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Robbie is exploring a Jack-in-the-box toy with his caregiver. The caregiver patiently works to extend his understanding of how the Jack-in-the-box works. Notice that she invites Robbie to explore by demonstrating both the procedure (cranking the handle) and the effect (Jack pops up). She is careful to make the end-state clear. Robbie imitates the action modeled by his caregiver, but he is uncertain about how long he must wind the toy before Jack pops up and quickly becomes frustrated. Observe how the caregiver helps Robbie work through this source of tension. Learn how she helps Robbie slow down and persevere long enough to obtain his objective. By studying the child’s variations on what he sees the caregiver demonstrate we are able to understand the complexity of his task and identify the levels through which he passes in order to gain understanding.

Keywords: Twos, Teaching, Child-Teacher, Cause/Effect, Imitation

Length of stand alone master video clip: 2 minutes 22 seconds