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PEPSI as a Screening Tool

Kelly Enderle

Educational Psychology 220

May 5, 2017
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Biography

Kimberly is a 16-year-old female who is approximately five feet and eight inches tall and

weighs around 168 pounds. She is a slender athletic build with brown hair and blue eyes. She

does wear glasses as they are prescription and she is near sighted. She does have tiny scars on

her arms from where she had a rash recently from not using her medicated steroid cream for her

eczema. She lives with her mom, dad, and two sisters who are the ages of 21 and 20. Kimberly

is the youngest and will be graduating in the summer of 2018. Both of her sisters graduated with

honors and she had mentioned that she wanted to do same.

Kimberly is involved in her high school marching band where she plays the mallet

instrument and the percussion instruments during concert band season. She is extremely talented

and over the course of three years has become the section leader of her section. Normally she is

shy and does not like to open to a lot of people especially people she just meets. With her older

sister, she is very open and can talk to her about anything as if she is her best friend. She

communicates openly with her parents, best friend, and boyfriend. She has a very strong

relationship with everyone in her immediate family, her boyfriend, and her best friend.

Her boyfriend, Danny, is shy as well but has helped Kimberly become more outgoing as

she now does most of the talking in group settings. They have been together for about eight

months now and while they do have their fights about assorted topics, since they have been

together Kimberly has been more outspoken and has the courage to be a leader that she has

wanted to be. Her hobbies include watching sitcoms, listening to music, playing the marimba

(big xylophone looking thing for those of us who are not musically intelligent), and playing

video games on her PlayStation 4.

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Kimberly does have a few medical conditions that have prohibited her from time to time

to miss school and interrupt her learning process. Her medical conditions include: mild gastritis,

which is the inflammation or irritation of the lining of the stomach. The inflammation of the

stomach lining is most frequently caused by a bacterium called H. pylori and can range from

acute to severe. Eczema, which is a condition of the skin where it is extremely itchy and can

cause a mild rash. She has prescribed steroid cream for this condition and it does not affect her

normal day to day activities if she uses the cream per prescription directions.

Physical Development

For every age group, there is a milestone or marker with where they are supposed to be

developmentally. In this case, we will be looking at these markers for the physical development

of a females between the ages of fourteen to seventeen. This age group, according to Snowman,

is age of adolescents or high school. However, modern medicine puts this age group

simultaneously at the same level but extending the starting age to about 10 or 11. The child that

has been observed reaches these milestones. According to Kidshealth.org, girls should begin

puberty between the ages of 9 and 13 including the start of a breast development, menstruation,

body hair, and hormonal changes. However, for some girls these changes can occur later as they

are still not fully developed until the age of about 15.

By the age of 14 or 15 girls should have gotten their first menstruation and should

understand the process fully. For others, this process happens as early as the age of 9. Kimberly,

in this instance, had her first menstruation about the age of 13 but began to see the signs of

puberty around the age of 10 or 11 when she became aware of the development of her breasts

and the need to wear a bra at that time. Along with this age group, there is also a growth spurt.

During the time between the age of 10-14, girls will typically grow approximately 2-4 inches
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more before reaching their adult height according to kidshealth.org, therefore by the age of 14

Kimberly has already reached her maximum height by the time she starts her freshman year of

high school. Compared to boys who continue to grow until the age of 17, girls develop faster

and are more mature because of this process (CDC, 2017).

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Emotional Development

Emotional development is the process of learning to effectively express, regulate, and

cope with ones emotions over time (Salkind, 2008). Kimberly can comprehend her own

personal feelings and how to cope with them as well understand the feelings of others.

Influences of these emotions include: family, temperament (fussiness or fearfulness), peers, and

the parent-child interaction (Salkind, 2008). Erik Ericksons stage of Identity versus Role

Confusion says that at this stage is the development of the roles and skills that will prepare

adolescents to take a meaningful place in adult society (Snowman, 2015). Many high school

students during this age group cannot cope with their emotions and often this can lead to

depression, suicide, substance abuse, and eating disorders.

Depression is a common but serious mental illness typically marked by sad or anxious

feelings. Most students occasionally feel sad or anxious, but these emotions usually pass quickly

within a couple of days. Untreated depression lasts for a long time and interferes with your

day-to-day activities. (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017). Depression can often be

linked to teen suicide. Suicide in general means the taking of life. For adolescents of this age, it

can often be the thought that crosses the mind. Kimberly, who is a straight A student often was

bullied for being more developed and more mature than her peers. She started to self-inflict

which means she was causing herself pain. At one point, she began to contemplate this as she

had mentioned in her interview. After she talked to her parents about how she was feeling, she

got the help she was needing and now can cope with her emotions in a healthier way than before.

