Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PEPSI Screening
Rachael McDermott
May 3, 2018
Professor Isbell
PEPSI Screening 2
Abstract
PEPSI stands for Physical, Emotional, Philosophical, Social, and Intellectual stages
which is a very crucial aspect in every child’s developmental progress. Every child deserves the
best possible path in becoming a well-rounded adult. As parents, educators, and role models each
child must be approached as a unique individual. The concept of the PEPSI screening model was
developed through a recognition of the major advantages that child development has in helping
unique in their own way. This requires a formulated system of evaluation so that the ones who
are responsible for their education can understand the level that each child can physically,
emotionally, philosophically, socially, and intellectually develop and progress at a level that is
This paper is about my cousin who is an 18-year-old adolescent female who has
developmental difficulties within her personal life. The purpose of this PEPSI screening paper
will be to develop a case study based upon the difficulties that my cousin struggles with.
Developing a PEPSI screening on this individual will incorporate her physical, emotional
philosophical, social, and intellectual problem areas in her life. The practical application of this
case study will build upon her strengths and weaknesses to help her achieve the goal of being a
well-rounded adult. This PEPSI screening tool will enlighten my cousin’s parents as well as
education professionals on ways to continue the many areas of positive development that she has
made great progress in. Upon completion of this case study the end result will demonstrate how
by assessing an individual’s behavior through the PEPSI screening tool a person can continue to
Physical
Within the PEPSI screening model, the physical development portion will analyze how
this person deals with physical negativity. The PEPSI screening can be a useful tool during the
learning process as insights and patterns begin to emerge and the clinician becomes more alert to
the interplay of the five developmental areas (Ellsworth, 1996, p.35). My cousin dealt with
physical traits that caused her peers to tease her from kindergarten to high school. Being heavy,
wearing glasses, having a lisp, and developing acne are all physical traits that have caused a
problem with social, and emotional growth. From the young age of two my cousin was
experiencing jealously, and self-consciousness when she would compare herself to her brother.
She was heavy, and her brother was thin. She wore glasses, and her brother did not. She
had a lisp, and her brother did not. She had acne, and her brother did not. All these physical traits
led to feelings of anxiety, loneliness, self-consciousness, and jealousy as she has entered her first
year of college. My cousin does not socialize well with others. She has refused to join any social
clubs, sororities, or show any effort to branch out and make friends.
My cousin has recently decided to personally address the physical traits that have caused
her sadness since the young age of two. She has joined a gym and is now working out four times
a week. My cousin has recently made healthier food choices to assist her on her weight loss
journey. Reflecting upon her negative feelings about her appearance has provoked a
psychological spark to cause her to take steps in making changes in herself. Extreme jealousy is
an emotion that my cousin feels every time she sees thin female students around her.
Significantly, Arnold Gesell argued that the human capacity to feel and express jealousy, unlike
animals, presupposes the possibility of self-reflection and the knowledge of other minds that are
My cousin began to focus on her hatred of wearing glasses. She threw away the glasses
and began to wear contact lenses. I had noticed that when my cousin wore glasses she did not
have direct eye contact with people when she was speaking to them. But, that social
characteristic began to change when she started to wear contact lenses. She grew socially and
emotionally which made her start to have direct eye contact when speaking with others. It
appeared that she was slowly building upon her self-confidence when interacting with others.
The next endeavor for her was battling her apparent red blotches of acne. We took a trip
the dermatologist, and medical help was on the way. We left the office with numerous creams
that my cousin would use daily to control the outbreak of acne. My cousin normally walked with
her head facing downward to avoid having her acne be seen by others. The years of teasing have
taken a toll on her socially and emotionally. Hopefully, in time she will gain the self-confidence,
My cousins lack of friends has been halted by her fear of speaking to them because of her
lisp. She realizes that she somehow must get passed that physical impairment to allow
relationships to enter her life. When it comes to social experiences, Piaget clearly believed that
peer interactions do more to spur cognitive development than do interactions with adults
(McCown & Snowman, 2015, p.45). Learning to accept her world of loneliness she has not made
concrete attempts at changing her life for the better. Accepting her lisp will be her first step in
Physical problems in a person’s life can scar them for many years. Being teased because
of physical traits that are not considered the ‘norm’ cause social, and emotional growth
problems. My cousin feels a sense of anxiety, loneliness, self-consciousness, and jealousy when
she is surrounded by her peers. Finally focusing on herself may improve her social problems.
