PEPSI Case Study: Understanding the Five Areas of Development 1

Jaqueline Arguelles-Perez

College of Southern Nevada, EDU 220

Heather Brattin

May 11, 2019

PEPSI Case Study: Understanding the Five Areas of Development 2

Introduction

This case study demonstrates the five areas of development in which I used an Valeria Ojeda

who I have known for as long as I can remember. She was born in La Habra, California and now

currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada in a townhome with her two older sisters, her parents, aunt,

cousin and her older brother and his wife and kids. Valeria is a seventeen year old senior at Chaparral

High School, throughout her four years at Chaparral, she has been very involved up until this year in

which she decided to take time for herself. I have always admired her hard work as a student as well

as daughter. She is very respectful towards others despite them not being the same towards her. There

are many reasons why I chose to write this case study on Valeria the most important reason being the

way she keeps her head up; despite having hard times.

Physical

From what I have observed over the course of years and recently valeria is a very active

person. Whether it be with sports, work, church, or even just hanging out with friends. She takes on a

lot throughout her day and shuts down once it becomes night time and wakes up and does it all over

again. I noticed that she has a scheduled routine of her day and alters it according to upcoming events

that she may need to attend. During the four years she has been attending high school she decided to

get fit. It was stated in Angela Oswalt's article that, “maintain a healthy lifestyle that includes a

balanced, nutrient-rich diet, with plenty of exercise, and adequate, restful sleep” (Adolescent Physical

Development). That meaning Valeria was doing the right thing for her health when she began to

exercise and eat healthy foods rather than junk food.

When Valeria was in middle school she was not very active and was concerned with her

physical appearance as she is now but she has learned to embrace it. She began to work out and do
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sports in order to reach her physical goal throughout the years. She played soccer, flag football and

did swim; a sport for each season. Creating the routines that she now applies to her daily lifestyle she

has felt like a much better version of herself with sudden bursts of wanting to do more physically. Her

endurance level is high due to the amount of sports she played. We recently went to the gym together

and I could not manage to pull through her whole routine but she had motivation. Physically in the

past she was overweight but her determination towards gaining what she wanted through exercise has

made her lose a vast amount of weight throughout the years. She is approximately five feet and two

inches and weighs about one hundred thirty pounds. In an article by Angela Oswalt she states,

“During adolescence, girls' percentage of body fat will increase, relative to muscle mass” (Adolescent

Physical Development: Part II). This statement means a lot in the development of Valeria because she

began to gain weight during the ages ten through thirteen possibly due to the hormonal changes in her

body.

According to the article about physical development by Angela Oswalt, “Most teens struggle

with acne blemishes at some point during their adolescent period” (Perspiration, Acne And Oily

Skin). In Valeria’s case she has never really struggled to much with acne but when she has the

occasional pimple, it does not last long for her. The acne is gone within a few days and another does

not appear until months later.

Emotional

In the emotional development area, Valeria acts upon her emotions more often than thinking

of what is right despite her sadness, anger or disappointment. She can go from having the best day of

her life and then after a few hours if something occurs she gets filled with another emotion and acts

upon that emotion. According to the article by Angela Oswalt about emotional development, “the
PEPSI Case Study: Understanding the Five Areas of Development 4

ability to understand the impact of their emotions on their thoughts and behavior, and the ability to

delay or inhibit impulsive reactions to powerful, intense emotions” (Emotional Self-Efficacy). By

stating this, the author informs the reader that emotions during adolescent years is different from

when they are children because they now understand the impact of their emotions and how they feel

about them as they act upon that emotion.

Throughout the years I’ve interacted with Valeria I have found that she is a person with a

strong personality that does not like to be told what to do. When her older siblings frown upon her

actions she immediately throws something they have done in their faces as well. She is a stressed out

adolescent that wishes she had control over everything even though she may not be able to control

certain things because they may not be about her or they are just situations that arise in life. She tries

to maintain a positive attitude by being an optimistic person but it does not always work out that

way. Some emotional behaviors that Valeria displays are mostly caused by the discipline given to her

by her parents. Whenever they discipline her she tends to get angry because she does not accept

authority very well. Her parents have a constant struggle with her lying and leaving the house without

permission then later finding out where she had gone all day. According to the textbook Psychology

Applied to Teaching, Valeria comes from a mix of Authoritarian and rejecting-neglecting Household

in which her parents do not accept her goals and she is not self-driven (Snowman & McCown, 2015).

