Pepsi Screening

Jennifer Lizeth Vazquez

Edu 220 Principles of Educational Psychology

May 9, 2017
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Biography

There is a lot of information that one can learn through observation and research.

Throughout this paper, I will clarify and discuss the physical, emotional, philosophical, social,

and intellectual development of Abraham and graph where he lands on the developmental scale.

The Pepsi screening will help to put into practice the concepts that I have learned about the

different areas of development. The person that I decided to do my Pepsi screening on is

Abraham Vazquez. Abraham Vazquez is a male, a junior in high school that was born on January

22, 2000, making him seventy years old, the child of Amalia and Arcadio. He was born in San

Juanito de Escobe Jalisco. He is the middle child of five children. He has two older sisters

Jennifer and Anahi and he has two younger siblings Angelo and Natasha. His family

economically was doing well in Mexico but his parents wanted more for their children. His

mother and father lived in San Juan but always dreamed of moving to the United States. In the

United States, the whole family would have an opportunity at a better life, where they could

attend school and persevere. At the age of five, Abraham’s parents decided to move to the United

States. Abraham lived in Mexico for a short amount of his life. For the early years of his life, he

was a very loud, energetic, and trouble making kid. He would misbehave and he had many

temper tantrums, however, Abraham became very sick at the age of four. He had seizures and

problems with his breathing. The doctors had announced to his parents if they could not get his

health problems under control, after the age of five, he would not have a normal healthy life.

This was not the case before the family was ready to move to the United States, Abraham’s

health became better and he did not have any more health concerns. Abraham and his family

moved to Las Vegas Nevada and Abraham recalls to not being excited about the move. As a

young boy, he was very confused about the whole moving situation, making the school
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environment very difficult. When he started school he would get into a lot of trouble however,

this did not continue for very long. He soon started to enjoy school and he learned to love Las

Vegas as his home.

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Physical

Physical development for anyone is very important. The physical development can be

different for everyone depending on the person. As mentioned above Abraham had some health

problems as a young boy but as he aged, he does not have as serious health concerns. One thing

that Abraham does have as a health concern is his high cholesterol due to poor eating habits. The

physical characteristics of Abraham as I observed are of a young male, he is tall, about 5’11 and

he is not overweight. He weighs 160 pounds. He wears glasses to see due to his nearsightedness.

He appears to have virtually attained puberty and there are some concerns about his appearance.

According to the authors Jack Snowman and Rick McCown of the book Psychology Applied to

Teaching (2015), the physical characteristics of high school students most have reached the

physical maturity and have gone through puberty and there is still a concern about appearance,

although not as strong as in middle school. Snowman and McCown mentioned that there are

different theories of development in the high school years. The achievement of sexual maturity

may have a profound effect on many aspects of behavior (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p.101).

This is true because there can be change of behavior and swift of focus to something else.

Abraham attends the gym and has a focus on his appearance, visiting the gym about four times a

week. At the gym, he does cardio and some weights differentiating between days. He is very

active and used to participate in wrestling, now only friendly games of basketball at the park. He

has a lot of attention on physical development and attends the gym to acquire and gain strength.

He knows the limits of his body and he knows what he can do and not do. In a game of

basketball, he was able to jump at great heights and move very fast compared to the other

players. After being physically active, he tends to eat a lot and take a rest before moving again. I

was not able to observe him at school, however, I did ask him about his physical education class,
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and he seemed to enjoy taking the class and being physically active. In an article written by

Janelle Stewart, 15 to 17 year olds: Ages and Stages of Youth Development (2103) there are

different stages of youth development and some of the characteristic listed on the article

demonstrate the physical development range of Abraham. Stewart mentions that the age range of

15 to 17 year olds have a realistic view of the limits of what their body can do (Stewart, 2013).

Abraham seems to demonstrate some of these characteristics for his physical development

meaning he is currently at the appropriate physical development for his age.

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Emotional

The emotional development for Abraham at this stage of his life revolves around what he

sees himself doing in the future. As I was observing Abraham, there were many mentions about

his future plans and what he wants to be. Abraham appeared to be happy and focused on the

future and his girlfriend. There was a problem or complication during my observation of

Abraham where he got into an argument with his father. The problem occurred because Abraham

was supposed to clean his room and backyard. He failed to do so and upset his father. His father

was extremely mad that Abraham did not do as he was told that it started a problem. Abraham

did not overact in front of his father he brushed it off and continued with day. Ignoring what his

father had told him. As soon as his father was out, he expressed his frustration. He appeared to

be mad about the fact that he was not allowed to express his thoughts to his dad. He let out his

frustration at the gym and park. After the argument, he left with his friends and girlfriend where

he talked about his problem. Abraham seemed to know the ways to let out his frustration with

physical work and talk to people after he was calm. Abraham appeared to know how to deal with

his feelings. According to an article written by Janice Zeman and Tish Davidson (2011), it states

that the emotional development during adolescence involves learning to cope with stress and

being able to manage their feelings and emotions. Adolescents learn how to control their feeling

and the best forms to express them. There are a set of expectations that can be referred to as

scripts and there are different ways that people will react to their emotional displays (Zeman and

Davidson, 2011). This is something that Abraham is learning to do.

