Observation #4

Class/Section: FHS 1500-005

Name: Rebecca Anguiano
Assignment: Observation 4
Background Information
Age: 18
Fictitious Name: Jordan
Location: High School soccer field
Brief Description: I interviewed a high school senior student at the schools soccer field
on the bleachers during her lunch break.
Physical Development
When it came to questioning Jordan about her sleeping schedule, I had come to a
conclusion that she was not following a consistent circadian rhythm throughout the week.
Because Jordan is working part time in a fast food restaurant while balancing school at the same
time, it is very likely that she is not getting the right amount of sleep someone her age should,
falling under uneven patterns of sleeping cycles. According to our textbook circadian rhythm is,
a day-night cycle of biological activity that occurs approximately every 24 hours. (Berger 2014
p.322) The part of the brain that regulates the hormones that can affect the circadian rhythm, is
the hypothalamus. These hormones can affect the biorhythms of stress, appetite, and sleep.
(Berger 2014 p.322) Generally, puberty in the average teenager can already have a delay in
sleep-wake cycles. This can lead to being hungry in the middle of the night, making it so they
have little to no energy the next morning. Putting Jordans hectic schedule on top of puberty can
only make matters worse. On an average teenagers should be getting about 8-10 hours of sleep,
when all Jordan is able to get, are at least 5-6 hours. Our textbook mentions that, Sleepy
teenagers are more likely to have many problems. They doze in school, fall asleep while driving,
develop eating and mood disorders, have poor relationships with their parents, and abuse
substances, thereby jeopardizing their health. (Berger 2014 p.322) This is definitely something I
can point out in Jordan and is obviously something that she will always be struggling with from
now on, unless her circadian rhythms level out over time.
As mentioned before, sleepy teenagers can lead to many problems. One of which, can be
eating disorders. Considering Jordans daily routine, I had questioned her about her eating habits.
Due to stress from work and school, Jordan found herself eating regularly throughout the day;
following an uneven, and rather unhealthy, eating schedule as well. At one point in the interview,
Jordan had mentioned that she believed she had an eating obsession. She believes she is eating
too much but cant really do much about it. According to our textbook there is one hormone that
can increase body fat and triggers puberty, this hormone is called Leptin. Curiously, leptin
affects appetite in females more than it does in males, and body fat is more closely connected to
the onset of puberty in girls than in boys. (Berger 2014 p.324) This can be another reason why
Jordan may be struggling with weight gain. However our text also states that, Eating disorders
are rare in childhood but increase dramatically at puberty, accompanied by disordered body
image, food obsession, and depression. (Berger 2014 p.329) When asking Jordan if she had ever
purged food via vomiting or laxatives after eating, Jordan had simply said no. The reason I ask is

because this type of behavior would relate to Bulimia nervosa. Our book defines this as, The
binge-purge syndrome. People with bulimia overeat compulsively, wolfing down thousands of
calories within an hour or two, and then purge via vomiting or laxatives. (Berger 2014 p.329)
Because this wasnt identified with Jordan I can assume, she is healthy and is perfectly
normative for her to be snacking on things all throughout the day.
Cognitive Development
At this point of the interview, I had questioned Jordan on how she had perceived herself.
This is because, During puberty, young people center many of their thoughts on themselves, in
part because maturation of the brain heightens self-consciousness. (Berger 2014 p.33) This
would be known as adolescent egocentrism, which can cause teenagers to interpret everyone
elses behavior as if it were a judgment on them. Aside from this, there are several aspects of
adolescent egocentrism. In this case, I will be focusing on Personal fable. Personal fable is the
belief that one is unique, destined to have a heroic, fabled, even legendary life. (Berger 2014
p.33) Judging from Jordans response to the question, she made it clear that she would like to be
treated like a princess because of her belief in being a special person and the favorite of the
family. Because of this I can easily identify that Jordan is going through personal fable. Personal
fable most commonly happens from ages 13 through 18, which tells me that this is normative
behavior for Jordan so far.
Aside from going through personal fable, it is very common for adolescents to have an
imaginary audience at this age. Our textbook defines imaginary audience as, The belief that
they are at center stage, with all eyes on them, and they imagine how others might react to their
appearance and behavior. (Berger 2014 p.333) When I had asked Jordan if she felt like she was
always making sure she had to behave or even dress a certain way around her friends, she
responded with a strong yes. In fact, she also mentioned that it was just who she was at school
and never at home. This clearly indicates that Jordan is always creating an Imaginary audience,
and most importantly in school like environments. The Imaginary audience can cause teenagers
to enter a crowded room as if they are the most attractive humans being alivethey might avoid
scrutiny lest someone notice a blemish on their chin or make fun of their braces. (Berger 2104
p.334) Considering that this is normal for all adolescents to do at this age, and the fact that I can
clearly see this happening to Jordan. I can say she is most likely on the right track through her
cognitive development.
Social/Emotional Development
Towards the end of the interview, I wanted to ask Jordan about how she would behave at
home and whether or not she found herself arguing with her mother most of the time.
Unfortunately, she would. Often times it was about her relationship, other times the arguments
were about her siblings and the fact that her mother wasnt caring for them enough. These kinds
of disagreements are very common throughout adolescent development. Our book mentions,
Disputes are common because the adolescents drive for independence, arising from biological
as well as psychological impulses, clashes with the parents desire to maintain control. (Berger
2014 p.361) On average it is also quite normal for conflicts to occur between mothers and
daughters through the adolescent stage. In simpler terms this would be known as Bickering.
Bickering is repeated, petty arguments (more nagging than fighting) about routine, such as
cleanliness, clothes, chores, and schedules. (Berger 2014 p.361) Because of this I know enough

to say that Jordan is following a pretty normal path through adolescent years, because of the
clear signs of bickering that she mentions is going on at home.
Knowing that Jordan and her mother are merely bickering at each other half the time, I
began to suspect that they wouldnt really keep in touch with each other outside of home. On the
contrary, Jordan mentioned that although they argue quite often, it is important for the both of
them to check in with one another when they are apart. Most of the time, it is usually her
mother that keeps making sure she is doing fine when at school or work. This would be called
Parental monitoring. Parental monitoring is, parental knowledge about each childs
whereabouts, activities, and companions. (Berger 2014 p.363) As far as I can tell, from the way
Jordan describes their relationship, I know this is exactly what her mother is doing. While some
adolescents are secretive about where they are and who theyre with, some teenagers like Jordan,
actually dont mind letting their parents know. When parental knowledge is the result of a
warm, supportive relationship, children are likely to become confident, well-educated adults,
avoiding drugs and risky sex. (Berger 2014 p.363) This explains why Jordan may be doing well
in school. Although Jordan and her mother may bicker at times, they still check up on each other,
this tells me that Jordan is following the right path to an effective social/emotional development.
Works cited
Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Invitation to The Life Span. Second ed. New York City: Jessica Bayne,
2014. Print.