Hi everyone! I have made a case of study about an adolescent that involves physical and cognitive development, based on theories from the book A Child's World by Papalia, D. I hope you can find it interesting and that this study can help you to notice some changes that teenagers experience at this stage.
Luis Eduardo Beltrán López, is a thirteen years old boy who has studied Kinder-garden, Primary school, fourth to sixth grade and nowadayas he is in seventh grade. Luis Beltrán, had growth in a caring, supporting and happy family. The environment of the family that has surrounded him helped to this boy during his childhood in the way that he was always getting good grades, he had a lot of friends, he was included in sport and academic teams. In addition, he always shared his food and toys with other kids; that is the reason why all the time Luis had many friends of both genres males and females. At home, he was always playing with his toys, riding the tricycle, doing his homeworks and watching television. Luis Beltrán, has been a responsible and enthusiactic student. Teachers from his school are always motivating their students to do their best, although sometimes educators are too stricted I believe this helped to this boy to be a good student. As Papalia, D states "school is a central organizing experience in most adolescent's lives. It offers opportunities to learn information, master new skills, and sharpen old ones; to participate in sports, the arts, and other activities..." (A Child's world, p.450) all of those components in an academic background gives the opportunity to a teenager to have a complete formation and this will help to Luis Eduardo to start setting his objectives about what he wants to do in the future. This boy has experienced many physical cahenges, but the most norotious are: Body growth (11 years old). Luis Eduardo's body growth starts at eleven years old and according to Papalia, D he is in the average of the ages that goes from 9-13.5 (A Child's world:Physical development and health in adolescence, p.415). Also, change in voice (12 years old). This boy, starts experimenting changes in his voice at the age of twelve years old that according to Papalia,D takes place from age 11-14.5 (A Child's world:Physical development and health in adolescence, p.415). In addition, I have discovered that Luis Beltrán has improved his grades and studie's goals because of the environment and influence from parents and relatives. In contrast to my discovery, Zimmerman in the chapter cognitive development in adolescence states "student's goals were influenced by their parent's goals for them, but student's beliefs about their own abilities were more influential" (A child's world: Cognitive development in adolescences, p.451). In short, this boy has not improved because he desires to do it but because his parents, relatives and the environment have influenced in him.