PEPSI Screening 6
Graph of Physical
Average
Age
Physical
PEPSI Screening 7
Emotional
Within the PEPSI screening model, the emotional developmental portion will address
problems that arise in an individual that struggles with social, physical, and philosophical
situations. My cousin has developed negative emotional traits because of her lack of self-
confidence in herself. She has isolated herself from others because of her fear of rejection. I
notice her acting extremely withdrawn, shy, and quiet. My cousin has started her college life
alone, but she is slowly making changes to correct that part of her life. Fear of rejection, and fear
of being teased have been her driving force in not building any relationships. Erikson’s theory
portrays people as playing an active role in their own psychological development through their
attempt to understand, organize, and integrate their everyday experiences (McCown &
Recently I have noticed my cousin making serious attempts at stepping out of her comfort
zone and trying to let people into her world. She has joined a sorority with one hundred female
members. Her anxiety, self-confidence, and jealousy will be emotions that she will need to
control as she starts to meet new people. The events in the sorority will involve parties, and
dances with the male fraternity. She has been showing emotional anxiety because of her extreme
shyness when she needs to speak with people in the sorority and fraternity. But the central body
of his theory for example, his emphasis on trust, intimacy, generativity, and the importance of
feeling and awareness of feelings in humane and healthy development validated qualities that
This female subject has never had the desire or initiative to get a job. Her emotional
personality traits have prevented her from wanting to get a job where social interaction must
become apart of. She has finally decided to accept a job at the gym where she works out at.
PEPSI Screening 8
Standing at the front counter and signing people into the gym will build upon her emotional, and
social weaknesses. I have noticed my cousin having more eye contact and starting up
My cousin seems to show less signs of anxiety in these recent days, and more signs of a
happier personality. Her emotional struggle with loneliness, anxiety, self-confidence, and
jealousy has seemed to lessen because she is stepping out of her comfort zone and trying to
broaden her spectrum of life. Skills for socialization and attention to individual and personal
development become mutually valuable (Ellsworth, 1999, p.7-10). She still reminds me of
flashbacks to the days when she was being teased. Making progress in her physical traits that
bother her have helped her begin to work on her social interaction.
In recent days my cousin has developed a friendship with a co-worker in the gym. This
has greatly improved her emotional struggles with shyness. This new relationship in her life has
made an obvious personality development. She smiles more, laughs more, and has become much
less withdrawn when dealing with people. My cousin has struggled internally with moving
passed her awkwardness in dealing with new people that she is meeting. She has realized how
her physical struggles have also caused her emotional, and social dysfunctional behaviors.
My cousin has been working on improving her self- image so that her emotional state
will continue to improve. There is an emerging sense of self identity, of who and what the person
is becoming (Ellsworth, 1999, p.1). Her new peer relationships seem to be going very well. She
now gets compliments on how she looks while at work, and at events within the sorority. Her
awkwardness, and shyness have seemed to be slowly dwindling away. Her memories of being
teased are still in the back of her head. She often tells me that she keeps her guard up when
trying to make new friends so that she can see if they are being open and honest with her.
PEPSI Screening 9
Graph of Emotional
Average
Age
Emotional
PEPSI Screening 10
Philosophical
Within the PEPSI screening model, the philosophical developmental portion will analyze
how this individual deals with philosophical problems that have occurred in their life. My cousin
has had to learn to overcome her negative style of thinking regarding her physical, and emotional
hurdles that she has dealt with daily. I believe that my cousin has made great progress on
continuing to develop a path of a healthy moral outlook. She has become aware that being
accepted in the eyes of her peers is not based upon her appearance only. Her philosophical
awareness of her acceptance of the things that have caused her unhappiness such as her weight,
her lisp, her acne, and her glasses has brought her to a happier place in her life today.
Since my cousin has started attending college her philosophical development has grown
significantly. The student may begin to identify beyond adolescence and peerage to member of
community. If so, then moral reasoning will focus on protecting the society and following
community guidelines (Ellsworth, 1999, p.1). I believe that my cousin has learned to accept the
idea that personal growth allows her to be herself. Philosophically she has begun to establish a
belief system that is not a reflection of her childhood, but rather a moral concept of how she is
being accepted by her peers. My cousin has been telling me that she is now feeling like she is a
part of a growing community within her college campus, and her employment at the gym.
Building friendships at the gym has enabled her moral development to progress in a positive
manner.
My cousin has shown great strides in gradually becoming and acting more like an adult.
