Running head: CASE STUDY 1

Case Study of Samantha Mangino, Age 16

Gemma Mangino

College of Southern Nevada

EDU 220

Professor Wyckoff

20 April 2017
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Introduction

Samantha is sixteen years old and is currently in 11th grade in high school. Her ethnicity

is half Italian and half Filipino. For her socioeconomic status, she is ranked as middle class.

According to Samantha her first language is English. The amount of times she has moved was

twice within the last five years. Her parent’s education level is both Bachelor’s degree in

College. Her family structure is based off her two parents, her mother and father, and her one

older sibling. She is the second born being the youngest in the family. She is cared for by her

parents and lives under their household. During Samantha’s observation, I had observed her in

the comforts of her own home in her living room during the day over the weekend.
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Observation

Physical

According to University of Washington Child Development Guide, the appropriate normal

characteristics for the physical development of sixteen to nineteen-year-old adolescents are “having

essentially completed physical maturation; physical features are shaped and defined, and the probability

of acting on sexual desires increases.” (University of Washington, 1993). Based on CDC “teenage

females will be physically mature by now, and most will have completed puberty. Some teens might have

concerns about their body size, shape, or weight.” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). The

sixteen-year-old girl I’ve observed, Samantha, meets most of the milestones for physical development.

For example, she has not yet finished physical maturation, although, some physical features and shapes

are more defined than younger maturing girls. Her sexual desires, activity, and interest in the opposite sex

are accurate with both resources. She is still aware of STDs and protection while she is engaging in sexual

activity. For physical development, she is also consuming large amounts of food both healthy and

unhealthy choices. Exercise is included in her everyday activities; however, it’s done too vigorously. Her

health is between being the correct weight to slightly overweight. Overall her physical development is

still in progress, but lacks a steady healthy evolvement due to her unhealthy choices.

Emotional

CDC mentions the emotional changes this age group might encounter are “feel a lot of sadness,

or depression, which can lead to poor grades, alcohol or drug abuse, unsafe sex, and other problems. Go

through less conflict with parents and show more independence from parents.” (2017). In compliance

with the University of Washington, emotionally adolescents between the ages of sixteen and nineteen

have the normal characteristics of “Worrying about failure. May appear moody, angry, lonely, impulsive,

self-centered, confused, and stubborn. Also, has conflicting feelings about dependence/independence.”

(1993). Her emotional state is accurate with both resources. For example, she worries often about failure
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in her grades, and future. Her emotions are moody, self-centered, and impulsive. According to University

of Washington Child Development Guide she has the normal characteristics of a growing adolescent.

Emotionally she feels isolated, or neglected from her peers at some points. From the CDC resource, it

mentions that teenagers encounter less conflict with parents, and more independent from them. This is a

milestone she does meet, because she feels comfortable with approaching her parents with issues and

leaving them for peer group activities. Being a developing teenage female she does experience

depression, suicidal threats, the sense of isolation, impulsiveness, extreme rebellion, denial of feelings,

and pathological lying. Due to her involvement with these indications, she is considered to have a

developmental lag based on the University of Washington Child Development Guide.

Intellectual/Cognitive

The University of Washington Child Developing Guide states that “the normal characteristics of

intellectual development includes being seriously concerned about the future; beginning to integrate

knowledge leading to decisions about future. Also, may lack information or self-assurance about personal

skills and abilities.” (1993). CDC states that the “thinking and learning in this age group might learn more

defined work habits, show more concern about future school and work plans, and be better able to give

reasons for their own choices, including about what is right or wrong.” (2017). Her cognitive levels of

comprehension also meet the milestones in both resources. Her ability to grasp knowledge is impressive,

because of her fear of failure. It has become an unhealthy obsession in her life where all of her grades

must be beyond exceeding standards. This is hurting her mental stability and causes emotional distress.

She also lacks her self-assurance about her personal skills and abilities. For instance, she is self-conscious

about her appearance, her grades, and her impression on her peers. Another normal characteristic she

shows is her concern for future and work plan. Her variety of interest of activities creates confusion on

what she wants to do for her future career choice. Also, per CDC, she should be able to portray an

organized work habit. (2017). In general, she is an overachiever and stays very organized, therefore she

meets this milestone as well.

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Social/Psychosocial

According to CDC adolescents may encounter the social changes of “Having more interest in the

opposite sex. Have a deeper capacity for caring and sharing and for developing more intimate

relationships, and spending less time with parents and more time with friends.” (2017). The normal

characteristics of social development based on the University of Washington Child Development Guide, a

sixteen to nineteen-year-old are “Having relationships with parents range from friendly to hostile.