Something else that I observed was the developing sense of identity. Abraham is in high

school but has a lot of focus on the future and the plans of what he wants to do. He recently took

his ACT tests and he says the tests were not very difficult. He plans to go to college after high
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school but he is debating whether to take a year off to work or start working now to save up

some money for college, based on the things that I observed Abraham falls on the identity versus

role confusion stage of Erick’s stage of psychosocial development. According to Jack Snowman

and Rick McCown authors of Psycology and Applied to Teaching (2015), it states that role

confusion is having no clear conception of appropriate types of behaviors that others will react to

favorably. If they are not able to establish a sense of stability in various aspects of their live role

confusion occurs (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p. 30). Abraham seems to know what he wants

to do and how to figure it. He tends to lean more to the identity side of this stage instead of role

confusion.
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Philosophical

There are many things that influence one’s philosophical development and many of the

philosophical beliefs that one form are made with the help of other developmental areas. There

can be an influence of identity or moral development. Abraham seems to know how a society

functions and he has a belief on the way he goes through life. During my observation, I was able

to conclude that Abraham believed in the fact that no one exists for a purpose everything occurs

over a coincidence. He says that everyone should live their life and enjoy it as much as you can.

He mentioned that he does not want to think back and have “should haves,” he plans to live a

happy life with no anger. In the book Psychology Applied to Teaching by Jack snowman and

Rick McCown(2015), Kolhberg’s six stages of moral reasoning summarize the characteristics at

different stages of life for the moral development. Abraham is on stage five, social contract

orientation. The rules should be made not be based on blind obedience of the authority but on

mutual agreement (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p. 61).

Abraham tends to do what he feels is necessary for his life to be happy. When observing

Abraham, he had a curfew at which he was supposed to be home by. He did not come home on

time staying out late. I talked to his mom and she said that he has hit that age where they feel like

they can do anything but there are still rules to be followed. According to J’Anne

Ellsworth(1999), the author for the Pepsi screening website, it states that most early adolescent’s

philosophical development the people shifts to peers more than the parent as the social authority

does. Abraham appears to be in search of his identity and take the place in the society where he

is happy and is the ruler of his own life. According to authors Jack Snowman and Rick McCwon

of the book Psychology Applied to Teaching (2015), this goes well with Gilligan’s view of

identity and moral development. It states that Erickson’s view of identity development and
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Kohlberg’s view of moral development more accurately describe what occurs to adolescent

males other than females. Their ideas emphasize separation from parental authority and social

conventions. Individuals mature and shift their loyalty to abstract principles such as self-reliance

and fairness (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p. 63). This is very true, as Abraham ages and

grows the stage of life he is in changes and there are changes to his personality, identity, and

moral development.
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Social

There are many factors that can affect the social development of anyone. It also depends

on what stage of their life a person may be in, for Abraham he is a seventy-year-old high school

student. There is a lot of demand socially during this time for high school students. As I observed

Abraham has a group of friends that he has known most of them since elementary school.

Abraham spends most of his time with his group of friends. Even though most of his friends

attend different schools, they find time to get together and help each other. Most afternoons

Abraham spends time with his friends, whether at the park or playing video games. Abraham

seeks help from his friends whenever he needs it. One example being for job seeking, he asked

many of his friends their opinion on work and where there maybe places looking to hire

someone. Abraham was influenced to start looking for work because most of his friends and

classmates work and have their own cars. These types of social characters are given for someone

in high school. According to Jack snowman and Rick McCown authors of Psychology Applied

to Teaching(2015), most high school students are likely to be influenced by their peers. They

provide advice for social matters (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p. 103). During my time of

observing Abraham, he got into a committed relationship with his first serious girlfriend. He

mentioned that this was the first girlfriend which he met her parents and she met his parents,

according to Janelle Stewart author of 18 to 19 years old: Ages and stages of youth

development(2013), young adults value committed relationships and they are looking for more

adult social settings. This is something Abraham is showing. When he started dating his

girlfriend, he started to make his own decisions about what he wants for his life. He started to

question what he wants to do as an adult when he finishes high school. There was mention of
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taking a year of school to work and getting enough money for college or getting a job now

through high school to be able to attend college.

