Running head: PESPI 1

Physical, Emotional, Philosophical, Social and Intellectual Case Study

Georganna Pizanowski

College of Southern Nevada

May 7, 2017
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Child biography:

The child being observed for the PEPSI screening is my niece Carolynn she is fourteen

years of age and is bright young lady. Carolynn is in the eighth grade; her birthday falls in

November so she had to start school later. So, while she falls under high school age students she

is in middle school. Carolynn goes to a charter school instead of a regular public school. I have

watched her grow since she was a baby and gone through all the ups and downs with her parents.

Her mother is a single mother with a live-in boyfriend. Her father passed away when she was

five years old. Carolynn didnt know her father so she basically just had one parent her whole

life. In Elementary school Carolynn was a straight A student she focused on her school work and

loved doing her homework. When Carolynn began sixth grade she was still interested in her

school work and was on Honor roll every semester. When she began seventh grade she started to

teeter away from trying her best and her grades slowly started to drop. Carolynn was no longer

an honor roll student she was a B and C student which is still good grades Carolynn started

eighth grade then she began to slack off on her grades. Carolynn enjoys watching Netflix,

kickboxing, hanging out with her friends, and most of all watching anime with her siblings.

Carolynn watches anime with her older brother and younger brother every weekend. She goes

kickboxing with her older sister every weekend. Carolynn knows what she wants and has the

determination to strive for what she wants. She can do anything and accomplish anything if she

puts the effort into it. Lately Carolynn just does not put in the effort. She is worried about what

her friends think of her, how her hair looks, and making her friends happy I wonder if this is

because of her age and she is trying to find out where she fits in.
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The developmental areas I will be observing during this period is Physical development,

Emotional development, Philosophical development, Social development, and Intellectual

development. In the end, I will make a graph to see where Carolynn is at in accordance with

other children her age.

Physical Development-

During her Elementary grades Carolynn loved to dance, she was in a dance group at our

church and danced for the group at school. Carolynn has always been taller than most of the

children her age which made it great for her dance, but she was always so upset because she said

she felt like a giant. In middle school Carolynn has been in P.E. for only this last semester

because in the charter school she goes to it was an acquirement. Physical Education is important

to these children, middle school physical education programs have the potential to

engage students in a variety of challenging, exciting and enriching activities to help

their students embrace a physically active lifestyle. (Journal of physical education 2016).

Carolynn doesnt mind not participating in physical activity because of her height. According to

our text, during high school and this time girls will reach their maximum height (Snowmen &

McCown, 2015). Carolynn is starting to even out with the rest of the students her age. Carolynn

has been spending a lot of her free time in her room watching Netflix. This concerns her mother

because she feels like Carolynn is secluding herself. She occasionally goes kickboxing for some

physical activity only because My daughter is the manager and tries to encourage her to get out

for some physical activity. Carolynn enjoy going to museums where she can walk for hours and

look at the different things a museum has to offer. According to the CDC- child development,

At this age, teens make more of their own choices about friends, sports, studying, and

school (centers for diesease control and prevention, 2017). This is how Carolynn is beginning to
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respond because she is going through physical changes and coming into her own and starting to

make her own decisions. I have told her mother she has to let Carolynn make some decisions on

her own.

Emotional Development:

I spend a lot of time with Carolynn because she lives so close to me and her and my

daughter are very close. While spending time with Carolynn I have noticed some emotional

changes in her as she has grown. Carolynn was always a happy child, lately she has become

more like an emotional roller coaster. According to the Educators room, children this age are

moody, they demonstrate behaviors that parents cant quite understand, and they are not

predictable (Glass, 2013). She will start crying out of nowhere. Start laughing hysterically at

something only she finds funny. She worries about what her friends think of her and how they

act towards her. She seems to need to feel accepted by her friends. According to WebMd, this is

all perfectly normal behavior for a child her age. They say that, many adolescents associate with

peers and strive to be independent of family (Kim, Susan C.; Pellegrino, Louis, 2014). Carolynn

seeks an independence but still she comes to me for advice and needs to be able to talk about

what is happening in her little group of friends. I listen because it seems that is what she needs at

that moment. When she is in her room it is not because she is shutting everyone out or being a

hermit it is because she needs privacy. According to an article from Michigan State University,

children this age need their privacy but they also try to obtain an independence while still

needing the approval from an adult (Stewart, 2013). Carolynn is in every aspect what all the

article talk about in her age group. She is trying to figure out where she belongs which gives the

emotional roller coaster affect.

Philosophical development:
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Carolynn is a good kid, she volunteers at the church on Saturdays. She used to go every

Saturday but now she goes once a month. She changes her mind a lot when it comes to what she

wants to be when she grows up. Under the identity status from James Marcia Carolynn falls into

the Moratorium category because she has a lot of the characteristics of this status such as,

dissatisfaction of school, daydreams, and relationships with friends that do not last long

(Snowmen & McCown, Psychology Applied to Teaching, 2015). Carolynn is starting to test

what she can and cannot do with her mother. I have heard her talk back to her mother many

times lately to sort of push her mothers buttons. I try to tell her mother it is just because she is at

a certain age. In our text it states that, the process of identity formation is not always smooth,

and it does not always follow the same path (Snowmen & McCown, Psychology Applied to

Teaching, 2015). I find this to be exactly how Carolynn is right now. She is just finding who she

is and it takes time and is not always easy. Carolynn tests her mother to see what she can get

away with and what she cannot. Under the moral reasoning of Kohlberg Carolynn would fall

between stage 2 and 3. She thinks that if her mom sets rules than the rules that Carolynn sets

should also be obeyed, like an even exchange, stage 2 (Snowmen & McCown, Psychology

Applied to Teaching, 2015). Then there is the way of thinking if she does what her mom asks of

her then she will be pleased with her, stage 3 (Snowmen & McCown, Psychology Applied to

Teaching, 2015).

