Pepsi Screening
Pepsi Screening
Pepsi Screening
PEPSI Screening
Dariana Rodriguez
30 September 2019
PEPSI SCREENING 2
Biography
The individual studied for this case study is a 12-year-old seventh grader. His full name is
Angel Dominic Nava, he was born on May 14th 2007 in Las Vegas. Both of his parents are of
Mexican descent. Spanish was his first language although he currently speaks English a bit more
fluently than Spanish. Angel enjoys watching Netflix or Hulu during his free time and is a big
Angel attended Dondero elementary school from kindergarten through third grade and
was moved due to complications with his teacher and bullying. He then went on to finish
elementary school at Marion Earl where in the fifth grade his parents began filing for a divorce.
Angel, his sister Katy and his mother moved in with his grandmother and attempted to move
forward. Less than a year later, Angel’s parents are back together, have sold their house and are
moving the family into an apartment. In February of 2019 Angel’s father is deported and thus,
Angel, his mother and his sister Katy move back in once again with his grandmother. Angel was
very academically successful up until the mixture of the divorce of his parents and the bullying at
advertisement copyrighting, he enjoys the idea of selling them. Hence, his obsession with
Monopoly. As a child and still today, Angels home environment did include plenty of yelling and
a bit of physical abuse when he did anything wrong. He has definitely grown up alongside an
authoritarian parenting style. When asked if he could give any advice to incoming middle
schoolers he responded, “growing older doesn’t mean you mentally grow older”. He is not a fan
Physical Development
Angel is 4ft 10 inches tall and weighs 161 pounds. He is a size six in men’s shoes and has
a pretty high prescription on his eye glasses. Angel does not partake in physical activity very
often. Lack of physical activity can be affecting Angel negatively since “studies have shown that
it helps youth develop a healthy loco-motor system (bones, muscles, and joints)” (Perdoni,
years old” their research study comes to the conclusion that the perception of the environment in
which children live is likely to play an important role in their level of physical activity. Within
the study, researchers had the participants answer a survey which was made up of four questions
such as “it is safe to walk or play alone in my neighborhood during the day” and the participants
I asked Angel to take the same four question survey and most of the statements were
answered as neither agree or disagree and disagree. The four statements were proven to have
positive associations between the higher level of physical activity for the participants who mostly
answered “strongly agree”. The constant disagreement Angel revealed with the statements might
explain his lack of physical activity. He states he has always felt that way towards all of the
neighborhoods he has lived in despite moving around. The absence of comfort to play in his
neighborhood is probably why Angel recalls staying in watching movies and cartoons and
Neither of his parents wear eye glasses, his heavy prescription is not genetic, it is most
likely due to the constant strain on his eyes from laptop screens, televisions and cell phones.
Physical activity can also aid cognitive development. When asked about his poor grades, Angel
states that he at times is confused with the material and gets the urge to sleep during homework.
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Angel gets home from school, sits down to play video games or lays down to watch television
for an hour or two and then proceeds to begin homework. Research studies have “found that
while a person sits, 80% of blood pools in the hips after just 20-30 minutes. If the blood is in the
hips and not enhancing the brain, then learning becomes more difficult without the fresh
stimulating breaks in between can be causing Angels lethargic tendencies while attempting to get
schoolwork done.
There is evidence found in research studies that proves physical activity can help youth
develop good control and coordination of movements” (Pedroni, 2019). For quite some time,
Angels lack of coordination has seeped through when attempting to do simple tasks. At 12 years
old Angel is unable to tie his shoe laces and wears jogger jeans most of the time because he
According to obesity actions weight for age percentiles weight graph, Angel has a weight higher
Philosophical Development
Teenagers and pre-teens are stereotypically notorious for lying. Interestingly enough,
according to a research study done by Hartshorne and May included in the textbook “Psychology
Applied to Teaching” most children do not practice what they preach. A recent survey held by
Josephson institute in 2012 has further verified the validity of their study. The results of the
survey included 81% of the students stating “they were better than most people they knew at
doing the right thing” and “86 percent agreed that lying or cheating is not worth it because it
hurts your character” (Snowman, Jack and McCown, Rick, 2015). However, 52 percent of the
students cheated on a test and 76 percent had lied to a parent about something significant. Angel
comes as no exception to this rule. When asked if he believes lying or cheating is acceptable, he
answered no to both. Coincidentally, he has been caught cheating on homework before and lied
about making up schoolwork on Thursday afternoons after school. Angels lying and cheating
juxta positioning with his moral beliefs is considered to be common/normal behavior among
Angel is constantly prioritizing and showcasing his needs/wants above anyone else’s. For
example, the first time his mother was able to get in touch with his father after his deportation
Angel wanted his mother to hurry and end the conversation so that he could use her phone to
play games. He is exhibiting lack of social interest, according to the Adlerian theory “when
individuals lack concern for others (social interest) problems with family, work and friendships
inevitably follow” (Ostrovsky, Parr, Gradel, 1992). This could explain why it does not take long
to notice the somewhat toxic relationship among Angel and his mother. Disagreements leading to
There is a bit of confusion and uncertainty followed by this last observation of Angel
pertaining to his philosophical development. Towards the end of his sixth-grade year, Angel was
involved in a physical fight with another student at his school. When he had finally gotten home
after the day of the fight he cried while telling his grandmother what had happened. When asked
how he felt after the fight months after it had occurred, he said he felt good, almost a sense of
relief. Negative and positive valanced moral emotions usually “arise when one acts in violation
of (or in accordance with) one’s moral standards” (Ongley, Malti, 2013). To put into perspective,
intentionally inflicting pain on another person “violates the norm against causing harm and may
elicit negatively valanced moral emotions such as feeling guilty, or sad” (Ongley, Malti, 2013).
