PEPSI SCREENING ASSIGNMENT 1

Pepsi Screening Assignment

Brittany Patrick

Dr. Isabel
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Abstract

This paper is about Faith Nordstrom, a 16-year-old high school student. In this paper,

the development of her physical, emotional, philosophical, social, and intellectual development.

Faith’s development fluctuates. Her physical development is average, her emotional

development is above average, her philosophical development is average, her social

development is below average, and her intellectual development is above average. This paper

will explore the reasons as to where her development is, why her development is at that level,

and the age group she fits into. Attached to this paper are graphs comparing her development to

the standards given by J'Anne Ellsworth.

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Pepsi Screening Assignment

Faith Nordstrom is a 16-year-old female in high school. She comes from a traditional

family and has attended catholic school for a majority of her life. Now in secondary grades, she

attends public school. She has one brother who she appears to be fond of. Her parents have

remained together for her entire life. She is close to her family and is obedient to almost all of

their demands, exhibiting great discipline. Her mother is a hair dresser and her father is a cop,

leading her to have a healthy relationship with authority and the law. While she currently

attends high school, she desires to move onto a dual college and high school program.

Physical

Faith is about average when it comes to physical development. While some of her traits

fall below average, she makes up for it in other aspects. The subject appears to be teetering on

the edge of young adolescence and late adolescence development. Luckily, as far as my

observations go, this does not inhibit her emotional state.

Her secondary sex organs have not fully developed. While she has grown in height, her

breasts have not developed. She still appears to be caught in the transition of puberty. By her

age, most children have reached full growth (Barbara Huberman, 2015, p.1). Despite this, the

lack of developed secondary sex organs does not appear to take a toll on her confidence. She

still remains level-headed and appreciative of her appearance. It can be noted that she does not

appear to be affected by comments by her peers about her lack of developed secondary sex

organs.

According to [Hallfors et al., 2002] the rise in sexual activity of late adolescence has

been on the rise. Studies from 2007 state that nearly two-thirds of students have engaged in

sexual intercourse by the end of grade 12 (McCown et. al, p. 101). Faith, by accord of both her
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parents, has not shown any interest in engaging in sexual intercourse or activities. She has not

appeared curious about the subject, something which both late and early adolescence exhibit,

and has stayed quiet about the subject in general (Snowman & McCown, 2015, p. 95).

Faith is no stranger to grooming. While she does not appear to be concerned about

keeping up with the latest fashion or showing off her physical traits, she does put time and care

into her appearance. Hair, nails, and makeup seem to be the leaders in terms of her care system.

Faith’s mother states that this is not for the attention of others, but for her own self confidence.

This is exhibited by the fact that she is unwilling to change other habits or traits, such as fashion

or physique, for the attention of others.

Faith exhibits compulsive workout habits. These rigorous workouts, according to her

mother, borderline on obsessive. Despite the obsessive workout habits, Faith does not exhibit

any restrictions in her diet. She enjoys sweets and seemed eager to have her driver’s license

because she would be able to have ice cream whenever she wanted. These workout habits are

based on the urge to live up to her fictional role model, Lara Croft, from the Tomb Raider

franchise. She appears to exhibit high satisfaction for her current physique. She went as far as to

flex her biceps at me to exhibit her strength. She shows signs of healthy adolescence

development (Lumen Learning, paragraph 7).

All in all, Faith exhibits a healthy amount of growth for her age. While her secondary

sex organs are taking longer to develop, she maintains a healthy lifestyle and a strict workout

regimen. In the last year, she grew about 3 inches, and continues to grow this year. This is on
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par with average adolescence growth spurts in the state of puberty (Susman, E., & Rogol, A.).

Emotional

Faith’s emotional state is that of a young adult, save for a few minor exceptions. She

appears to be well rounded and in control of her emotions. Based on firsthand accounts and

statements from parents and family, Faith has completely recovered from phobias she possessed

in her childhood. Her ideologies have changed, and she has matured greatly.

Faith’s emotional state seems to rely heavily on her interpersonal relationships. Her

development can be described using relational cultural theory. She has a diverse range of

relationships, which means that she can further find her identity and grow her character. She

approaches all relationships with authenticity, never going into something with a facade or false

intentions. This, according to the relational cultural theory, shows emotional maturity

(Hutchison, Brian & Wagner, Holly & Leigh, Katheryne, 2016, p.418).
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Faith relies on herself more than anyone else. Her self-reliance helps her in the

classroom and at home. Emotionally, she can handle big tasks and the idea of being without

assistance for said tasks. Her parents have commended her on her self-reliance and believe that

she will be well prepared for adulthood.