Social Development:

Carolynn has great social skills and a ton of friends. She has no problem making friends

with anyone. She will however shy away if she is put in the spot light. At this age, Carolynn

seems more focused on what her peers have to say. This is stage 4 of Selmans interpersonal

reasoning, where a societal perspective begins to develop (Snowmen & McCown, Psychology
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Applied to Teaching, 2015). Her mother wants to keep her away from some children because the

more time she spends with these kids the more she becomes influenced by these children. The

center for disease control say that children at this age and development area experience more

moods, become more influenced and interested in their peers, are stress from harder school work,

and can sometimes be short-tempered or rude with parents (centers for diesease control and

prevention, 2017). While observing Carolynn more closely she does seem to be more moody and

rude to her elders. She is not a bad kid she is just finding her way through all the hoops and

obstacles of a teenager. I asked Carolynn if she has ever done anything that other kids were

doing just to fit in. She was honest with me and told me that she tried to smoke a vapor because

her friend told her it tasted really good. She said other than that she has never done anything

else under peer pressure because her mom had talked to her about peer pressure. Adolescents

with healthy self-esteem may be least vulnerable to peer group pressure. When they are faced

with difficult decisions, they are best able to call on values learned at home. (Kim, Susan C.;

Pellegrino, Louis, 2014). Carolynn does not have a low self-esteem therefore makes her own

decisions and does not fall into peer pressure.

Intellectual Development:

There are times that Carolynn likes to help everyone and then there are times she likes

people to do things for her. When it comes to academics she is a fairly good student but suffers a

little in math. When solving a problem in math for instance Carolynn must go through every step

to come up with the correct answer. She cannot skip a step and still get the correct answer. She

must use the formula given to her by the teacher. In Piagets stages of development, she falls

under the concrete operational stage because she needs to be able to physically see how a

problem is laid out to be able to perform the function. She needs concrete evidence that she will
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get the answer by using an exact formula (Snowmen & McCown, Psychology Applied to

Teaching, 2015). Carolynns mother always comes to me when her grades drop because she is

frustrated and does not understand what is going on. Her mom has the idea that her child cannot

get a C grade all grades should be above that. I asked her mother if the classes she is in are too

difficult for to understand. All of Carolynns grades are good except for Algebra 1.

Recommendations:

My recommendations for Carolynns mother is that she is just a child going through a time in her

life. She should find where she fits in and where she doesnt but she doesnt have to do it all in a

day. Physically she is right where she should be, she is active and continues to grow and find out

new things about herself. She changes appearance and styles to see where she fits in.

Emotionally she is going through puberty and has highs and lows she goes from being very

emotional to being very secluded to find privacy on how to deal with her emotions. Her

philosophical moral is intact, she understands the rules but again she is a teenager and will test

those rules to see how far she can venture off from them to help her be an individual. Her social

development is at the perfect place for her age and she doesnt give into peer pressure. She has

an appropriate level of self-esteem and can make her own decisions. She is a very bright and

intellectual young lady and if she focuses more on her school work intellectuality will shine

through. I would also like to suggest to Carolynns mother to take a look at her math class for the

moment and maybe try putting her in a lower math class because it does not seem as though she

is understanding the concepts of Algebra 1. If she tried lowering her math class so she can

understand the concepts more than it will raise her grades. You can tell she is struggling in this

subject because she always has a D. Through everything be patient because knowing from

personal experience with my daughter who is now 23 there are many more bumps in the road.
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Right now, though she is finding out who she between just leaving middle school and starting

high school. Carolynn is a good kid and makes good decisions just let her grow to be herself.

Developmental Graph:

Developmental Cart
16
15

14 14
14

12
11 11
Normal age of child is 14

10

0
P E P S I

Figure 1: This chart shows where Carolynn is at in her developmental stages based off

my observations and findings from the text and sources that I have read throughout this course.

Carolynn is right at normal level of adolescence for physical development, Emotional

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development, and Social development. She falls a little short in the philosophical, and

Intellectual development.
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References

centers for diesease control and prevention. (2017, January 3). Child development. Retrieved

from CDC-child development:

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

Glass, P. K. (2013, November 13). Moving into young adulthood. Retrieved from The educators

room: http://theeducatorsroom.com/2013/11/moving-young-adulthood-development-14-

16-year-olds/

Kim, Susan C.; Pellegrino, Louis. (2014, September 9). Emotional and social development, ages

11-14 years. Retrieved from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/tc/emotional-

and-social-development-ages-11-to-14-years-topic-overview

Schwager, S. (2016). Introduction JOPERD. The Journal of physical education, Recreation and

dance, 87 (6), 7-8.

Snowmen, J., & McCown, R. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching. In J. Snowmen, & R.

McCown, Psycology Applied to Teaching (pp. 101-110). Stamford: Cengage Learning.

Snowmen, J., & McCown, R. (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching. Stamford: Cengage

Learning.

Stewart, J. (2013, January 9). 12-14 year olds: Ages and stages of youth development. Retrieved

from Michigan State University:

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/12_to_14_year_olds_ages_and_stages_of_youth_develop

ment
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