PEPSI SCREENING: DAVID GARCIA 1

PEPSI Screening of David Garcia

Itzi Garcia Contreras

College of Southern Nevada

EDU 220 – 1002

Dr. Hooks

27 February 2022
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PEPSI Screening

Biography

David Garcia is the subject of this PEPSI Screening. David was born on July 5, 2010, he

is 11 years old. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. He lives with his mother, father, and five

siblings. His family has moved across different parts of Las Vegas but has never moved out of

this city. He is Hispanic and has not had the opportunity to visit any family outside of the United

States. The partakes in a lot of the cultures that are a part of being Hispanic, but he is also a part

of the mainstream culture because he was born and raised in the United States. Their family is a

low-income household. His father provides for the family and his mother does not work because

she is an undocumented immigrant. David shares a room with his older brother and two younger

sisters. Though, he usually only shares the room with his sisters in the day because the girls like

to sleep in the living room.

David enjoys playing video games with his siblings, and even though his older brother

wins first place in nearly every game, he likes playing because it’s fun. David likes to draw

occasionally, he wants to release a video game with his older sister when he’s older, he enjoys

character design, he’s very creative. He wanted to join his middle school’s art program, but it

was not available when he registered, so he applied to the orchestra program instead. He

currently plays the cello, and he gets aid from time-to-time from his older sister because she has

experience with stringed instruments. He has made great advancements playing the cello

considering he has only been playing for a couple of months.

David often struggles with academics; he even has times where he wants to drop out.

He’s smart but has trouble asking for help when he needs it. He struggled a lot during the 2020-
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2021 school year because he learns best when the lesson is hands-on and interactive, so having to

do all of his schoolwork online was not engaging for him, and it didn’t help that most of those

assignments were written/essay assignments. Science has been the most difficult subject for him

to grasp this school year (2021-2022), he also is not a fan of his teacher - that mentality and bias

clashes together and puts him in a tough situation. Most recently, he was worried about an

upcoming test on cell structures and their functions. From a first-hand perspective, it was quickly

made apparent that a typical recital of terms and attempts at memorization were not going to

work for him. Instead, a kinesthetic approach was taken by presenting him with a cut-out puzzle

of a cell and its structures. It was only after this short activity that he was able to grasp and

memorize the concepts.

His parents often struggle with him because he refuses to eat the food they make if he

doesn’t like it. This is sometimes a struggle because his parents enjoy making ethnic food, and

because David grew up in the U.S., his tastes are quite different from theirs. Ethnic food can

sometimes require an acquired taste, and the food often looks very different from the food he or

his friends eats at school, so even if he lives in a Hispanic household, some things about the

culture and customs are very strange to him.

Physical Development

David is 4’11” and weighs 83lbs. He considers himself to be short, and he’s self-

conscious about his height because his sister, who is two years younger than him, is taller than

him. However, this development is completely normal, because as stated in Lumen Learning’s

“Introduction to Psychology” online course, “For girls [puberty] begins between 8 and 13 years

old, with adult height reached between 10 and 16 years old. Boys begin their growth spurt
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slightly later, usually between 10 and 16 years old, and reach their adult height between 13 and

17 years old.” (Lumen Learning). He currently drinks Ensure, as recommended by his

pediatrician, in order to get the necessary vitamins and minerals he needs to stay healthy.

David wants to grow taller, but his parents think that he is being held back because he

struggles eating a balanced diet. He does not like eating meat, which is an issue because this is

how the rest of his family usually gets their daily intake of protein. He also does not enjoy eating

vegetables, which are an essential part of the food pyramid. Height is affected by genetics, but

nutrition also plays a very important role (Lumen Learning). It is important to note that nurture

and nature are both important in ensuring the growth of David’s physical development.

During this time, many adolescents enter puberty; however, David has not started puberty

yet. This is normal, because rates of development differ depending on the individual. At this age,

children’s brains are still developing, especially their frontal lobes. The frontal lobes are in

charge of self-control, judgement, and planning (Lumen Learning). David tends to lack self-

control at times, randomly yelling at times when he’s annoyed, excited, or trying to annoy his

siblings. He does things at times without regard for what others might think of him, such as

acting overly hyper, but he only does this around his family. He does things because he wants to,

and it’s usually never anything bad, but if his actions end up annoying someone it’s usually

never with ill-intent.

