Taryn Patchin PEPSI Screening

McKenna Patchin

Department of Education, College of Southern Nevada

Department of Psychology, College of Sothern Nevada

EDU 220: Educational Psychology

Dr. Rochelle Hooks

November 11, 2021

The child being observed is 16 years old and my younger sister, Taryn Patchin. I have

spent a lot of time with my younger sister and I would say that we are pretty close, she and I

spend time together regularly. She lives with our older sister, both of our parents, and me, along

with a pet dog and pet bunny. Her developmental stages seemed on track so my family was not

too concerned. In elementary school, she started having problems, meaning my parents and I

noticed she had struggles processing her negative feelings in a beneficial way. She would get

very angry and upset at her friends and peers, sometimes going as far as yelling at them, even

slapping a good friend. She would often throw fits and scream at others if they annoyed her. My

parents nor I knew what to do but I remember my parents trying their best to understand her

and help her. When she would get in trouble at home, we would have to put a baby gate up so

that she would actually stay for the full “time out.” My parents worked with her and tried to find

healthy ways to disperse this “energy” she had and eventually she got involved with soccer.

Soccer was very good for her because it gave her something to do and put her focus into. Over

the years, my sister’s anger has subsided a little and we are constantly trying to find new ways

to help her. We recently got a punching bag so she could get out the residual anger and stress

that school is causing her. She is also a person who is under a lot of stress from school and

peers that makes her mental health falter. She has also gained the necessary skills and

emotional maturity to tell people how she feels and explain why she is angry before using the

punching bag or going to her room to calm down. Recently she has been diagnosed with

hypothyroidism and is now on medication to moderate it. She has become a very intelligent and

level-headed person.
Developmental areas:

Physical Development:

As mentioned in the biography Taryn is currently enrolled in soccer and works out almost

every day. She is an active teenager that enjoys spending a lot of time outside playing soccer

with friends or with her father. She is currently 5’6 and weighs 166 lbs. According to Medical

News Today, she is currently overweight because her Body mass index (BMI) is 26.8 which is

considered overweight for her age group. When she is not in school or playing soccer, she

spends time playing video games and texting on her phone. She has developed normally for an

adolescent female in the form of gaining hips and breasts. An area of concern for her physical

health is her menstrual cycle. Taryn has very infrequent periods, and by her own admission, she

has had one a year since year 14. When she visited the doctor around a month ago, the doctor

said that this is directly linked to her hypothyroidism. This condition runs in her mother’s side of

the family with many members and generations. Despite the normal trend in adolescence as

outlined by the textbook, “In 2007, close to two-thirds of students reported having engaged in

sexual intercourse by the end of grade 12.” (Textbook, Chapter 5.5a). She is not sexually active

and doesn’t show much drive to be sexually active. Another trait she does not seem to share

with her peers is the need to be skinny, “Girls also have a change in food consumption. A slim

body is a national mental picture and many girls embark upon poor eating practices

interchanged with crash diets and pills.” (Ellsworth). She appears to have a semi-healthy body

image and is content with not being extremely skinny, in fact, she seems to chase after a more

healthy muscular figure as the ideal goal of her body. She has a good appetite and shows little

to no signs of wanting to look like a supermodel but like a professional athlete.

Emotional Development:
 Taryn is a very emotional teenager. After spending as long as I have with her, I can start

to see certain “triggers” in her tone and body language that suggest that she is irritated or angry.

Although even without these triggers, she is still prone, as she was as a child, to get angry

quickly. The family has resolved to allow her a “moment alone'' when she gets irritated, but this

solution is only temporary because we cannot always take a moment alone. She also seems to

have undiagnosed depression and mood swings, but the doctor said that both of those can be

traced back to hypothyroidism. However, according to the text “In 2007, 35.8 percent of high

school females and 21.2 percent of high school males reported feeling so sad and hopeless

almost every day for two or more weeks in a row that they stopped engaging in some usual

activities (Photo 3–8). The percentages of White, Black, and Latino students who gave this

response were 26.2, 29.2, and 36.3, respectively (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

2008)” (Textbook) This shows that a lot of teenagers develop depression and I believe Taryn

also has depression that is not linked to hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism and depressive

hormones seem to be major players in her emotions. It seems that this pattern of behavior is

regrettably normal for this age group, but it is something that must be watched and taken care of

in a timely manner.

Philosophical development

While I was observing Taryn and her emotional habits, I found she is still in the Identity

vs Role confusion stage of Erikson’s development stages. In the fifth stage, Identity Vs. Role

confusion, of Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. I feel as if she is verging more

towards role confusion rather than identity. She seems confused as to where she fits in her

family and in society but she has not experimented a lot with different roles or places in the

family. Taryn seems to want to stay where she is but has no idea as to where she is. While she

does interact with peers weekly, she doesn’t seem to be getting any closer to developing her

sense of self and only seems more confused. According to the website Very Well Mind, “During

the identity vs. confusion stage, the conflict is centered on developing a personal identity.
Successfully completing this stage leads to a strong sense of self that will remain throughout

life.” (Cherry, K., 2021). If Taryn does not develop a strong sense of self, this could lead to her

being insecure and developing emotional problems in the future. The negative of her verge

towards role confusion as outlined in the textbook Phycology of teaching chapter 2 as “The

danger at this stage is role confusion: having no clear conception of appropriate types of

behavior that others will react to favorably.” (Textbook Chapter 2.1b). She also seems to be on

Kohlberg’s third stage of moral development in some conversations I have had with her. Her

reasoning is very simple sometimes but other times very complex. In these times she shows to

be in stage five like murder is wrong becuse it is a law or stage six where murder is wrong

becuse it hurts a multitude of people and causes even more pain. Generally, she is on the third

stage of moral development.