She needs people to take control of what the next steps to reach her goal she must take but sometimes

it is hard because she wants to also have the control but does not know how to control her decisions.

Philosophical
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Throughout the development of an adolescent is the philosophical development of the person.

In the textbook Psychology Applied to teaching it states, “The danger at this stage is role confusion:

having no clear conception of appropriate types of behavior that others will react to favorably”

(Snowman & Mccown, 2015). This being said during this time an adolescent may be confused as to

what it is acceptable in society due to their gender. It causes a person to be confused to what they can

and cannot do. In Valeria’s case there are many opportunities for confusion since her parents are

those that conserve what they were taught rather than adjusting their viewpoint as society develops.

This causes Valeria to be confused as to what she has to do in society rather than contribute to her

success in society.

In an article Angela Oswalt states, “A mature person is able to inhibit or delay responding to

automatic, reactive, emotional impulses long enough to thoughtfully consider the best course of

action” (Maturing Adolescent Brain). Referring to Angela's statement, Valeria does not meet the

maturity level yet because she still does not think as much before she acts. She has an impulse and is

driven by it many times as I have seen her do so. For example, I took her to the mall for her Prom

shopping but while being there she said that she would limit the amount of money she is to spend

because she has important things to pay off such as school fines before graduation. At the end of the

day she realized she had run out of money to pay the fines so she did not do the nature thing when it

came to the organization of her money. It was an impulse buying situation in which she had two

options not to buy those forty dollar earning she would only wear once or pay of one of the fines for

band. She was not thinking of what could happen if those fines are not paid off before graduation.

Luckily she found a solution which meant she had to budget her spendings from then on. She also has

to think of the future rather than just live the moment.

PEPSI Case Study: Understanding the Five Areas of Development 6

In the textbook Psychology Applied to Teaching it explains Erikson's explanation of

Psychological Moratorium According to Erikson Psychological Moratorium is a period marked by a

delay of commitment, such as when making a career choice the adolescent is exploring the

possibilities (Snowman & Mccown, 2015). In relation to this statement Valeria is constantly caught in

the Psychological Moratorium that Erikson speaks about because she creates constant delays on her

career choices and other aspects in her life such as her job. She wants to explore her possibilities just

as many teens do as well, but she sets herself back when she does create a delay. She is a very

indecisive teen but so far I have seen that she is trying to get a good grasp of what she wants to

become and what she does not there for getting her one step closer to her career choice.

Social

In the book, Psychology Applied to Teaching, it is stated that the Vygotsky: Cognitive

Development Theory is based on “the sociocultural learning of each individual and in the way each of

them develops” (Snowman & Mccown, 2015). This means that depending on each person's findings,

their social behavior may take a different form than expected. In Valeria’s case, holding the door for

someone and greeting them with a Goodmorning or Hello is what she has observed over the years

through school and home environment. Her behavior is positive and friendly as she creates

relationships with the people in her community.

At a young age everyone experiences gender roles and it shapes how each individual thinks

and sees other individuals. In Valeria’s home environment it is a very strong Christian view

environment in which case what is masculine and feminine must not mix or there may be something

wrong with your sexuality. Her father believes that women are not to do any heavy lifting nor can
PEPSI Case Study: Understanding the Five Areas of Development 7

they do things themselves but need a man to be accomplished in life. Her father creates a sexist

environment in which she is to do what “women” are meant to do such as clean, cook and care for

their children like housewives but she wants to get an education and is striving to gain scholarships

through school programs. In the textbook it states, “working toward gender equity in social studies

emphasizes the need to include not only more materials that address the experiences of women and

girls, but the experiences of females by race, ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientation”

(Snowman & Mccown, 2015). This meaning that in her education there are also needs for

improvement in her courses to help her gain confidence in what she may want to accomplish rather

than being discouraged by her father and education by restricting her knowledge on what females

have accomplished just as men have.