David can be clumsy and stubborn when trying something new. He learns best when he’s

doing something with his own hands rather than through a lecture or watching a video. However,

if the learning could get him hurt (e.g., learning to ride a bike), then he wants nothing to do with

it. As he was first being taught to ride a bike, he was stiff, with his elbows sticking out as far as
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he could put them as he gripped the bike handle. It was clear that his stance was intentional. He

did not want to be on the bike and was very verbal about the fact that he was not a fan of the

two-wheeled “rib annihilator.” His gross motor skills had not been developed enough to keep

him balanced on a bike, so it was difficult for him to understand how to keep himself from

falling.

David is the type of person who does not like to break rules because his parents raised

him and his siblings to respect those boundaries. According to J'Anne Ellsworth, “A fair number

of youngsters will try substances that are illegal - alcohol, gas sniffing, smoking, snuff, even hard

drugs.” (Ellsworth, 1999). David has strong morals thanks to his upbringing. He and his family

have seen what illegal substances can do to an individual, so he is very adamant that he will not

try illegal substances.

Emotional Development

David is very conscious of how he presents himself. Recently, his hair was cut by his

father because David did not want a barber to cut it for him. His decision led him to

unknowingly agree to a bowl-cut hairstyle. David was self-conscious of this hairstyle because he

thought he was going to be made fun of at school. He has thick straight hair as well, so he’s

gotten frustrated many times because of his inability to style his hair. At this age, appearance is

very important to individuals.

David, like most children his age, also finds comfort in his friend group. Usually,

children act differently depending on the situation they’re in or people they’re with. At home,

David usually acts composed around his parents unless he’s with his siblings, if it’s the latter,

then he acts very energetic, hectic, and can get chaotic at times. According to Educational
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Psychology, “It is not that preadolescents care less about their parents. It is just that their friends

are more important than ever,” and that during this time, children tell their friends things they

haven’t told their parents yet (Slavin, p. 58). When David is with his friends, they enjoy talking

about video games, school, food, and their pets.

David’s school as a dress code, and even when it gets cold, he can only wear a solid-

colored hoodie in one of the three school-approved colors. He and the rest of his peers can only

wear the school’s uniform, and David likes it this way. However, even when he has the option to

wear whatever he wants, he chooses to wear dark-colored clothes, frequently opting to wear

articles of clothing he takes to school, such as his navy hoodie and navy school pants. However,

he’ll occasionally wear brightly colored and intricate shirts if they have his favorite video game

characters on them. Educational Psychology states, “[The] need for acceptance by peers helps to

explain why preadolescents often dress alike,” (Slavin, p. 58). David doesn’t wear clothes to fit

in with a crowd, rather, he dresses the way he does because it’s comfortable, safe, and he

genuinely enjoys it. He says that he’s noticed a trend where his classmates dye their hair as a

form of self-expression, and although he thinks that it’s very cool, he wouldn’t dye his hair

because he likes his natural hair color.

David doesn’t like that there are so many mean and disrespectful people at school, he

finds it odd that some people think it’s okay to misbehave and disrespect others for the sake of

fitting in and gaining popularity. Not only that, he especially has a problem with his science

teacher. Educational Psychology explains, “The middle school years often also bring changes in

the relationship between children and their teachers,” (Slavin, p. 59). David thinks that his

science teacher is disrespectful and does not explain the assignments he gives out. However, it

should also be noted that David is a very straight-forward person. David struggles with
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understanding sarcasm, even when it is used in an overly silly tone. It is possible that David has

not yet developed the ability to sense when someone is being serious and when they’re not. It is

likely that even if the teacher did not mean to give David negative impressions of him, it has

come to be that way. David has cried sometimes over homework that some of his teachers have

given him and has had to receive help from his older sister because his teachers had not covered

the material in class.

David has not yet experienced an identity crisis, but he has a good idea of what he wants

to be when he grows up. David loves playing video games, and he likes drawing, so he wants to

work for a video game company as a character design artist when he’s older. He also wants to

pick up cooking as a hobby, but he’s had trouble realizing this goal because he is afraid of the

teacher that oversees his school’s cooking club.

Philosophical Development

David was raised as a Christian, and still is one, therefore, he believes in some Christian

values and ideologies like Heaven and Hell. David was asked a series of questions, including

questions that were asked in the book, Educational Psychology. These are some of the questions

he answered:

“Is it okay to lie? If so, when would it be appropriate to lie?”