Sometimes feels that parents are “too interested.” Usually has many friends and few confidants; dates

actively; varies greatly in level of maturity; may be comfortable, or enjoy activities, with opposite sex;

may talk of marriage. May be strongly invested in a single romantic relationship.” (1993). Socially she

meets most of the milestones on both resources. She lives with her parents in a friendly relationship. She

is trusted to go out on her own, but her parents do occasionally pry into her social life. Her friend group is

large and varies from true friends to people who are just acquaintances. However, she is not interested in

being “strongly invested in a single, romantic relationship.” (1993). She prefers to date multiple males

instead of being with just one. Another example of her meeting the milestone for social development is

having a more intimate relationship with her friends and spending more time with them instead of her

parents. She has also grown to become more caring and aware of other’s opinions and feelings.

Moral

The moral development normal characteristics according to the University of Washington Child

Development Guide is “confused and disappointed about discrepancies between stated values and actual

behaviors of family and friends; experiences feelings of frustration, anger, sorrow, and isolation. May be

interested in sex as response to physical-emotional urges as a way to participate in the adult world (but

not necessarily an expression of mature intimacy).” (1993). Samantha’s moral development has come a

long way. She meets these milestones, because she can create her own opinions and voices her thoughts

on important values. Her values have increased over time, due to her maturity level and attitude towards

the changing environment and society. For instance, she now has the courage to explain her differences
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and thoughts to her peers on their behavior and actions. She is involved in sexual activity not only due to

her physical development, but also knowing her mentality of wanting to grow up and experience adult

activities. Overall her morals are still evolving, because she is still growing and her opinions can change

over time.
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Psychologists’ Theories & Age Characteristics

Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory

Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory is the assumption that “human beings are born

with tendencies to organize and adapt.” (Snowman & McCown, 2013, 23). This theory is broken

up into three categories: organization, schemes, and adaption. The first category, organization, is

the tendency to “systematize or combine processes into coherent (logically interrelated)

systems.” (Snowman & McCown, 2013, 23). The second category, schemes, is the “formulation

of organized patterns of behavior or thought.” (Snowman & McCown, 2013, 23). Lastly the third

category, adaption, is “creating a good fit or match between one’s conception of reality and one’s

real-life experiences.” (Snowman & McCown, 2013, 23). Adaption consist of two subcategories

of assimilation which is fitting a new scheme into an existing scheme, and accommodation

which is the process of revising a scheme to fit a new experience. (Snowman & McCown, 2013).

Piaget’s cognitive theory also implies that a person’s cognitive levels transition in separate

stages. The Preoperational Stage begins in Preschool and Primary grades. Next, the Concrete

Operational Stage this moves on to Elementary to Early Middle School. Then finally, the Formal

Operational Stage starting in Middle School, High School, and beyond. Each of these three

stages contains different logical thought and comprehension.

The student I observed, Samantha, appears to meet Piaget’s cognitive developmental

theory. She uses organization, schemes, adaption, and is in the Formal Operational Stage of her

life. For example, she is capable of dealing with abstractions, form hypotheses, and engage in

mental manipulations. Her performances in school reflect these, because of her grades and

positive feedback form her teachers. Another example would be how she uses organization and

adaption in her activities often. For instance, when she receives a grade on a test she is not
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satisfied with she uses accommodation in her studying habits in order to achieve a better test

score on the next test. Samantha is also in the phase of adolescent egocentrism, and this makes a

major impact on her life. Due to the anxiety of other people’s opinion it causes a great deal of

stress upon her, therefore leading to unnecessary actions and thoughts she may have and do to

herself.

Vygotsky's Cognitive Developmental Theory

Vygotsky’s cognitive developmental theory is “often referred to as a sociocultural theory

because it maintains how we think is a function of both social and cultural forces.” (Snowman &

McCown, 2013, 32). According to Vygotsky, the most important thing cultures pass down to

members are psychological tools. (Snowman & McCown, 2013). This was a crucial part of

cognitive development, because it has the ability to aid and change the thought processes of

people. The amount of social interaction can affect cognitive development as well because it is

strongly influenced by people who are more intellectually advanced. (Snowman & McCown,

2013). Vygotsky also believes that how instruction is approached in a classroom is vital to

cognitive development. The best technique is to use scientific concepts, because it relies on how

a child intakes information and obtains knowledge. Due to how instruction is brought up in a

classroom also determines cognitive development by promotion in the zone of proximal

development. According to Vygotsky, the zone of proximal development is the differences

between what a child can do on their own and what can be accomplished with assistance which

is also known as scaffolding. (Snowman & McCown, 2013).

