 2022 checklist rule as the body states it — for comparable time and effort, about 60 to 90 minutes, the same as the coached route. Complete the same four problems, the four brief interpretations, the message to the parent, and the reflection. Then audit your own first draft against the attached scoring criteria, criterion by criterion, and write a second draft. Add a 150–200 word revision memo that names one count or explanation you changed, the evidence that prompted the change, and one question you still have about the substages or the checklists. Submit the revised work, your completed criteria checklist, and the revision memo in the assignment entry; together they replace the share link and the coach's report. This route uses the same scoring criteria and the same points, with no penalty for choosing it.

How you'll be graded

The full analytic rubric is attached to this assignment in Canvas.

Academic integrity and AI use

The counts, reasoning, revision, and final report must be your own. Do not ask the chatbot to create the assignment or add evidence you did not produce, and do not let it state a stage age as exact, read the A-not-B error as no object permanence at all, call the looking-time research a refutation, or read a missed checklist item as a diagnosis. Submit an honest share link from your own dialogue. The equivalent route keeps the same workload and evidence and requires no AI account.

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