David: It’s okay to lie sometimes. You can lie if someone is asking you to tell them a something

that someone else told you to keep secret.

“Are the decisions of the majority always right?”

D: No, sometimes they can be wrong.

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“Is it ever okay to kill someone?”

D: No, because then you go to Hell.

“Even if the person is someone bad, like Hitler or a murderer?”

D: It’s still not good because you will go to Hell.

“If your mother was sick and needed medicine but you had no money, would you steal the

medicine for her?”

D: No because stealing is bad.

The final question was taken from the book, Educational Psychology, “Piaget posed two stories

to older and younger children. In the first story, a boy broke 15 cups completely by accident. In

the second story, a boy broke one cup while he was trying to steal a cookie… who was naughtier

and should be punished more[?]” (Slavin, p. 49)

D: The kid who broke the one plate was naughtier because he was stealing, so he should be

punished more.

While David understands right from wrong, he still seems to have heteronomous

morality, meaning he believes that the rules that have been established should be followed, with

little to no flexibility allowed. On the contrary, autonomous morality is when individuals are

aware that some rules are not fair, and that some individuals are going to have their own opinions

on what’s right and wrong. According to Educational Psychology, “Autonomous morality begins

around the age of 10 or 12 years, when children become capable of formal operations,” so

according to Piaget’s theory of moral development, that would mean that David is starting to
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develop autonomous morality, as exemplified by his answer to the second question (Slavin, p.

50). In that sense, David is right on track with his age range’s philosophical development.

When taking Kohlberg’s stages of moral reasoning into consideration, David would fall

into the conventional level of morality, specifically stage three. Kohlberg’s conventional level of

morality states that an individual in stage three will not only consider one’s own feelings, but

also the feelings of their peers as they work together. At this stage, children “no longer do they

simply do what will not get them punished (Stage 1) or what makes them feel good (Stage 2),”

(Slavin, p. 52).

Social Development

David is eleven years old, meaning he’s already entered middle school. According to

Erikson’s stages of psychological development, David should be in the Industry v. Inferiority

stage. Educational Psychology says, “Teachers and peers take on increasing importance for the

child, while the influence of parents decreases,” (Slavin, p. 48). This holds true for David, and

though he and his friends don’t see each other out of school, he still confides in them a lot more

than his parents. David also sees his older siblings as very important figures who he takes after.

Every day, David likes to share with his older sister the things he did and saw at school.

However, David doesn’t tend to share this information with his parents. One reason is that he

thinks his parents might judge his experiences or take them too seriously. Another reason as to

why he doesn’t share some information with his parents is because there is a language barrier

between them. David’s parents mainly speak Spanish, and David mainly speaks English, their

understanding of each other’s language is very limited.

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David wants to do many things at the moment, he has many goals he wants to

accomplish. “Children now want to make things. Success brings with it a sense of industry, a

good feeling about oneself and one’s abilities. Failure creates a negative self-image, a sense of

inadequacy that may hinder future learning,” (Slavin, p. 48). One of David’s goals is to make a

fantasy/SciFi video game with his older sister. They both lack experience, but they’re putting

together what they can; David says that it’s okay if the development process is slow because at

least he’s still having fun.

David sees his older siblings as role models. He trusts them with a lot of things because

they give him a lot of useful advice. Not only that, but he will often imitate their actions in order

to accomplish something. Educational Psychology explains, “Much of human learning is not

shaped by its consequences but is more efficiently learned directly from a model,” (Slavin, p.

116). This is demonstrated repeatedly when David sees his siblings cooking; he takes into

account the mistakes they make, and he actively avoids making those mistakes when he wants to

cook.

Intellectual Development

David’s parents are usually busy and cannot spend much time with their children. It is

usually their eldest daughter that cares for her siblings. However, David’s sister also attends

college and does not spend as much time with her siblings as she used to. Because of their

socioeconomic situation, David’s family does not have many opportunities to spend on

educational activities or excursions outside of the classroom. Their family lacks the educational

opportunities that other families have open access to. According to Educational Psychology,

David should be entering the Formal Operational Stage of Piaget’s Cognitive Development
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theory. After observing David, that seems to be the case, though, as mentioned before, he lacks

some understanding of certain concepts, such as sarcasm. “The preadolescent begins to be able to

think abstractly and to see possibilities beyond the here and now,” (Slavin, p. 29). He is able to

understand hypothetical questions such as “what would happen if the Sun went out right now?”

and can give hypothetical answers based on the circumstances of the question, “Plants wouldn’t

be able to photosynthesize, and even if we were able to stay warm with electricity, a lot of living

animals would run out of food and starve.” Because he has only begun entering the Formal

Operational stage, he still has a lot more development to do, but he seems to be on track with his

age range.

