Select one individual from each of the following life span divisions:

Early childhood

Middle childhood through adolescence

Adulthood

A total of three observations, one for each life span division, must be completed. You should use the Observation Form.

Assign a code name to the individual selected at each division of the life span to protect the identity of the subject. The name will usually reflect a characteristic of the individual as illustrated in names such as Miss Brown Eyes or Giggles.

Observations should be completed in a public area such as a day care, hospital, gym, school, retirement center, church group, athletic practice, or workplace.

To ensure the protection of the student, the signature of a supervisor (school principal, supervising nurse, gym instructor, etc.) or contact information (including address or telephone number) must be provided.

Note to deployed students: Age-appropriate characters from family-rated videos may be used as alternate subjects.

Specific, objective descriptions of behavior must be provided in each category.

This is a clinical style report.

Do not state an opinion or make a judgment concerning the behavior; instead, simply describe the behavior observed.

Note: Young children move rapidly and produce a great deal of observable data very quickly. Older adults may take longer to observe in order to complete each aspect of the observation.

Use the following guidance in recording observations:

Be as objective as possible.

Statements such as, "He is very smart" are insufficient.

Be descriptive and provide specifics such as, "He uses sentences which contain five words," "She can count to ten with one to one correspondence," or "He recalls the discussion on the editorial page of yesterday's newspaper."