Faith shows stellar evaluation skills when it comes to assessing actions and reflecting

upon said actions. She does not allow her emotions to get the best of her and grows from every

experience. When we spoke, she was able to reflect on her negative actions of the past, assess

the effects that they had, and said how she would have done things if the task were to be

repeated over again. She respects the evaluation of her peers and superiors and is willing to

tweak her performance to better impress them. This is something exhibited by adults 20+

(Simpson, p.1).

Depression is the most prominent disorder in late adolescence. However, there are other

prominent disorders: anxiety, bipolar, and schizophrenia (McCown et. al, p.104). Faith, in her

youth, suffered from severe anxiety disorders. She had an intense phobia of bugs and would

sleep with her mouth and ears completely covered in fear that a bug would crawl into it. At the

mere mention of an insect, she would experience a severe panic attack. However, after reiki

therapy, she has learned to control her emotions. When I mentioned insects, she did not show

any negative reaction.

Faith exceeds the focus on oneself and instead looks outwards. She desires to help others

in some big way. She has yet to find a way to do this because she does not see any action as a

big enough impact. Faith is searching for a “change the world” moment, rather than focusing on

small things she could do. When she qualified for her school’s honors society program, she
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quickly withdrew after realizing that her impact on the world did not reach beyond what she

described as “picking up garbage under the bleachers.”

Altogether, Faith shows great sings of emotional maturity. She exceeds what is expected

of a 16-year-old, even showing traits which exceeds an 18-year old’s development. When held

to the standard child, Faith’s development is stellar. Her self-improvement and focus on those

around her, as well as her self-reliance, show that she has only upwards to go from here.

Philosophical

Faith’s philosophical development is average for her age. She exhibits moral and

philosophical growth that allows her to form new ideas, opinions, and help decide where she fits

in the world. She has begun to exhibit a focus on the self and others outside of her peer groups.

Faith, coming from a family where her father is a cop, has always had a healthy

relationship with the law. In her youth, laws and rules have always provided security and
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comfort (Ellsworth, 1999). In her current state, she respects laws and rules as if they were set in

stone.

Faith’s history with religion has allowed her to develop what her parents refer to as a

strong moral compass. She looks to her religious studies when trying to develop a solution to

any moral dilemma. She seems to understand that her religious beliefs strengthen her sense of

philosophy, as mentioned in an interview with her. Her parents also agree that this is the case,

stating that she is stronger because of her religion. Philosophers believe that religion can

strengthen your philosophy, especially in teenagers and young adults (Grispino, 2005, p. 19).

Faith is idealistic in the sense that she wants to do good for the world. However, this

sentiment is clouded by the fact that she is still highly focused on her “I’ve got to be me” stage

(Ellsworth, 1999). Her current philosophy, which she is trying to mature, is that she must do

what is best for her rather than what is best for the rest of society. This is exhibited in her desire

to work for her school’s honors society but quickly dropping out after realizing that the tasks

bored her. However, her idealistic mindset does show signs of developing further in the future.

Faith seems to be focused on becoming a member of society and developing her moral

compass based on the community she immerses herself in. Her parents stated that she always

abides by community guidelines instead of letting her moral compass be influenced by her

younger peers. This may hinder her ability to develop a true sense of self, seeing as though she

is doing as she is told rather than exploring her own philosophies, but it remains a common trait

for her age (Monteath, 2011).

Her strictness to rules was also present in our game of Clue. She refused to go against

the guidelines given by the game, even when it was suggested to her by someone within her age

group. She spent a good twenty minutes going through the rules and making sure everything
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was clearly stated to the players. She exhibited no desire to go against the rules of the game and

almost seemed anxious at the idea of cheating.

Overall, Faith has philosophically developed like the average late adolescent. Her moral

compass should continue to grow in the following years and she should be able to develop a

stronger sense of self. Her religious following and upbringing allows her to follow rules, but

rarely make her own. As she develops, she should be able to create and abide to her own rules

while still following community guidelines.

