CASE STUDY OF A

CHILD AGE 16
MADISON EVANS
EDU 220
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF 16-YEAR-OLD
OBSERVATION
■ Physical
– Close to full height
– acne
– Enjoys makeup
■ Emotional
– Struggles with body image
– Lack of confidence
■ Cognitive/intellectual
– Sarcasm
– Tests hypotheses
– Builds on previous knowledge
■ Psychosocial/social
– Independence
– Experimentation
– Close friends
■ Moral/character
– Frustration
– Fluctuating feelings
– Conventional Morality Level
TYPICAL PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENTS

■ Reach 95% of full height,

■ Complete puberty,
■ Growth slows in girls,
■ Not as concerned about physical attributes and changes, but more concerned with
attractiveness,
■ Alternate between high amounts of physical activity and tiredness,
■ Breasts fully develop,
■ Body hair reaches adult patterns,
■ Defined physically,
■ It becomes more likely to act on sexual desires (Child Development Institute (2015).
TYPICAL PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
LEVEL ACCORDING TO SNOWMAN
■ Most girls reach their final height, while some boys continue to grow;
■ There is a lot of variation between height, weight, and maturation rate;
■ Students care about their appearance, but this could be less than they did in earlier
stages;
■ Students may be self-conscious due to acne brought on by glandular changes;
■ Students also begin to have a sex drive; many students are sexually active;
■ Some students may become pregnant or be diagnosed with an STD (Snowman, J., &
McCown, R. R. (2015).
OBSERVATION OF PHYSICAL
DEVELOPMENT CHARACTERISTICS
■ The 16-year-old girl I observed has not grown much in the past year. She told me
that in the past she struggled with acne and began using medication to treat it; she
was very self-conscious of her acne. Now, she enjoys doing her makeup and getting
her nails done. She also told me that she has been sexually active in the past.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTINUED
DEVELOPMENT
■ At this stage, you can help your child by complimenting their physical appearance. It
is also important to talk to them about “[the] consequences of sexual activity … birth
control and HIV prevention (University of Washington. (1993)).”
TYPICAL EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

■ Adolescents typically want to create their sexual identity;

