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PEOPEP

PEPSI Screening

Hannelore Rogers

Professor Rochelle Hooks

Education 220

June 14, 2015

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Biography on Individual Child

The child being observed is a female of 12 years of age. Her name is

Marissa Pena and she lives with her biological parents who are married

and has an older sister. She is a full blooded Filipino. Her father and

mother were born in the Philippines, but became U.S. citizens through

naturalization. She comes from an upper class family and her whole

familys first language is English. She does not speak her parents native

languages (Filipino or Illocano), but can only understand and say a few

words or phrases. She has black hair, dark brown eyes, weighs 84 pounds,

and is four feet and seven inches tall. She was born December 13, 2002 in

Las Vegas, Nevada. Marissa has attended the same elementary school

(Fredrick Watson Elementary) from grades Kindergarten to fifth grade and

is now attending a Junior high school (Findlay Middle School). Both her

parents have gone to college and stress the importance of getting good

grades in school. Her mother attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo

and has an accounting degree. Her fathers work and expertise is in

Information System Technologies. He is a contractor for the military and

can be gone up to six or so months out of the year due to work so her and

her sister are raised by their stay at home mom.

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Physical Development

The website called Kids Growth states many growth milestones for

children at the age of 12. Important physical and sexual changes occur

during their adolescent years. There is a genital maturation that occurs

within their bodies. Girls grow buds of breast, their hips and/or things take

shape due to fat deposits, vaginal lubrication increases, pubic hairs start

to appear and grow, and they may begin to menstruate. Girls at this age

will most likely be preoccupied with attractiveness and will therefore try to

change their appearance through dieting or an overly use of makeup.

Anorexia and bulimia may occur during this age as well if a child struggles

with low self-esteem and has no open communication with a healthy

support system. Marissa is already wearing a training bra due to her chest

growth spurt. Her hips and things have definitely increased in shape

compared to when she was 9 years of age. Her pubic hairs are growing

and she has begun her monthly cycle. Although she is not allowed to wear

makeup yet, she is concerned (more than she was before at a younger

age) of her attractiveness. She has already been in the practice of dieting.

It is important to note that she has not subjected her body to starvation,

but is aware of what she eats and how much she eats. She will deprive

herself of sweets and desserts. There are no signs of anorexia or bulimia.

Her everyday eating schedule consists of 3 meals a day and she gets a
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variety of nutrition from the food pyramid (fish and seafood, grains, fruits,

vegetables, dairy, and meats with other protein sources). She gets

adequate rest every night (8 or more hours) especially during the school

year. Although she is provided with healthy choices of food, she is not in

the habit of exercising. She struggles with flexibility and has no idea of

how to even do a proper push up, let alone do it. She gets easily winded

during physical activities and has no real motivation or support to start

and continue the healthy choice of exercising.

Emotional Development

Marissa is 12 years old and is showing real and obvious signs of

undergoing Eriksons Stage IV of Emotional Development. In our

textbook, Educational Psychology, this stage is labelled Industry versus

Inferiority which children from 6-12 years of age typically pass through (p.

50). This stage expands and broadens a childs social world with the entry

of school. The child becomes more aware of the influence of teachers and

peers on his/her life. Marissa grew up in a typical Asian (Filipino) home

where parents stress the importance of doing well in schools i.e. working

hard in school, completing homework, achieving good grades, and joining

a program offered by the school typically aimed at students who have the

determination to succeed, or become a part of a math or science club.

Marissa feels the pressure exerted at home and the pressure she puts on

herself to do well. She works hard at school, goes the extra mile on all her

assignments and homework by exceeding requirements, and is part of the

AVID program held at her school. You can see she takes pride in the
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success of her abilities which Erikson calls a sense of industry (p. 50).

She struggles with facing or feeling failure. When she did not get the

Magnet school placement she originally wanted which she studied

diligently for the test, she withdrew emotionally not wanting to talk about

it or display emotion such as crying. Only later on was she able to speak

about it, but only in a few words. However, she is extremely sensitive

when she fails to meet the expectations of others that have nothing to do

with school work. In those times (failure to remember or do something her

parents told her to do, etc.), she exhibits great emotion such as crying.