Social

Faith is below average in social development, ranking in at early adolescence instead of

late adolescence. Faith, according to her parents, has always lagged in social endeavors. For a

long time, she stated that she had no friends and showed little interest in making them. She’s

always favored family to peers, according to her mother. Her attachment to her family is not the

only thing that sets her behind the bar in social development.
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In terms of interpersonal reasoning, Faith falls in stage 3: multiple role taking. In

multiple role taking, children become capable of taking a third-person view, which allows them

to understand the expectations of themselves and others in various situations as if they were

spectators. (Snowman & McCown, 2015) This development is common in ages ten to twelve.

Speaking in terms of suggested ages, faith should be in stage 4: social and conventional system

taking. At this point in her life, Faith should be able to understand how her actions affect

everyone around her, not just those who are immediately concerned (Snowman & McCown,

2015, p. 95). This can be exhibited in her inability to understand the subtleties in the

interactions with her friends and peers.

On the scale of Erikson’s social development, I would put her at Identity vs Role

Confusion, just where she should be for her age (Anthony, 2018). She is constantly seeking to

find the identity that will carry her into adulthood. Faith exhibits the desire to find an

environment where she can make meaningful connections. She believes that moving on to a

college program and college campus will assist her in her ability to find her social comfort zone.

It appears that her current role confusion has kept her from developing meaningful relationships

outside of her family (Ragelienė, 2016, p. 97).

When I was observing her, she had made plans to hang out with a friend. This,

according to her parents, was one of the few times she had agreed to hang out with a friend after

school. According to her, this individual was a friend by proxy and she felt as though she

needed to attend the social outing due to obligation. She’d constantly check to see if her friend

had any plans and was hoping that she would cancel. When I asked her what she would do if the

plans were to be cancelled, she stated that she would spend time with her cousin. She made it
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clear that this was the activity she preferred. When her friend did cancel, she rejoiced,

seemingly happy to spend time without peers her age.

Typically, parents and other adults are likely to influence long-range plans while peers

influence immediate plans (Snowman & McCown, 2015, p. 103). In the case of Faith, adults

and parents influence both her long-range plans and her immediate plans. Due to a lack of

connection with peers and individuals her age, the adults in her life seem to influence most

social decisions she makes. This can have an impact on what she wears, how she uses

technology, what her habits are like, and her friend groups. Her parents tend to be lenient on

some of these things in hopes that she will reach out socially for peer influence.

Faith is looking to improve her social development. She believes that by surpassing the

environment with those her age that she can better develop her social identity. This belief may

prove to be harmful to her overall social development due to the fact that she would be further

isolating herself from individuals her age. For the time being, she remains at an early

adolescence level of social development.

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Intellectual

Faith is above average when it comes to intellectual development. For a majority of her

life, she was enrolled in honors classes and achieved a 3.5 gpa or higher. She was always

considered the top of her class and an intellectual powerhouse around the family. Since a young

age, she has exhibited high cognitive functions.

Faith has developed the ability to engage in sophisticated formal thought and uses it

constantly. She is always thinking, analyzing, and coming up with solutions to new ideas.

During observations, Faith exhibited above par reasoning and analysis skills. A game of Clue

was played within the family. She was able to use her relationships to her advantage by

throwing other players off using methods with her closest family members, especially her

brother. Because she knew they could communicate with non-verbal signals, she used that to

tell him she was attempting to throw off another player. She was also able to plan out what she

was going to do throughout the game and what tactics she would use to test her hypothesis.

When it came to her turn, she used calculated methods to test her hypothesis on who the killer

was. These are all signs of formal, higher thought (Snowman & McCown, 2015, p. 106).

Faith exhibits the ability to look at situations from multiple points of view. This has

aided her in real life problem solving and developing a stronger sense of security in her

intellectual talents (Early and Middle Adulthood, n.d.). When questioned about her ability to

solve problems, she exhibited pride in her capabilities. Her willingness to learn and apply her

knowledge to real life situations has allowed her to build healthy relationships with her teachers

(Schaie, 1996).

Faith also exhibits the ability of self-reliance. She knows how to take care of herself.

During observations, she spoke about how she enjoys cooking for herself, doing her own
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chores, and taking care of her own needs. This shows that she is intellectually developed

enough to know that caring for herself is an important part of her upcoming adulthood. She also

enjoys caring for others. Her parents commented that she will often cook for the family instead

of cooking just for herself.

Faith’s political ideologies are not fully developed. For the most part, she seems to favor

feminism. When asked about her political opinions, she did not formulate much of an answer.

However, her parents state that she does keep up with the news. Her parents also state that if she

believes in something, she will debate it with all her willpower.