Samantha meets Vygotsky’s cognitive developmental theory because her social

interactions and cultural background influences her cognitive development. For example, her

social interactions with her peers and teachers impact her positively because the majority of them
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are intellectually advanced. Her Asian cultural background affects her level of thinking and

progress due to her need to please her parents. It also pushes her to strive for higher

achievements and goals in life, and in her future. Another example of her meeting Vygotsky’s

cognitive developmental theory is her zone of proximal development has increased with past

educational experiences and with the aid of scaffolding for her teachers.

Erickson’s Psychosocial Development Theory

Erickson’s psychosocial development theory covers the “psychological growth from

infancy through old age, portrays people as playing an active role in their own psychological

development, and highlights the important role that cultural goals, aspirations, expectations,

requirements, and opportunities play in personal growth.” (Snowman & McCown, 2013, 17).

Erickson’s theory is based off of the epigenetic principle. This principle implies that a child’s

personality develops through genetically predetermined stages that interact with the social

interactions of the child’s environment. (Snowman & McCown, 2013). There are five stages to

psychosocial development. The first stage is trust versus mistrust which begins at birth till the

age of one. The next stage is anatomy versus shame and doubt, and begins at age two till the age

of three. Then follows initiative versus guilt beginning at age four till age five. The fourth stage

is industry versus inferiority beginning at age six till age eleven. Finally, the last stage is identity

versus role confusion starting at age twelve till age eighteen. Erickson also believes that

personality grows from psychosocial crisis that leads to their identity status. This was further

researched by James Marcia who stated that Erickson’s identity status can be elaborated by

adding identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement. Under these

categories, Marcia explained that once the crisis is identified there must be commitment in order

to identify which category a person belongs to.

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Based off Erickson’s psychosocial development theory Samantha meets most of his

points in this theory. She has encountered the many psychosocial crisis during her adolescent

stage, therefore, altering her personality as she continues to grow. This affects her identity,

because of the continuous changes and adjustments she has made. However, she does not meet

Erickson’s epigenetic principle because she leans more toward Vygotsky’s theory that is more

influenced by culture and the psychological tools she was given.

Kohlberg’s Moral Development

Per Kohlberg’s moral development, he believes that there are six stages to moral

reasoning. The first stage is punishment-obedience orientation where the physical consequences

of an action determine goodness or badness. The second stage is instrumental relativist

orientation is where obedience to law should involve an even exchange. Next, the third stage,

good boy-nice girl orientation implies that the right action will impress others. The second and

third stages are labeled as the preconventional morality. People who tend to fall under these

categories want to avoid punishment and receive benefits in return. Following is the fourth stage,

law-and-order orientation. This is to maintain the social order, and fixed ruled must be obeyed.

The fifth stage is social contract orientation. This is where rules should involve mutual

agreements, and the rights of the individual should be protected. Stages four and five are labeled

as the conventional morality inferring that people want to impress others, and respect authority.

The sixth and final stage is universal ethnic principle orientation where moral decisions should

be based on consistent applications of self-chosen ethnic principles. This is the only stage

characterized under post-conventional morality and there are mutual agreements, and consistent

principles. (Snowman & McCown, 2013).

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Samantha meets Kohlberg’s moral development because she has encountered the

majority of the six stages of moral reasoning. For instance, when she was younger she would fall

under stages one through three to avoid punishment and receive benefits. She currently

commonly uses stages four and five to impress her peers, respect her teachers, and parents. Her

morality reasoning is based on the situation at hand and the outcome she is intentionally relying

on happening. Although she has used most of Kohlberg’s moral development, she has yet to use

the last stage of reasoning. She has not used universal ethnic principle orientation, because she is

still in the phase of adolescent egocentrism. Due to this phase, it interferes with her opinions and

decisions of her ethnical principles.

Snowman’s General Characteristics

Physical characteristics during high school are significantly large. They add more weight

and height to their body, and become more sexually active. Their social characteristics are

considered to have parents and other adults influence long range plans. Whereas peers influence

immediate status. Also, girls seem to experience greater anxiety about friendship than boys do.

