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PEPSI Screening 

Aaron Barreras 

College of Southern Nevada 

EDU 220

Instructor: Dr. Vincent Richardson

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Biography

The subject of this PEPSI (physical, emotional, philosophical, social and intellectual)

screening is a 9-year-old girl in the fourth grade. The subject is attending the charter school that I

work at in an “Early Bird” school program. The subject is a happy kid who is involved in many

activities and enjoys school. For example, she stands out by doing all projects extremely well.

She is detail oriented and a sharp student that is also attentive to her surroundings. The subject is

an only child and she was born and raised in Las Vegas her whole life, although she travels a lot

to Brazil where her mother is from. The subject also demonstrates plenty of skills in many areas

such as physical games like 4 square and soccer. She also shows a lot of interest in mental games

such as chess and poker. Moreover, I noticed when I was teaching a group of peers of her age

how to play poker, she showed a deep understanding of the game in very little time even though

she was not previously exposed to card games, and I consider her a quick learner.
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Physical Development

The subject's physical appearance seems average compared to similar girls in the same

grade. Although she looks slightly stronger than her peers, it might be because she was in

softball before the pandemic. According to Weiss, M. R. (2000). are beneficial and have long-

term health outcomes Furthermore, the subject has complained about her parents not letting her

go on the internet for prolonged periods of time. Although it might not seem fair to the subject,

her parents are doing her a great service according to Dalton, (2019). Child obesity and other

health problems emerge with lack of physical activity. An article also suggests limiting non

educational screen time to no more than two hours per day, so the subjects parent I think they are

well aware of this problem. That’s why the subject has limited screen time and is encouraged to

be in sports. It is important to keep track of children specially now since the obesity in the U.S

has increased according to Trofimuk, A., & Lee, E. (2022, Sep 25). One in five children is

stricken with obesity. Another observation that supports why the subject shows good health is

she always eats her snacks during breakfast time. Proper nutrition is also key to developing a

healthy body.

Emotional Development

The subject has shown mature mental strengths in many opportunities such as keeping

her cool and knowing not to let her emotions get the best of her. The subject shows emotional

intelligence daily. For example, the subject is aware of others' emotions and usually tries to
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comfort them if they are her friends. The subject tends to be a truly kind child. On the contrary to

her many peers, if a classmate is not particularly good at a game most kids do not have the

patience to teach another kid a game. Instead, they opt to play with someone that does know how

to play the game well. In my observation I notice the subject really enjoyed a card game that I

recently taught a group of kids as soon as the subject gained understanding of the game, she

would invite friends and other children and she would attempt to teach them. When the subject

was asked who makes you proud and inspires you, she replied “my mom and dad” in a heartbeat.

According to Popov, L. M., & Ilesanmi, R. A. (2015).The most important relationship there is, is

the relationship they have with parents due to the level of intimacy. Also the parent-child

relationship directly impacts the development of emotional functioning and regulation. The

subject has shown a great deal of emotional development although sometimes she would take

little comments from other kids a little too seriously, there has been more than one occasion

where I had to explain that kids tend to tease and play pranks sometimes and its better to not take

it seriously, I believe that she might be a little to mature or her peers might be too immature or

combination of both.

Philosophical development

J’Anne Ellsworth notes that at age 9, children usually understand what is right and

wrong. They usually tell the truth, but in some cases tell a lie to escape punishment. When lying,

they are fully aware of the act. The subject is honest but tries to pull a fast one sometimes like a
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typical 9-year-old (Ellsworth, 1996). I asked the subject what she wants to be when she grows up

and the answer I got was a bit of a shock when she replied, “NASA engineer”. Then she

explained in detail how she got inspired and explained why she thinks its important. The subject

once told me a story how she accidentally broke a team member’s leg from the opposing team

when they were playing softball. The subject expresses deep empathy but she also remarked that

it was not her fault since the player was supposed to be standing to the side of the base not

directly in front of it. Research from Slavin shows Kohlberg stages of moral reasoning the

subject has shown to be in the stage of social contract orientation (2018).

Social Development

Nelson, H. J., Kendall, G. E., & Shields, L. (2014). When I first met the subject, she was

reluctant to talk to me but after close observation. The subject does not have a big social circle.