David learns best when he’s shown a process and then allowed to replicate it. He

recognizes that this is one of the ways he learns best, meaning that he’s thought metacognitively

before. Educational Psychology says that students can learn to use metacognition to improve

their learning, “Students can learn to think about their own thinking processes and apply specific

learning strategies to think themselves through difficult tasks,” (Slavin, p. 152). David knows

that he struggles in his science class because a lot of the learning that happens in the classroom is

passive. His teacher only has his students take notes, and rarely do they ever get the opportunity

to do a project to showcase their knowledge.

When asked to think about how he transfers information from working memory to long-

term memory, David said that he finds it easy to remember information through repetition,

though this doesn’t work for him if he has trouble understanding the topic he’s learning about.

Educational Psychology emphasizes the importance of repetition (also called rehearsal),

“Rehearsal is important in learning because the longer an item remains in working memory, the

greater the chance that it will be transferred to long-term memory,” (Slavin, p. 130). This means
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that David is doing well by using this metacognitive technique to have a better command over

information.

Graph

Recommendations
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A suggestion for David’s parents to help them deal with his eating habits would be to find

different sources of nutrition. If David doesn’t like meat, parents could try offering yogurt,

legumes, or even tofu to ensure that David is getting the necessary nutrients he needs. Parents

could also try presenting vegetables in different ways, such as steamed, blended into a smoothie,

dehydrated, or they can use other flavors to mask the taste.

Since David worries a lot about his safety and whether he can accomplish seemingly

difficult tasks, it is recommended that his family try out various activities with him that get him

out of his comfort zone and help him build not only physical strength, but mental strength. With

that, he can build confidence in himself to do things that might seem foreign or scary, such as

riding a bike. It is important to not let him give up during a time when he is frustrated or self-

conscious. If his family keeps practicing with him, he will get used to the foreign feeling of

sitting on the bike, he will learn to balance himself, and he can learn to ride a bike without any

assistance.

It is recommended that David continues striving towards his goals. He has a good sense

of identity, and thanks to that, he has a good idea of what he wants to make a career out of. As

mentioned before, David’s family should try out activities that take him out of his comfort zone,

maybe this can help him put aside the fact that he’s afraid of the cooking club teacher and he can

finally join the club. If possible, he should be allowed to cook at home as well. It is also

recommended that David tries to get into his school’s art program so he can gain more

knowledge about art. Joining his school’s art class will also help him decide on whether or not he

wants to pursue art as a career. Lastly, David should focus on finding what he really enjoys about

school so that even when he comes across shortcomings, he can get back on track without
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distressing as much as he does. He should learn to speak up when he comes across something

that he doesn’t understand so that he can get the help that he needs in order to succeed in school.

It is recommended that David’s family work with him to further develop his own

ideologies, not just what is written as law or what is taught as “right” or “wrong.” Working wit

him to develop critical thinking skills, such as questioning, cross-referencing, and finding

sources of information that lack bias would help him stay informed, while making sure his ideas

are his own, and not what others want them to be.

David’s parents should try to find better ways to communicate with him. There is a

language barrier between the family, but they can still somewhat understand and communicate

with each other. In order to foster a deeper and more meaningful relationship, they need to talk to

one another so that they can understand each other. This will also help David through his social

development because he will gain more access to wisdom and experience he may need in the

future.

David should try using other metacognitive skills to help him learn better and retain more

information in his long-term memory. He should also make more attempts at asking questions

when he is confused. It would also be beneficial to study at home to ensure he understands the

concepts he is being taught.

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References

Ellsworth, J’Anne. (1999). Eleventh Year: Teaching and Learning Fairness. Northern Arizona

University. https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year11.html

Lumen Learning. Introduction to Psychology. Lumen Learning.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wsu-sandbox/chapter/stages-of-development/

Slavin, R. E. (2020). Educational Psychology (13th Edition). Pearson Education (US).

https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780135752821