Erikson speaks of this failure that creates a negative self-image and a

sense of inadequacy that may hinder future learning (p. 50).

Philosophical Development

This area of development focuses on moral judgement and reasoning. I

will be addressing Piagets and Kohlbergs stages of moral

development/reasoning found within our course textbook. Marissa adheres

to rules even in the absence of her parents and insists her sister follows

them as well. There are times when she will make an exception due and

only to serve a personal interest. She gets frustrated when her sibling

does not follow a house rule because her sister does not seemingly

understand the relevance or importance of a rule. She often tells on her

sister when her sister does not abide by a rule. She is conscious and

aware of the difference between them. Here you see, heteronomous

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morality (stage of egocentrism) and autonomous morality (differing views)

(p.52) overlapping to a small degree. She used to think that her sister

viewed the rules as she does, however as she grew up, she is realizing

that her sister views rules quite differently. Marissa frequently engages in

autonomous morality or morality of cooperation especially when playing

games. She understands that rules help to keep the game in order and

often engages in discussion of changing a rule or developing a new one to

benefit all players and/or to add a new challenge to the game. When it

comes to Kohlbergs stages of moral reasoning, Marissa heavily leans

towards preconventional level of morality, but shows signs of progressing

towards conventional level of morality. Preconventional stage is when a

child simply obeys to avoid being punished. The child weighs the interest

of all parties, but is still looking out for herself (p. 54). Conventional stage

is when a child is able to put him/herself into another persons shoes and

therefore is more likely and willing to cooperate with others when making

a moral decision (p. 52). Most of the time, Marissa will follow the rules

especially house rules almost without any hesitation. However, there are

times when she will bend the rules (and not tell her parents) out of

sympathy for her sister accompanied with a desire to serve a self-interest.

Social Development

Since Marissa is 12 years of age and is now in Junior high school, the

importance of acceptance (which is a key word regarding personal and

social development) (p. 58) from her peers has dramatically increased.

When she is at home and is not pre-occupied with chores or homework,

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she is constantly on her phone either texting her friends, talking to her

friends via face-time, or scrolling through her social media site such as

Instragram. When we go out somewhere, her and her friends are

constantly updating each other by the hour on their whereabouts and

what they are doing. If she deems something to be Instagram update

worthy, she snaps a picture of what she is doing, eating, wearing, or

where she is at and uploads it on Instagram. She shares or gets approval

of her outfits from her friends via text. Peer acceptance is massive in its

influence on children. It is considered to be one of the important aspects

of peer relations (p. 59). When I asked Marissa why she was on a diet

again, she did not want to tell me at first the real reason, but eventually

after asking the right questions, I discovered it was because some of her

friends said she was fat. She does, however, understand that friendship is

based on mutual support, care, loyalty, and mutual give-and-take. This

understanding typically begins as children enter middle childhood and

their friendships become more stable and reciprocal and friends are

described in terms of personal traits (p. 59). This one time, I asked her if

she got a new best friend because she was not talking to her best friend

as much and talking more to this new friend to which she replied, She

just got so mean, referring to her former best friend. According to James

Marcias four identity statutes, Marissa falls within the foreclosure status.

In this status, an individual has not yet experienced an identity crisis, but

has prematurely established an identity on the basis of their parents

choices rather than on their own (p. 61). Marissas mother chose purple as

Marissas favorite color as a baby. Her clothes, toys, bedding, etc. were
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chosen in that color since she was a baby. Even after being exposed to

other colors, Marissa still claims that as her favorite color. She wants to

pursue culinary arts because that is what she is mostly exposed to at

home (cooking shows, etc.) due to mothers interest in them.