Social Development

In observing Taryn, I have come to find out that this year, in her junior year of high

school, she has started to take a dominant role in her peer groups. She enjoys playing sports

and engaging with her friends. However she mostly seems to listen to parental influence rather

than peer influence. She does fight with her parents often about grades, which does seem to put

a damper on her mood, however it is not on the same level of fighting outlined in chapter two of

Physcoligy of teaching. “Not surprisingly, most conflicts between parents and their adolescent

children are about such peer-influenced issues as personal appearance, friends, Internet and

cell phone use, dating, hours, and eating habits (Nucci, 2006).” (Phycology of teaching, Chapter

3.5b) Taryn and her parents do not fight about these common issues, however, fights do occur.

According to J’anne Ellsworth “The ‘pre-adult’ child tends to resent parental limits and frequently

rebels.” However, I have not seen Taryn rebelling a lot against her parents. She sometimes

takes longer than necessary to complete a task when she is annoyed but I have not seen her

resent her parents’ requests or her parents in general.

Intellectual Development
 Taryn is able to think in great depth and enjoys engaging in deep conversations about

politics, the state of the world, and life in general. As J’anne Ellsworth says in her blog “The

latter part of the stage should see a new ability to add dimension to ideas, to think in greater

depth and with more ‘power.’” Taryn definitely has power behind her thoughts and gives great

depth to every single one she expresses. She is constantly working on her school work and

trying her best, although her poor time management causes her to occasionally fall behind in

her classwork. She is showing that she is well into the Formal Operational stage as outlined in

the textbook Psychology of teaching chapter two, “The term formal reflects the ability to respond

to the form of a problem rather than its content and to form hypotheses. For example, the formal

operational thinker can read the analogies “5 is to 15 as 1 is to 3” and “penny is to dollar as year

is to century” and realize that, despite the different content, the form of the two problems is

identical (both analogies are based on ratios). In the same way, the formal thinker can

understand and use complex language forms: proverbs (“Strike while the iron is hot”),

metaphors (“Procrastination is the thief of time”), sarcasm, and satire.” (Textbook, Chapter 2.2b).

She is able to not only understand all of these things but she can replicate them and use them

to her advantage quite well. I would even go as far as saying she has mastered the basics of

the Formal Opernational and going on to the more advanced sections.

Graph
Recommendations

Taryn is a very unique individual with many facets of her personality and intelligence. I

am not very worried about her physical health. I think if she continues to do as her doctor

prescribed then she should be on the right track. Her Intelligence is exactly on the mark and if

she just keeps doing what she is currently doing she will be on a sa successful track. Her social

development is going very well and I think she will continue to thrive in those areas. I am

however very worried about her philosophical and emotional development as both are below

normal and concerning. She seems to be under too much stress which is causing her to get

angry and irritated easily. When talking to her about her stress, she said that she feels like

everyone expects too much of her and that she can never live up to everyone’s expectations. I

would strongly recommend weekly therapy to help her deal with her emotional stress and

feelings of inadequacy. She needs to learn in a safe non-judgmental place how to deal with her

emotions in a philosophically beneficial way. The therapy I feel must be alone and with a person

(generally a therapist) that is outside any of her stressors. For help with her Identity vs Role

Confusion, I recommend something that might sound counterproductive but actually might be
better in the long run. I recommend Taryn’s parents and teacher let her push the rules. During

this formation, she is trying to find out who she is and what she can and cannot do by letting her

push against the rules without extreme repercussions, she might figure out who she is. Another

aspect she needs during this confusion is support from her parents and people in authority. “As

you may know from your own experience or the experiences of others, the process of identity

formation is not always smooth, and it does not always follow the same path. But by being

aware of the problems and uncertainties that adolescents may experience as they try to develop

a sense of who they are, you can help them positively resolve this major developmental

milestone.” (Textbook, Chapter 2.1d) Supporting and encouraging a child or in this case, Taryn,

by letting her experiment with her identities might help her figure out this messy stage with a

little bit less mess.

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Brazier, Y. (2021, January 29). How much should I weigh for my height and age? BMI
Calculator & Chart. Medical News Today. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323446#waist-hip-ratio.

Cherry, K. (2021, June 3). How people develop an identity or cope with role confusion.
Verywell Mind. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from
https://www.verywellmind.com/identity-versus-confusion-2795735.

Ellsworth, J. A. (1998). ESE 504. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from

Mcleod, S. (2013, October 24). Kohlberg's theory of moral development. Kohlberg's

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Chapter 2: Theories of Psychosocial and

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Chapter 3: Age-Level Characteristics. In