■ They become content and aware of their body and feelings - they learn how to express
and receive sexual feelings;
■ They may be worried or sensitive about their changing bodies;
■ They might compare themselves to their peers;
■ Adolescents may experience awkward stages as they go through physical changes;
■ Girls might worry about their upcoming menstrual periods and boy might worry about
nocturnal emissions;
■ Adolescents may drift from family and create their own identity;
■ They might worry about failing and independence/dependence (Medline (2017)).
TYPICAL EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
LEVEL ACCORDING TO SNOWMAN
■ Adolescents may experience psychiatric disorders like “eating disorders, substance
abuse, schizophrenia, depression, and suicide (Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R.
(2015) section 3-5c).”
COMPARISON OF THE OBSERVED
EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS TO THE
TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT
■ The 16-year-old told me that she has struggled with her body image. Sometimes she
is very confident, but other times not so much. She said she goes to a therapist
every once in a while.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTINUED
DEVELOPMENT
■ Let your child know that they can talk to you;
■ Be supportive and not judgmental;
■ Give them encouragement and feedback (University of Washington. (1993)).
TYPICAL COGNITIVE/INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENTS
■ The adolescents capacity for abstract ideas continues to grow;
■ There is more room to set goals;
■ Think about moral reasoning;
■ Considering life and what it means (Child Development Institute (2015)).
■ May lack confidence and self-assurance when it comes to personal skills;
■ Concern about the future and future decisions (University of Washington. (1993)).
TYPICAL COGNITIVE/INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL ACCORDING TO
PIAGET
■ According to Piaget, children at this age are in the Formal operational stage;
■ Children are able to “generalize and engage in mental trial and error by thinking up
hypotheses and testing them in their heads”;
■ Children can understand proverbs, metaphors, sarcasm, and satire;
■ At the high school level, adolescents approach a problem by coming up with a
hypothesis and testing the most probable ones, rather than using trial and error
(Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015)).
TYPICAL COGNITIVE/INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL ACCORDING TO
VYGOTSKY
■ Theoretical learning: Psychological tools “are used repeatedly with various problems,
they are gradually internalized and generalized to a wide variety of settings and
problem types (Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015) section 2-3c)”.
■ Vygotsky believes that development depends on being able to use these
psychological tools types (Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015)).
COMPARISON OF THE OBSERVED
CHARACTERISTICS/BEHAVIORS TO THE
TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT
■ Piaget: The 16-year-old understands things like sarcasm and metaphors. When
working through problems, she looks back at her notes for help finding solutions.
When she sees one that seems viable, she tries it.
■ Vygotsky: The 16 year old says she usually remembers learning subjects from the
last year. It makes some things easier the next year.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTINUED
DEVELOPMENT
■ Encourage your child to do extracurricular activities like music and art;
■ Encourage them to come up with solutions to conflicts;
■ Encourage your teen to partake in healthy habits, like eating healthy and drinking
water (Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017)).
TYPICAL PSYCHOSOCIAL/ SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENTS
■ Self-involvement,
■ Adjusting to new and changing and body,
■ Want to be independent,
■ Worried about fitting in,
■ Big focus on popularity,
■ Experimentation and risk-taking (Child Development Institute (2015)).
■ Relationships with parents can be friendly or hostile,
■ Interest in romantic relationships (University of Washington. (1993)).
TYPICAL PSYCHOSOCIAL/ SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENTS ACCORDING TO ERIKSON
■ At this age, adolescents are in the Identity Versus Role Confusion stage.
■ Adolescents are developing skills that will prepare them to live meaningfully in adult
society;
■ May face role confusion “having no clear conception of appropriate types of
behavior that others will react to favorably (Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015)
section 2-1b)”;
■ If the adolescent is able to integrate differing roles in their perception of self, their
identity develops and they do not face role confusion. (Snowman, J., & McCown, R.
R. (2015)).
COMPARISON OF THE OBSERVED
PYSCHOSOCIAL/SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS
TO THE TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT
■ The 16-year-old I observed was very excited to start driving so she could be
independent. She has a lot of friends, but only hangs out with a few regularly. She
has experimented with drugs and alcohol. She told me that she likes the person she
is today.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTINUED
DEVELOPMENT
■ Maintain a good relationship;
■ Encourage experiences with different cultures and different people;
■ Do not tell them you disapprove (Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017)).
TYPICAL MORAL/CHARACTER
DEVELOPMENTS
■ Gets disappointed with discrepancies between what’s said and what actually
happens ;
■ “Experiences feelings of frustration, anger, sorrow, and isolation (University of
Washington. (1993))”;
■ Interest in sex because of physical emotional urges ;
■ Interest in sex to fit into the adult community (University of Washington. (1993));
TYPICAL MORAL/CHARACTER
DEVELOPMENTS ACCORDING TO
KOHLBERG
■ Moral reasoning goes through stages;
■ As they grow, judgments about moral behavior become more complex;
■ At age 16, most adolescents are the Conventional Morality Level;
■ Most adolescents this age conform because the follow societal rules;
■ Stage 3 of this level is “good boy-nice girl orientation”. This means carrying out
actions that will please others;
■ Stage 4 of this level is “law-and-order orientation”. This means that rules must be
obeyed in order to maintain social order (Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015)).
KOHLBERG’S USE OF MORAL DILEMMAS

■ “In Europe a woman was near death from cancer. One drug might save her, a form of
radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The druggist was
charging $2,000, ten times what the drug cost him to make. The sick woman’s
husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only
get together about half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying
and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later, but the druggist said “No.” The
husband got desperate and broke into the man’s store to steal the drug for his wife.
Should the husband have done that? Why? (Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015)
section 2-5 b)”
COMPARISON OF THE OBSERVED
MORAL/CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTS TO
THE TYPICAL DEVELOPMENTS
■ The child I observed said she gets sad and frustrated when a promise is broken. She
said she can feel super great in the morning, and then sad later in the day. When I
read her the story about the druggist and the medicine the man needed for his wife,
she said that the man was right to steal it.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTINUED
DEVELOPMENT
■ Be sensitive towards your child’s feelings;
■ Encourage them to tell you how they are feeling;
■ Do not look down on sexual experimentation, instead educate them about protected
sex;
■ Discuss values regarding sexual relations (University of Washington. (1993)).
REFERENCES
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Child development. Retrieved
from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/facts.html
Child Development Institute (2015). The ages and stages of child development. Retrieved
from https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/ages-stages/
Medline (2017). Adolescent Development. Retrieved
from https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002003.html
Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching. Australia: Cengage
Learning.
University of Washington. (1993). Child development: Using the child development
guide. Retrieved from http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/chidev/
cd06.html