In relation to the the gender inequality she faces, her relationship with her boyfriend is just as

her relationship with her father in which her boyfriend does not believe that the woman should be

more educated than the man. In a different article Oswalt states, “They also begin to form romantic

attachments; and, as the desire for a romantic relationship increases” (Adolescent Social

Development). Her attachment to her boyfriend has lead her to begin neglecting her duties as a

student because he does not always fully support her decisions. The peer pressure that her boyfriend

brings upon her life is more negative than positive because she is not getting to experience what she

must because her boyfriend is younger he is still going through phases that she has already surpassed

and does not understand and puts her behind on her development as well.

Intellectual

Valeria is able to tell what is right from wrong with her years of experience. Although

sometimes peer pressure does not do her any good she tries not to fall into the pressures of her age
PEPSI Case Study: Understanding the Five Areas of Development 8

group. She understands from previous experiences that if she does wrong there are consequences to

her actions. In the textbook it states, “These students are more likely than younger students to grasp

relationships, mentally plan a course of action before proceeding, and test hypotheses systematically”

(Snowman & Mccown, 2015). Valeria sometimes questions the meaning of certain things that revolve

around her but she is quickly shut down by the conservative standing point of her parents. She wants

to develop intellectually but her home environment is a restraint from that. While valeria was

growing up she constantly imagined her life from different points of view. If she did not like one

scenario she would adjust what she was doing in order to gain the path that she wanted. Her parents

shared with me that as a child she would have a broad imagination creating fictional characters and

friends that she imagined playing with. This aspect of her childhood helped develop her intellectual

side. She has now taken a variety of different high school courses that also help her intellect such as

band, honors and advanced placement courses. Her perseverance is also a contribution to her

intellectual development by placing herself in situations for success.

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*In order to create a graph to display how valeria is in all aspects of her development on a 1-5 scale, I asked
the Gear Up coordinator to provide me with the numbers to see where Valeria is in comparison to her peers. I
had her choose three students close to Valeria and rate their development in each area along with Valeria
according to the way they act and how they may have handled situation in regards to home and education. She
then provided me with the number and I put them into a graph for this case study.

Conclusions and Recommendations for Improvement

In comparison with Valeria’s peers in her school and grade level, Valeria ranges on different levels of

development, some of her peers appear to be taller and some are thought to be more advanced, but

this doesn’t necessarily mean that she has made no progress in her developments. There are certain

differences between peers as well as the development of each peer. When looking at the graph, her

Nataly appears to be the same socially as Valeria but higher when it comes to her emotional level.

Although people like Valeria have strong emotions there are also people such as Esmeralda who are

even more emotional than her as well. A few recommendations for improvement would be definitely

for the parenting style in which she lives in. Valeria needs more support from others in order to have
PEPSI Case Study: Understanding the Five Areas of Development 10

a successful development rather than her support system not being active. This would have an impact

in Valeria’s development, in order for her to believe that she can achieve greater things she must have

people encouraging her to do what is right. She will not only be encouraged to grow but also develop

more of her intelectual side and help her emotional level decrease from very emotional to maturing

adult.
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Reference

Oswalt, A. (n.d.). Adolescent Physical Development. Retrieved May 06, 2019, from

https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/adolescent-physical-development/

Oswalt, A. (n.d.). Adolescent Physical Development: Part II. Retrieved May 06, 2019, from

https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/adolescent-physical-development-part-ii/

Oswalt, A. (n.d.). Adolescent Social Development. Retrieved May 06, 2019, from

https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/adolescent-social-development/

Oswalt, A. (n.d.). Emotional Self-Efficacy. Retrieved May 06, 2019, from

https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/emotional-self-efficacy/

Oswalt, A. (n.d.). Perspiration, Acne And Oily Skin. Retrieved May 06, 2019, from

https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/perspiration-acne-and-oily-skin/

Oswalt, A. (n.d.). The Maturing Adolescent Brain. Retrieved May 06, 2019, from

https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/the-maturing-adolescent-brain/

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). ​Psychology applied to teaching 14th Edition​.

Australia: Cengage Learning.