However, that does not mean she wants to make friends. My first encounter with her I notice was

withdrawn and unresponsive to my greetings. After playing a couple of games with a group of

kids, the subject eventually started opening with me and being more friendly. Eventually, she
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would become one of the students that asked me the most questions. The subject has expressed

multiple times and acknowledged that she gets bored easily. The subject has no problem with her

social interactions. She seems as if she contributes to the positive environment and shows

effective communication with a supportive family, friends, school (Nelson, Kendall & Shields,

2014).

Intellectual Development

The subject is well organized and shows a scholastic attitude, there has been a few

times when she has needed my help and I notice how prepared she is. The subject has all her

homework and important notes well divided into sections, I also notice she carries extra pencils

and all sorts of academic tools. At first, I thought it was a bit much, but then I realized how

important school is for the subject and after seeing her report card, the subject is proud of being a

straight A student. The subject seems above average in many aspects but especially in academic

work. For example, I was once addressing a group of kids by helping them with their homework

and the subject was also there as I was helping another student with a complex math problem.

The subject mentioned that she learned how to do that type of problem when she was in the

second grade. There is no doubt that the subject is above average in intellectual development.

The subject is also highly motivated as she has ambitious goals despite her early age. She told

me that when she grows up, she wants to be a NASA engineer. According to the book,

motivation is one of the most critical components of learning. Furthermore, the book states that

motivation differs from student to student and different motivations have usually different

results. The subject demonstrates attitude which usually means students see school as a way gain
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competence in skills being taught. In contrast other students are motivated by performance goals.

Students with this mindset tend to seek positive judgement of their competence and avoid

negative judgement.

Graph

physical Emotional Philosophical social Intellectual

Key: black line average

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Recommendations
The (PEPSI) screen shows that the subject does not have any delays in development. To the

contrary, she is right where she needs to be in some areas and excels in others. For example, in

physical development I judge the subject above average since the subject appears to eat well and

always has a healthy snack and seems a bit stronger than other girls her age. Therefore, my

recommendation is to keep the same routine. For emotional development I marked the subject at

normal average since she acts like a typical 9-year-old girl. She will get emotional if something

bad happens. Despite this she can self-regulate her emotions and she is aware of her peers'

feelings, I would recommend for teachers and parents to have open discussions with the subject

about how she is feeling and model how to act upon complex situations the subject might

encounter. In the Philosophical aspect of the screening, I had a challenging time determining if

the subject was above average or just average as she displayed very typical behavior of a nine-

year-old; however in some instances, she showed critical thoughtfulness and stayed focused in a

subject manner. For this type of behavior. I would recommend positive reinforcement and taking

time to explain and offer feedback. With social development, she can be a bit shy and can
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sometimes use a little encouragement to reinforce positive behavior. By doing so, she might

become more outspoken. Lastly the intellectual development for this subject shows that the

subject is indeed above average in intellectual development. The subject is also highly motivated

as she has huge goals despite her early age. I would recommend keeping the subject busy with

activity and overall spending quality time. My final recommendation to the subject's parents is

not to forget she is a nine-year-old girl. although she can show high maturity.

References

Weiss, M. R. (2000). Motivating kids in physical activity. President's Council on Physical

Fitness and Sports Research Digest.sports

Dalton, N., Fox, K., Khalil, M., Boldy, A., Scully, P., & Clodagh O’Gorman. (2019). P510 

Parental knowledge of children’s screen time and the depiction of nutritional products on

children’s television. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 104 doi

Trofimuk, A., & Lee, E. (2022, Sep 25). One in five US kids stricken with obesity as nation

struggles for solutions to epidemic.

Popov, L. M., & Ilesanmi, R. A. (2015). Parent-child relationship: Peculiarities and outcome.

Rev. Eur. Stud., 7, 253.

Ellsworth, J. A. (1996). Online Lesson: 'PEPSI' as a Screening Tool. Lesson. Retrieved

November 20, 2022, from https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/lesson2-1-

1.html
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Slavin, R. E. (2021). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Pearson.

Nelson, H. J., Kendall, G. E., & Shields, L. (2014). Neurological and biological foundations of

children’s social and emotional development: An integrated literature review. The Journal of

School Nursing, 30(4), 240-250., Chicago,