Intellectual Development

First, I will address Gardners multiple intelligences which consists of

nine multiple intelligences such as the following: Logical/mathematical,

Linguistic, Existential, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Musical, Spatial,

Bodily/kinesthetic, and Naturalistic (p. 92). Marissa shows success in

logical/mathematical, linguistic, and interpersonal intelligences. She does

very well in math, articulate both in speaking and writing, and she is open

and friendly which helps her interact well with others. She can reflect on

abstract ideas fairly to a certain degree with a few struggles, can sing on

pitch, and easily follow rhythm and melody, but struggles with harmony. I

believe she struggles with intrapersonal intelligence the most. This is

when an individual is able to recognize and apply ones thoughts, feelings,

and interests (p. 92). It is difficult for her to pin point why she made a

certain decision (her intention when making that decision), acted in a

certain way (like an outburst of yelling when someone innocently teases

her), or why she is feeling a certain way (for instance where is her

frustration stemming from). These intelligences are not to be considered

as single entities, but rather a combination of strengths and weaknesses

(p. 92). Her learning style is mainly visual and kinesthetic. She is confident

in solving a problem if she can see visuals and be able to work and
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practice them. When addressing Sternbergs three types of intellectual

abilities, Marissa excels in analytical and practical, but struggles with

creative. Analytical is measured by academic problem solving (analyze,

evaluate, compare/contrast). Practical is measured by the ability to grasp,

understand, and deal with everyday tasks. While creative involves insights

and the ability to think creatively and allows people to adjust creatively

and effectively in new situations or environments (Sternberg, 2008).

Marissa, as I have stated before, excels in her academics and is efficient

at tackling everyday tasks due to chores and experience learned at home

and elsewhere. However, she struggles with adjusting to new situations or

environments. She is a very by the books type of person. When rules

and/or expectations change, she has a hard time adjusting since she is so

accustomed to the norm of her old environments.

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PEPSI Graph

PEPSI Graph Showing Marissa's Initial Profile

100%

90%

80%

70%

Age
Norm
60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Physical Emotional Philosophical Social Intellectual

Marissa's Development Development

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Recommendations

For optimum physical growth, Marissas parents and teachers should

teach her about the importance and benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle

such as eating healthy and exercising for weight management and to

have an open communication of the physical and sexual changes she is

going through (how it is normal and that abstinence is normal and

healthy). Her parents can be a part of that healthy lifestyle (eating healthy

and exercising) with her and be role models. As for her emotional health,

parents can keep an open communication with her stressing the

importance of her just trying her best versus getting the A grade. It is also

good to note that reminding a child of your unconditional love, support,

and pride in him/her will nurture him/her emotionally. Marissas greatest

challenge is within the Philosophical development. According to Kohlberg,

children pass from the preconventional to the conventional level by age

nine. Rules are needed and are good within the context of keeping order

and fairness for all under the rule. However, Marissa is obedient to a fault.

This very real fear of consequences of failure whether it be academic or

the inability to measure up to ones own standards or standards of others

(parents) and egocentrism (protection only of self) has stunted her

growth. Parents and teachers alike can gently speak to this by

understanding that once she fails, she immediately punishes herself

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emotionally. They can help alleviate that by not stressing her failure to her

any further. This does not mean that it should not be confirmed that what

she did was wrong, but to use a gentle tone and manner assuring her that

it is not the end of the world so to speak. Marissas social development

can improve when her parents and teachers encourage her to try new

things and experiences (all within reason and safety, of course) and even

to choose them and come up with them on her own. She would learn and

benefit greatly from working with peers who do not share most of her

interests and likes. This would expand her exposure to new things and

experiences. When it comes to her intellectual development, Marissa is

above average due to her diligence and drive to get good grades. It would

exponentially boost and transform this area of development if teachers

and parents encouraged her to pursue something that she was interested

in learning. There is that motivation to learn and succeed in her, but to

nurture a love of learning should be a focus for her.

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References

Growth Milestones 12 years: Declaration of Independence. (2007, May

08). Kids Growth.

Retrieved from www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?

id=1130

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (11th

ed.). New Jersey:

Pearson

Sternbergs Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. (2004, January 24).

Wilderdom. Retrieved from

www.wilderdom.com/personality/L2-2SternbergTriarchicTheory.html
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