Violation of this norm elicited the opposite emotions within Angel, he stated he felt good, proud
after the fight. Does this situation reveal that he genuinely believes fighting is a good way to
resolve problems or does it reveal the fact that his grandmother may be the only person he feels
Emotional Development
Adolescence and the years coming up to it can cause great stress and confusion. Tensions
and feelings run high for teens since they “experience more intense positive and negative
emotions than do adults” (Snowman, Jack, McCown, 2015). To learn to express emotions and
communicate with others, professionals recommend different types of youth programs. In their
article “Emotional Development in Adolescence: What can be Learned From a high School
Theater Program?” Larson and Brown state that programs organized for the youth can be crucial
when trying to comprehend “emotional development, first, because they are typically contexts of
instrumental goal-directed activity” and hence, could help teens orient and prepare themselves
Angel is involved in two youth programs, technology club and theatre. Tech club meets
once a week and has enabled Angel to feel more comfortable learning from his peers. He
experiments with tools he is unfamiliar with and asks for help to navigate them from older
members of the club. He has also become more outspoken at school towards his peers thanks to
the warm up exercises in his theatre class. When Angel is picked up from school and asked how
his day went, he will immediately begin talking about what he did in theatre that day. His
elective has helped him create a positive connection in find something to genuinely look forward
to while at school.
There have been several studies conducted on the connection between parenting style and
authoritarian approach to parenting. However, after some observation and research it is clear
Fran carries a mixture of permissive, authoritarian, and neglectful parenting styles. Style is
crucial because it creates “the emotional climate in which parents raise their children and this
factor mediates the relationship between parenting practices and developmental outcomes”
(Darling & Steinberg, 1993). Permissive parents tend to give into their child’s demands “or avoid
responsibility for the child’s development” (Argyriou, Bakoyannis, Tantaros, 2016). Angel seems
to have an unhealthy relationship with video games. If not stopped, he will play all day long,
every day. The severity of the situation reached a new peak when Angels grandfather threw his
computer monitor down the staircase in attempt to get him to play outside or do homework.
Since then, Fran has enabled Angels tendency to try to find any other outlet for video games. She
will lend him her phone and has allowed him to keep a laptop his school let him borrow for
school work after he broke his arm, which is now healed. When Angel is assigned a chore he
PEPSI SCREENING 8
does not want to do, he cries and throws a tantrum until his mother okays for him not to do it
anymore.
Authoritarian parenting is included in Frans mixture due to her coping mechanisms when
dealing with her children’s behavior. Within this parenting style “corporal punishment is a
common choice of punishment. Yelling and scolding is often used”, Fran frequently uses both of
these (Trishala, Kiran, 2015). Angel also seems to be handed a bit of neglectful parenting. This
parenting style lacks warmth, does not create limits for the children, resulting in a clear
“presence of a long gap between the parent and child” (Trishala, Kiran, 2015). The individuals
living with Angels mother cannot recall the last time they heard her say I love you to him or seen
her give Angel a hug. The nonexistent limits can also connect to her permissive parenting
techniques when enabling his unhealthy relationship with video games and constantly buying
what he asks for to avoid hearing one of his tantrums. The resulting traits following this
parenting style seem to have already began affecting Angel. Children experiencing this kind of
behavior”, Angel is definitely struggling academically and has shown some problematic behavior
at school with his fights and cursing at teachers (Trishala, Kiran, 2015).