But for many others, suicide seems like their only way out of an unpleasant situation and they are

unaware of the programs available to them. Substance abuse can include: drugs like smoking,
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marijuana use, methamphetamine, cocaine use, drinking, and prescription medications.

Kimberly does not do any of the mentioned substance abuse.

Eating disorders in this age group can include: Bulimia nervosa which causes the

uncontrolled rapid eating of copious quantities of food over a brief period, otherwise known as

binge eating, Anorexia nervosa which is the intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted image

of ones body (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Kimberly, who is 16, is comfortable

with the way she looks; however, she still worries about gaining weight even though she binge

eats. So, in a way she falls into both disorder categories although she has not been officially

diagnosed.
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Psychosocial Development

Children, with age, follow the rules of the marble game but the rules are interpreted

differently. This is what Jean Piaget called moral development. Jean Piaget was a clinical

psychologist known for his pioneering work in child development. Children above the ages of

12 regarded rules as necessary, understanding why they are needed, but often formulate their

own variations of the rules to fit a situation. Piaget called this moral relativism.

Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist best known for his theory of stages of

moral development, expanded on Piagets theory of moral relativism (Snowman, 2015). He

believed that moral reasoning proceeds through a fixed sequence of stages. Please see table 1.1

for detailed information. While Kohlberg always believed in the existence of Stage 6 and had

some nominees for it, he could never get enough subjects to define it, much less observe their

longitudinal movement to it. David Moshman, author of Adolescent Psychological

Development, states that in Kohlbergs Theory of Moral Development, moral rightness or

wrongness of actions, as relativists have demonstrated, cannot be evaluated without

consideration of the cultural context within which those actions take place. A child cannot be

punished for something they deem as right when others see it as wrong because of a cultural

difference.

After reviewing these stages, it was observed that Kimberly has reached Kohlbergs stage

4: Law and Order orientation. To maintain the social order, fixed rules must be established and

obeyed. It is essential to respect authority (Snowman, 2015). Her personality is very sweet and

spontaneous. She doesnt allow other people to walk all over and take advantage of her, but she

maintains respect for the authority of her parents and teachers.

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Table 1.1

Level Stage Social Orientation Description

Pre-Conventional 1 Obedience and people behave according to

Punishment socially acceptable norms

because they are told to do so

by some authority figure (e.g.,

parent or teacher).

2 Individualism, a view that right behavior

Instrumentalism, means acting in one's own

and Exchange best interests.

Conventional 3 "Good boy/girl" an attitude which seeks to do

what will gain the approval of

others
4 Law and Order one oriented to abiding by the

law and responding to the

obligations of duty.
Post-Conventional 5 Social Contract an understanding of social

mutuality and a genuine

interest in the welfare of

others
6 Principled respect for universal principle

Conscience and the demands of individual

conscience.
Kohlbergs Theory of Moral Development as depicted by Robert Barger, Ph.D.
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Social Development

While most of society places pressure on 16-year-old girls to act, and look a certain way,

Kimberly is not under that pressure. She does however feel the pressure of her family regarding

college and her future. By this age, most girls start to feel pressure from parents and other adults

for long term plans and from their friends/peers who typically influence their speech patterns,

hairstyles, fashion, etc.

Girls often seem to experience greater anxiety about friendships than boys do (Snowman,

2015). Kimberly has her one best friend who she can talk to about anything and basically, they

do everything together. They have known each other since elementary school and used to live

right next door to each other. Now they live in separate neighborhoods but still go to the same

high school together. However, with a new circle of friends around each of them, it became

harder for them to maintain their current friendship. They are still best friends and still do

everything together, but with some new societal pressures around them they started to argue

about diverse topics such as fashion.

During this time, it is typical for an adolescent to have a job after school. Compared to

her older sisters at this age, she has not shown any interest in an after-school job since she wants

to focus on her schoolwork and graduating with honors. According to experts, students who

work more than 20 hours per week are more likely to have lower grades than those who do not

(Snowman 2015). Kimberly is succeeding far more than both of her sisters combined because of

the fact that she does not have an after-school job.