Adolescents experience significant changes in their capacity to think. In changing from concrete
to abstract thought they are increasingly able to understand and grapple with abstract ideas, think
about possibilities, think ahead, think about thinking, and “put themselves in another person’s
PEPSI Screening 11
shoes” (Teipel, n.d., p.1). My cousin has recently been telling me how she has become so much
more aware of other people around her that have accepted their physical, and emotional obstacles
that they may have faced in their life. In her college classes she has classmates that are extremely
overweight, wear glasses, and have significantly noticeable speech impediments. Philosophically
she has noticed that these students with these physical obstacles are very happy, sociable, and
full of self-confidence. This has made my cousin realize that it is possible to be accepted by your
These positive philosophical ideas that my cousin has developed has shown her that by
accepting one’s physical appearance, her emotional development will also progress in a positive
manner. My cousin has shown much less self-consciousness when she is interacting with other
classmates, new friends she has made in her sorority, and co-workers that she works with at the
gym. Kohlberg’s theory of moral development describes not a one-way process of psychological
growth for an individual, but a categorization of different types of moral values, which may be
developed and prioritized differently for different individuals and moral cultures (Psychology
Notes HQ, 2016, p.7). She has been telling me that she feels much happier, and loves becoming
involved with activities that her friends have been including her in. Philosophically my cousin
My cousin has shown a great deal of caring and empathy for all the friends that she has
made. She greatly admires how her friends have accepted their physical obstacles and are
emotionally outgoing in a large group with no inhibitions. Carol Gilligan believes that adolescent
females place a higher value on caring, understanding, and sharing of experiences than they do
on independence, self-reliance, and justice (McCown & Snowman, 2015, p.63). My cousin’s
moral development is astounding considering the hurdles she has tried to overcome.
PEPSI Screening 12
Graph of Philosophical
Average
Age
Philosophical
PEPSI Screening 13
Social
Within the PEPSI screening model, the social developmental portion will analyze how
this individual deals with social problems that have occurred in their life. Self-consciousness has
caused my cousin to exhibit signs of being extremely introverted. When my cousin was wearing
her glasses she rarely had eye contact when she spoke to other people. She appeared to be
socially shy and tried to avoid interacting with others. Social and emotional development are
closely intertwined. Adolescent social development involves a dramatic change in the quantity
I believe that my cousin is on the correct path for improving her social development. She
has been building a compassionate and warm group of friends that have made her social skills
grow in a positive manner. Regarding social development the need for peer approval uses much
of the student’s energy. The self is more defined as a self and less dependent on external
acceptance (Ellsworth, 1999, p.1). My cousin has been confiding in me that she has been
involving herself in classroom discussions for the first time in her life. She said that she feels
very comfortable raising her hand and answering questions in front of the class. Her social
development has shown that her self-consciousness is slowly becoming a thing in the past.
Another new social development that I have noticed while observing my cousin is her
readiness to lean on her peers and friends when she needs help. This shows that she has been
learning more about her individuality as she has been maturing into a young adult. Adolescents
are attempting to find their own identity, struggling with social interactions, and wrestling with
moral issues. The primary task of an adolescent is to discover their identity separate from their
family and as a member of their community (Services for Teens in Late Adolescence, 2018, p.1).
Her social development while maturing out of her adolescent years has very clearly been a
PEPSI Screening 14
definite change from her previous social behaviors. My cousin’s withdrawn, introverted, and shy
Watching my cousin socially interact with others has shown me that it is possible to
develop a higher level of thinking when trying to improve on the weaknesses that someone feels
within themselves to make positive changes in their life. On several separate occasions my
cousin has expressed to me how she is feeling proud of herself because she can tell that her
social development skills have greatly improved. She has expressed concern regarding her deep
internal feelings of shyness with regards to dating. Since she has joined her sorority she has
shown some interest in several of the males that are in the fraternity. She told me that her next
plan of action will be to work on her social developmental skills and start putting herself out
Developing lasting friendships is very important to my cousin because it makes her feel
accepted and liked among her peers. Many theorists believe that cognitive development makes
social development possible. However, Vygotsky believed that social interaction is the primary
cause of cognitive development (McCown & Snowman, 2015, p.52). My cousin has socially
developed in such a way that she is now inviting her friends to lunch and dinner with her. She
used to want to do everything alone, but now she is showing a desire to have friends that enjoy
life with her. Late adolescents have increased concern for others. Peer relationships remain
important during this stage (Services for Teens in Late Adolescence, 2018, p.2).
My aunt told me that growing up my cousin wanted to stay in her room and not join in
with family activities. Her introverted personality was the cause for her desire to spend time
alone. My cousin has been sharing her social developmental improvements in her life with her
PEPSI Screening 15
family. I have noticed how happy my cousin has become since her self-consciousness is
diminishing.