Overall, Faith stands at an adult level for intellectual development. Her cognitive

thinking skills are above average for her age. Her ability to think, reason, and use her

relationships and resources to her advantage show a remarkable aptitude for problem solving.

As she matures, her intellectual development will most likely continue to grow above the

standard.
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Conclusion

Combined, we can see that Faith is not the average child. Intellectually and emotionally,

she is above average. However, her lack of social development places her below average for

that section. It is important to take these things into consideration when dealing with Faith. You

must know where to push her strengths and where to encourage her growth. The following

paragraphs will be recommendations on how to handle Faith in a classroom and at home.

When handling Faith’s physical activities, it is important to ensure that she does not to

push herself too hard. Her near obsessive exercising rituals can prove harmful to her overall

development. Faith’s parents should check on her constantly to make sure she is eating properly

to support her rigorous activities. Her grooming activities should be promoted, as it supports her

desire to take care of herself. Teachers should keep an eye out for bullying over Faith’s lack of

secondary sex organisms to ensure that her confidence does not falter, and she does not end up

harming her development in any way.

Both teachers and parents should not be afraid to express their feelings around Faith.

Her emotional stability is acceptable, making it easy for teachers and parents to express their

concerns and praise. One thing both parents and teachers should look out for is the reemergence

of her anxiety. If Faith exhibits discomfort or panic around or during activities involving

insects, she should be excused from the activity and not ridiculed for overreacting. As mental

illness runs in her family, teachers should look for any warning signs and report concerns to

parents.

Teachers should encourage Faith to explore her own philosophies while still ensuring

that she follows the given rules. Helping Faith develop her own ideologies can help her develop

a stronger sense of self. Teachers should promote the idea of putting others before herself and
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give opportunities for Faith to give back to the community. For now, these opportunities should

be engaging and hands on, like working at a food bank or a homeless shelter. Veer away from

activities which she deems “boring” like trash clean-up.

Faith’s social boundaries should be pushed by both teachers and parents. Group

activities would be helpful for assisting Faith in creating friendships and working cooperatively

with other students. Parents should urge her to reach out to others in her age group instead of

remaining reliant on her older family members for friendships. Enhancing Faith’s social skills

can be done through suggestions of clubs and extra-curricular activities. If you notice that Faith

is shying away from group work, step in and encourage or spark academic conversation within

the group.

Teachers should provide Faith with harder school work. During observations, she did

declare that most of the work given to her was not sufficient for her skill level. Advanced

assignments, especially in math and science, should be given to Faith to keep her engaged and

willing to learn. Without the added challenge, she feels as though school deserves little effort. If

you notice Faith finishing work early or appearing bored during class, call on her to solve

problems, discuss work with her at her desk, or assign her more difficult problems to work on.
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References

Physical:

Boundless Psychology. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/adolescence/

Huberman, B. (2015). Growth and Development, Ages 18 and Over: What Parents Need to
Know. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/parents/157?task=view

Snowman, J., McCown, R. R., & Biehler, R. F. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Co. 93-101.

Emotional:

Hutchison, Brian & Wagner, Holly & Leigh, Katheryne. (2016). Young Adulthood Social-
Emotional Development. 415-442.

Simpson, R. (2014). Stages of Adolescent and Young Adult Development (18-25). Youth
Development Institute, 1-3. Retrieved April 9, 2018.

Snowman, J., McCown, R. R., & Biehler, R. F. (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 101-105.

Social:

Anthony, M. (2018). Social Development in 11-13 Year Olds. Retrieved from Scholastic:
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/stages-milestones/social-
development-11-13-year-olds

Ragelienė, T. (2016). Links of Adolescents Identity Development and Relationship with Peers:
A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, 97-105.

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co. 95-106

Intellectual:

Early and Middle Adulthood. (n.d.). Retrieved from LumenLearning:

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/early-and-middle-
adulthood/
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Schaie, K. W. (1996). Intellectual development in adulthood: The Seattle Longitudinal Study.

Handbook for the Psychology of Aging, 266-286.

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co. 106-107

Philosophical:

Ellsworth, J. (1999). Late adolescence. Retrieved from Northern Arizona University:

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/reading2-1-2.html

Grispino, J. A. (2005). Philosphy for Teens: Ideas and Ideals. Tuscan: Third Millennium
Publishing.

Monteath, A. (2011). Philosophy for Teenagers: Finding New Relevence in Old Concepts. Edith
Cowan University: Research Online, 205-307.