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Intellectual Development

According to Piagets theory of cognitive development, children form organized,

generalizable patterns of behavior or thought known as schemes. He also believed that

adaptation, the process of creating a good fit or match between ones conception of reality and

the real-life experiences one encounters is accomplished by two sub processes: assimilation and

accommodation (Snowman, 2015).

Kimberly, on an intellectual level has adapted her schemes to best fit the sub process of

accommodation. In this case, accommodation means changing an existing scheme to incorporate

the experience. Being in marching band, she developed a certain skill set of memorizing musical

notes and being able to play those notes into a full ensemble without the use of sheet music in

front of a crowd. However, when she performs in concert band, that same memorization of a

musical scale comes into play and she effortlessly can perform what is otherwise a complicated

series of notes on her music sheet. She can accommodate for this change because she has

experience on how to read musical notes and sheet music from marching band. Piaget believed

this to be a process called equilibration. Kimberly can solve problems systematically, form

hypotheses, and engage in mental manipulations (Snowman, 2015). This is referred to as the

Formal Operational stage of Cognitive Development.

Lev Vygotsky, as opposed to Piaget, believed that cognitive development is a

sociocultural theory because it maintains that how we think is a function of both social and

cultural forces (Snowman, 2015). Meaning that instead of accommodating or assimilating are

experiences to best fit the environment, we group assorted items together in some cases based on

our environment that we are in. For example, I gave Kimberly a list of words: running, apple,

spoon, jumping, talking, pear, fork, soup. She then grouped these words into categories such as
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actions, food you eat, and utensils. She grouped them together in that way because in her

sociocultural norm she knows that apples are something you eat, but in another context, it could

be a reference to the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

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Recommendations

It is the understanding of this observation of Kimberly that I may make recommendations

in the following areas: Physical, Emotional, Social, Philosophical, and Intellectual developments.

Physically she struggles with body image and it is partially due to her older sisters and how they

view themselves. She needs a positive role model for this issue as it can affect her later on and

eventually create feelings of self-loathing and hatred for her body. Having that positive role

model who can show her how she can accept her body changes.

Emotionally, Kimberly has reached the typical norm for girls her age and I have found

nothing in need of immediate attention. She is a very sweet girl with a wonderful personality

and it is my belief that if she and her family maintain a constant connection, the chances of her

succeeding are far greater than if she keeps to herself.

I have no recommendations to make for the intellectual development as she is at the right

stage in this area according to Piaget and Vygotsky.

She would benefit socially by interacting with more of her non-immediate family and her

teachers as they would help her can more perspective into her future. Her friends and immediate

family members have more influence on her decisions and what she does on a day to day basis.

By interacting with non-immediate family members and teachers may help her to broaden her

horizons and help her to figure out what she wants without the direct influence of friends and

family.

Philosophical (moral) development is already attained and she does not need any further

recommendations for this stage. She has a good foundation of principles, respects peers and

adults, and understands the concept of why there are rules in place.
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Graph

Average Rates of Development versus Kimberlys Actual Development

70

60

50

40
Average Development Column1 30
Percentage of Adolescents who reach average developmental milestones
20

10

Developmental stage
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References

Singer, D. G., & Reverson, T. A. (Eds.). (1978i). Piaget Primer: How a Child Thinks.

New York, NY: International Universities Press, Incorporated.

Salkind, N. J. (2008). Encyclopedia of Educational Pyschology (Vol. 1&2). KS:

SAGE. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963848

Moshman, D. (1999). Adolescent Psychological Development: Rationality, Morality,

and Identity. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Incorporated.

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2015). Pyschology Applied to Teaching . Stamford, CT:

Cengage Learning .

M. J., C. J., S. S., P. S., W. K., F. J., . . . V. B. (2012). Depression and High School.

Retrieved April 28, 2017, from https://cdpsdocs.state.co.us/safeschools/Resources/NIMH

%20National%20Institute%20of%20Mental%20Health/NIMH%20depression-high-school-

students.pdf

Barger, R., Ph.D. (2000). Kohlberg's theory of moral development. Retrieved May

01, 2017, from https://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/kohlberg01bk.htm

C. (2017, January 3). Child Development. Retrieved April 05, 2017, from

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescene2.html

Centers for Disease Control

Growth and Your 13-to18-year-old. (1995-2017). Retrieved April 05, 2017, from

http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/growth-13-to-18.html?WT.ac=p-ra

Kids Health