PEPSI Screening 16
Graph of Social
Average
Age
Social
PEPSI Screening 17
Intellectual
Within the PEPSI screening model, the intellectual developmental portion will analyze
how this individual deals with intellectual problems in their life. While observing my cousin I
have realized that she is very intellectually intelligent, but she has problems of self-
consciousness that have interrupted her capabilities with her higher thinking skills. When we
evaluated her grades during the semester we realized that they could have been higher. Because
my cousin was focusing on her physical traits that bothered her very badly she didn’t concentrate
on her studies as well as she should have. When I discussed these problems with her she realized
that most of her mental capabilities had been spent on dwelling on her physical traits that
bothered her such as wearing glasses, having acne, being overweight, and having a lisp.
My cousin was on a new life plan to improve her total overall self. She constantly reflects
on her childhood when she constantly compared herself to her brother who was thinner than her,
did not have acne, did not need glasses for seeing, and did not have a lisp. As children interact
with their environment, parents, teachers, and age-mates, they form organized, generalizable
patterns of behavior or thought known as schemes, and these become the basis for understanding
and adapting to the world in which they live (McCown & Snowman, 2015, p.38). Much of the
research done by Piaget reinforces that parents, educators, and social workers should be
evaluating the progression of children and their intelligence. The realization that she needs to be
more focused on her grades in college has brought a new spark and focus to her life.
While I have been observing my cousin making positive changes in her life I have
realized how she has intellectually managed to conquer her battle with self-consciousness which
has consumed her earlier years of cognitive development. The student often wishes to “change
the world” based on ideas and the shear will to make a difference, solve a problem (Ellsworth,
PEPSI Screening 18
1999, p.1). My cousin has been consistently focusing on the positive things in her life rather than
the negative aspects. Working out in the gym as well as healthier eating habits have allowed her
intellectual view of herself to change for the better as her cognitive development continually
matures. Piaget’s stage theory describes the cognitive development of children. Cognitive
development involves changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget’s view, early
cognitive development involves processes based upon actions and later progresses to changes in
Since my cousin has been focusing on improving her grades she has realized how capable
and intelligent she is when it comes to her learning capabilities. When adolescents increase their
steps on the ladder of cognitive development they can develop new ways of processing
information. Intellectually my cousin has constructed a different mental model of her life. The
positive attitude that she has developed in her cognitive higher thinking skills has allowed her to
progress her intellectual mind by focusing on her academic requirements towards completing her
college degree. Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and child development is
determined by biological maturation and interaction with the environment. Although no stage
can be missed out, there are individual differences in the rate at which children progress through
My cousin has become increasingly involved with her intellectual awareness by joining
some Phi Theta Kappa clubs to enhance her intellectual capabilities. Since she has joined this
new club she has acquired several new friendships one of them being a male who has shown
great interest in her. Her cognitive developmental level of her intellectual capabilities has
increasingly elevated to higher levels since she has been studying on a regular basis with her new
PEPSI Screening 19
male study partner. Piaget clearly believed that peer interactions do more to spur cognitive
development than do interactions with adults (McCown & Snowman, 2015, p.45).
PEPSI Screening 20
Graph of Intellectual
Average
Age
Intellectual
PEPSI Screening 21
Graph
Age
Average
There are several recommendations for my cousin that her parents can make sure that she
recommendation should also be addressed to the instructor in charge of Phi Theta Kappa to
parents, I would strongly suggest to them that they guide her to continue her path of healthy
eating and working out at the gym. My aunt and uncle should also encourage my cousin to stay
employed at the gym and continue to build strong friendships. I would recommend to the
instructor in charge of Phi Theta Kappa that my cousin should continue to attend every meeting,
functions.
PEPSI Screening 23
Conclusion
I feel a great sense of accomplishment as I have followed my cousin over several weeks
with her on a path to improving her life. Together we have learned a lot about her physical,
emotional, philosophical, social, and intellectual awareness of herself. There has been a continual
increased progression of positive behaviors with regards to each PEPSI screening developmental
area. My cousin has learned to address each PEPSI screening area in her life and make positive
changes towards becoming a well-rounded young adult. In the future, we all feel positive that my
cousin will continue to conquer her past weaknesses and build upon her strong willingness to
References
Physical:
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Behavioral Science, 40(4), 185. Retrieved from
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Child. Teaching Exceptional Children, 29(2), 35. Retrieved from
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Learning.
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Ellsworth, J. (1999). Being aware of being “real”. Retrieved from
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C%20AYADevelopment%20LateAdolescentYoungAdulthood.pdf
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Ellsworth, J. (1999). Being aware of being “real”. Retrieved from
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Learning
PEPSI Screening 25
Intellectual:
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http://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457
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McLeod, S. (2015). Jean Piaget. Retrieved from http://simplypsychology.org/piaget.html