Abraham’s personality is funny, upfront, and sometimes shy. When Abraham meets

someone new, he tends to very shy with not much to say. As he continues to get to know

someone, he seems to open up but there are not much adult interactions. According to Erickson’s

theory he states that the description of personality development on the epigenetic principle

(Snowman and McCown, 2015, p. 28). Meaning there are stages where characteristic such as age

are essential in the personality development. Erickson’s stage of psychosocial development

identifies the different stages of a person’s life, according to this it supports Abraham’s stage of

his life that he is in. Identity versus role confusion is the stage of roles and skills to prepare

adolescents to take place in the society (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p. 30). Abraham at the

moment is dealing with his identity in the society. He tries to find ways to be a contributing adult

in this society. He has his girlfriend and is tries to find a job in order to continue his education in

college.
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Intellectual

As discussed in the biography, Abraham had some trouble at a young age and he did not

like to attend school. He had a slow intellectual development but as time passed, Abraham

started to enjoy school and he has received a lot of praise from his family members and schools

on his grades and his intelligence. He was able to organize his thoughts and ideas to make sense

of the world that he lives in. During my observation, Abraham was preparing to take his ACT

and he was not worried about them. Abraham is very bright, I looked at some of his classes that

he is taking, and most of his classes are advanced placement, he is taking AP psychology, AP

English, Honors math, and many more. I looked at some of his grades and recent report cards

and he has very good grades with most being A’s and B’s. After seeing this information and

observing him he is very smart and displays great intellectual development not only for school

tested content but in different areas of life. In the book Psychology Applied to Teaching (2015),

by Jack Snowman and Rick McCown, they state that intelligence is a concept that is widely

discussed and there are different definitions to what intelligence is (Snowman and McCown,

2015, p. 117). I think this is very true, the information above illustrates one way Abraham is

intelligent. This can be seen as being able to learn and be tested for such content; however, there

are different views that define intelligence. David Wechsler’s global capacity view explains that

intelligence is not simply summed up of ones tested abilities but to act purposely, think

rationally, and deal with the environment (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p. 121). Abraham has

the ability to deal with his environment, one example being when his car had some problems and

Abraham was quick to resolve the solution and think rationally and logically. Abraham has taken

some auto tech class and was able to look back on the knowledge he was taught to fix his car.

The intellectual development for everyone is different and everyone has different intelligences
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that they are good in and how they relate to the real world. This can be explained by Howard

Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory. The theory of multiple intelligence is different from

traditional conceptions. Gardner describes it as eight separate types of intelligence. These are

separate and independent from one another, logical mathematical, linguistic, musical, spatial,

bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p.

124). I had Abraham take a brief test to test for Gardner’s eight intelligences. After the test, I was

able to see and understand more about Abraham. Abraham received three top intelligences that

included bodily kinesthetic, the ability to control one’s body movement and handle objects

skillfully, intrapersonal, access to one’s feelings and the ability to differentiate between them to

guide behavior, third, naturalist, the ability to recognize and classify numerous animals and plant

of the environment. Through this test, I was able to see the connection between other

developmental areas of Abraham has such as emotional and his ability to understand his feelings

and how they intertwine to help him assimilate his life’s everyday demands.
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Pepsi Graph

18.5

18

17.5

17
Age

16.5

16

15.5

15
Physical Emotional Philosophical Social Intellectual
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Recommendations

Physical: After observing Abraham there are some recommendations can be very beneficial to

his physical development. One recommendation that I would make would be for his parent to

encourage better eating habits. There were some foods that I noticed from Abraham’s diet that

should be eaten in moderation. There seemed to be a lot of takeout food that the family would

eat. Abraham’s parents should continue to encourage his active lifestyle. They do a great job

getting the family active but there should be healthier food choices.

Emotional: Some recommendations for Abraham’s parents that would benefit Abraham’s

emotional development are to pay attention to how he interacts with others and encourage

positive behavior. Abraham seems to be able to control his own emotions but his parents should

try to open up more with Abraham’s feelings and let him speak up. There should be dialogue that

is more open between them to help communicate any problems that may occur.

Philosophical: Some recommendations for his parents to help Abraham’s philosophical

development include understanding the different views and beliefs that Abraham has created for

himself and trying to communicate to avoid problems with parental authority. His parents

should be caring and connected to what is happening in Abraham’s life.

Social: Some recommendations for his parents to help benefit his social development are to

provide positive social and emotional opportunities for Abraham. Try to encourage Abraham to

try new things to help him see what he is capable of doing.

Intellectual: Some recommendations for his parents to help Abraham’s intellectual development

are to continue guiding him to make good decisions presently and for the future. They should

help him and provide him with any advice that he may need. His parents should to continue to
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encourage him academically for his grades so he can get a good education and attend college to

better his life.

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Reference page

Ellsworth, Janne. (n.d.). PEPSI as a screening tool. Retrieved April 10, 2017, from

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/reading2-1-1.html

Promoting Healthy Social-Emotional Development in Your Child. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05,

2017, from https://www.lapetite.com/parent-resource-center/parenting-

articles/promoting-healthy-social-emotional-development-in-your-child/

Snowman, Jack., & McCown, Rick. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching (14th ed.). Australia:

Cengage Learning.

Zeman, Janice., & Davidson, Tish. (2011). Emotional Development. In J. L. Longe (Ed.), The

Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy through Adolescence (2nd ed., Vol. 2,

pp. 823-828). Detroit: Gale.

http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.csn.edu/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=las55353&

v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX1918500286&sid=summon&asid=3b7d318cc686f5efdc8

d5a2256071799