Social Development
Angel believes a good leader is someone who has patience, knows how to strategize, and
is not bias or prejudice. He does not necessarily embody all of these characteristics when it is
time for him take on a lead role around his younger sister, he is quite impatient with her.
Nonetheless, it is a very good sign that he at least acknowledges what makes a good leader even
though he still is working on becoming one. Cooney and Selman’s article on social cognition
splits interpersonal reasoning into four stages. During their research “when the counselor asked
PEPSI SCREENING 9
what a good leader would be like, John (12 year old subject) replied, someone who everyone else
did what he wanted” (Cooney, Selman, 1980). This response can easily be placed at stage one
where a leader is seen and interpreted as some sort of dictator. Angels response can be placed on
stage three where group work is seen as more of a homogeneous community even when there is
a leader. This stage correlates perfectly with Angels age and shows virtuous interpersonal
reasoning development.
the end of elementary school and adolescence, children become capable of taking a somewhat
detached and analytical view of their own behavior” (Snowman, Jack, Mc Cown, Rick, 2015).
Angel is able to do this when presented a valid argument through healthy communication. His
grandmother is able to speak to him and explain why a certain behavior or choice of words is not
acceptable in a calm manner. Angel responds with the same tone usually admitting that his
actions were out of character. However, when his mother presents a valid argument, she does so
through insults and yelling, the goal of the conversation is now lost and Angel responds with a
Angel does not have many friends but the few he does have he is very close with and
lights up like a Christmas tree when he speaks about them. Close peer friendships have been
reported to “have a positive influence on adolescents’ social and personality development” (Hay,
Ashman, 2003). Angel is a very outspoken young man with a bright personality. He is constantly
sharing jokes at family gatherings; he is not shy when expressing something he believes in and
Intellectual Development
PEPSI SCREENING 10
Angel is a seventh grader reading at an 8-9th grade level, performs well in math
homework assignments when his mother reminds him to do them, is interested in politics, and is
able to elaborate on his ideas nicely through pen and paper when needed for essays. However,
Angels’ grades have been at an all-time low for three school years in a row. Angel shows signs of
task avoidant behavior whenever he is at home. He rather play video games than get anything
“avoidance of learning tasks has been found to be more common among boys than girls” and
lead “to low effort and task avoidance in learning settings” (Mestapelto, Pakarinen, 2014). Angel
carries the intellectual ability to thrive academically but lacks the self-regulation to actually
complete the schoolwork. The lack of concern Angels’ mother shows towards his schooling can
also be fueling his task avoidant behavior. Martinez-Pons suggests indirect forms of guidance
and motoric support from the parent “to produce self-regulatory behavior on the part of the
student” (Martinez-Pons, 2002). Towards the end of Angels sixth grade year when his family was
not sure whether he would be moving on to the next grade level or not, Angels’ mother said
“well, if he fails, he fails they’re the consequences of his own actions”. Angel does not have
good examples of motoric support at home. The extent to which children feel connected to their
parents is called relatedness, studies show, “children with high relatedness are able to internalize
parental values and expectations as their own ones” (Wong, Rao, 2018). With comments from his
mother such as the one previously mentioned, Angel feels as if there are no academic
PEPSI SCREENING 11
expectations or values and does not feel the need to complete schoolwork unless told to do so.
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Recommendations
To help with Angels’ weight problem he could join a sports team or do simple physical
activities lead by a family member. He can go for walks, be taken to indoor playgrounds for
teenagers such as sky zone, anything to get him out of the habit of staying inside playing video
games all day. Physical activities such as these could not only help lower his weight but would
also help develop good control and coordination of movements so that he could tie his shoe laces
To improve his social interest/morals Angels’ mother should communicate and also
model herself the proper behavior when dealing with others feelings. His school counselors and
parents should also heavily examine his coping mechanisms when he is angry and provide him
with new suggestions. In regards to his emotional development, Angel is around good influences
with his extracurricular activities and should continue to attend them to develop his people skills
and learn to communicate with his peers. Angels’ parents should look into family therapy or
counseling in order to help change their parenting styles from authoritarian, permissive, and
neglectful to authoritative. Angel will need an abundance of love, attention and nurturing to
Angel exudes great social development, he is able to make friends easily, communicates
well with his grandmother and has a bubbly personality. He may need some workshops to
develop his leadership skills however, it is a very good sign that he at least acknowledges the
Intellectually, Angel is more than capable of performing well academically. He lacks the
self-regulation needed to follow through with school assignments. To help with this, Angels’
teachers can offer one on one help before or after school and his mother should begin to exhibit
more concern over his academic achievements to model and pass on her own educational values
on to Angel. She should also remind Angel of his assignments and encourage/reward good
References
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