Generally, there are also many high school students who are employed. Under emotional

characteristics there tend to be a vase variety of psychiatric disorders. Such as eating disorders,

substance abuse, schizophrenia, depression, and suicide. For cognitive characteristics, high

school students become advancingly capable of engaging in formal thought, and their political

thinking becomes more abstract, liberal, and knowledgeable. (Snowman & McCown, 2013).

Under this last section, Samantha meets all of the normal characteristics for a high school

student. For the physical requirements, she has definitely grown taller and added a little bit of

weight to her figure. She is also motivated by her parents to maintain good grades and to make a

beneficial decision for her future career. Her peer’s opinions and immediate status is something
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she greatly values, and takes into consideration. Lastly, her cognitive characteristics have

flourished during her high school years. She continues to thrive in her education and take

advantage of the opportunities she encounters while still in high school that will greatly profit

her for college in the future.

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Recommendations
Physical

According to the University of Washington suggested behaviors for effective parenting

would be to “recognize and compliment physical maturity. And to provide accurate information

on consequences of sexual activity, discuss birth control and HIV prevention.” (University of

Washington, 1993). Based on the CDC for healthy bodies they suggest that “teens should get

enough sleep and physical activity, and to eat healthy, balanced meals. The television set it best

kept out of the teen’s bedroom. And the encouragement to have family meals.” (Center for Disease

Control and Prevention, 2017).

Emotional

Based on the University of Washington the suggested behaviors of effective parenting are

to “be available to talk and to listen. Accept feelings—don’t overreact; jointly establish limits,

but don’t revert to childhood restrictions. And to avoid ridicule of inconsistent behaviors. Accept

needs for separation.” (University of Washington, 1993). The CDC suggests that adolescents

should “have more interest in the opposite sex, go through less conflict with parents and show

more independence from parents.” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017).

Intellectual

For improving intellectual development, the University of Washington suggests to

“Facilitate appointments with a school counselor. And to encourage talking about and planning

for future.” (University of Washington, 1993). According to the CDC for safety tips it’s best to

“talk with your teen about the dangers of driving. Talk to your teen about suicide and to pay
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attention to the waning signs. And the importance of choosing friends.” (Center for Disease

Control and Prevention, 2017).

Social

According to the University of Washington they suggest that to improve social

development parents should “try to maintain a good relationship; be respectful and friendly. Try

not to pry. To recognize and accept current level of interest in opposite sex. Encourage

experiences with a variety of people, e.g., younger, older, different cultures. And to avoid

disapproval; discuss needs and expectations that get met in the relationship.” (University of

Washington, 1993). The CDC mentions that under social changes teenagers should “have a

deeper capacity for caring and sharing and for developing more intimate relationships. Spend

less time with parents and more time with friends.” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention,

2017).

Moral

Based off the University of Washington the suggested behaviors for effective parenting to

improve their child’s morals they should “be sensitive to youth’s feeling and thoughts. Try to

bring them out in the open. Understand your own perspectives relating to values. And don’t

moralize, accept sexual experimentation as normal and healthy, although discourage them from

unprotected coital sex. Provide correct information on human sexuality, venereal disease. HIV,

and AIDS, birth control, intimacy, and safe types of sexual experimentation. And to also

Communicate your feelings about sexual relations. Be open to discuss and appreciate possible

differences in values and needs.” (University of Washington, 1993). The CDC mentions that

parents should “talk with their teens about their concerns and any changes in their behavior. It’s
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best to show interest in school and extracurricular activities, and to encourage involvement in

volunteering by becoming active citizens. Parents should also show affection and give

compliments for efforts and accomplishments.” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017).
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Summary

The fists page is a brief introduction based on the child I had observed. It includes all her

basic information ranging from her socioeconomic background, ethnicity, and family

information. Next, is the observation on Samantha on her physical, emotional, social,

intellectual, and moral development. In the observational section, it will describe whether if she

has met each standard according to the University of Washington and the Center for Disease

Control and Prevention. After the Observation section is the Physiologist section where it

explains the theory of Piaget’s Cognitive theory, Vygotsky’s Cognitive theory, Erickson’s

Psychosocial theory, Kohlberg’s Moral theory, and Snowman’s General characteristics. Finally,

is the recommendations section where it will give the suggestions from the University of

Washington and the CDC for suggestive behaviors for effective parenting.
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References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Child development: Teenagers (15-17 years

of age). Retrieved from

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence2.html

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013). ED PSYCH. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

University of Washington. (1993). Child development: Using the child development guide.

Retrieved from

http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/chidev/cd06.htm