Running head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Individual Differences Student Profile

Demers-McFarland, Stacey J.
Instructor: Dr. Egbert
EDUC 205: Development and Individual Differences

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Individual Differences Student Profile
The United States of America has been coined with the term cultural melting pot. The
USA exhibits a broad range of ethnicities, languages, backgrounds, and traditions. The
diversity, or differences in ethnicity, language, background, and tradition, is what makes a
person uniquely individual. For this individual differences student profile, I will examine the
physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of Tracey, an adult student with attention
deficit disorder. Additionally, I will include a summary of my findings and implications these
findings may have for the classroom.
General Information
Tracey is a Caucasian female aged 25 years and 11 months old. She lives with her
husband and two young sons, as well as having a step-daughter who lives with them half the
time. They reside on the east coast currently as her husband serves in the active duty United
States Army. Traceys day revolves around a typical middle class American housewifes
schedule, which includes attending to household chores and caring for her family. She also is a
full-time student attending college. Her daily duties include adhering to schedules and routines,
which help foster daily consistency, and maintaining responsibilities to properly care for herself
and her family.
Physical Development
Tracey has blue eyes, short dark brown hair, and is light-skinned. She is approximately
five feet, six inches tall and weighs about 140lbs. She is right-handed. Tracey exhibits a varied
amount of health issues. She was diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder)/ADHD
(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and dyslexia, which impairs her reading fluency, as a
child. She has asthma and scoliosis. She underwent gastric bypass surgery in June 2012. Prior

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to her gastric bypass surgery, she exhibited high blood pressure, high cholesterol,
hyperthyroidism, migraines, and a variety of back issues. Tracey stresses the importance of
physical activity in her life, and enjoys participating in large muscle developmental activities
like Cross-fit, weight lifting, and softball. She demonstrates appropriate small muscle
development by being able to write her term papers for school and enjoying her hobby of
tattooing. Traceys physical development is comparable to that of her peers, both in her small
and large muscle development. In all, Tracey displays appropriate care in maintaining her
general health, which include several complications for her to deal with on a daily basis.
Cognitive Development
In school, Tracey held a C average and attended the general education classroom.
However, her accommodations included being pulled out of the general education classroom to
attend a special education classroom in order to help her develop and improve her study skills.
During middle school and high school, she was in study skills and special education classes to
help her with reading and writing. Tracey is currently attending college and still has a letter of
accommodations for her diagnosed disabilities.
Tracey, being a young adult, is in the formal operational period of Piagets stages of
cognitive development, meaning she is fully capable of employing logic to her thought
processes, or as Parsons (2010) describes, the ability to solve abstract problems, (p. 49).
However, Traceys language and literacy skills are affected by her ADD/ADHD and dyslexia.
Her mathematical thinking is also affected by her dyslexia. She says she sees math problems as,
backwards or reversed. In addition, she has a very hard time conceptualizing mathematical
problems. In contrast, social studies has never presented a problem for Tracey. Additionally, the
arts are an area where Tracey excels!

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Tracey exhibits more right-brained characteristics of being better at expressive creative
tasks versus the analytical left-brain. Her cognitive abilities are affected by her diagnosis of
ADD/ADHD and dyslexia. She has learned to cope with these special needs, and still persists
with challenging her cognitive development.
Socio-emotional Development
Tracey seems to have been bullied, or made fun of, as a child. Bryant (2011) explains,
bullying is deliberate behavior performed with the intent of harming the victim bullying can
be physical, verbal or psychological, (p. 410). Tracey states, When I was little, I never had
very many friends, and I was picked on a lot. As I got older, it got easier for me to make friends
and to fit in a little more. Traceys interaction with peers may have been more complicated due
to the fact she was overweight and struggled academically as a child. Even today, she claims, I
dont get along with a lot of people my own age or younger. I usually have friends that are older
than I am. This could be due to emotional memories of being bullied as a child. As a result,
she may desire mature friends who will not make fun of her or in any way make her feel
insecurities she has experienced before.
Traceys childhood and special learning needs have directly impacted her self-concept
and self-esteem, meaning her overall emotional evaluation of her own worth. She feels that
going through her gastric bypass surgery, although an extreme struggle and challenge at times,
was well worth it. Losing weight helped her to feel a lot more self-confident about her
appearance. She points out that due to her learning disability she felt pushed out of
conversations because [she] didnt understand or couldnt relate because [she] was not as
knowledgeable as others. This is a direct self-reflection into her socio-emotional development.

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According to theorists Erik Erikson, during Traceys Industry versus Inferiority
period (stage four according to Erikson, roughly occurring from ages six to eleven), was when
Tracey might have begun to realize her differences. From Eriksons theory of stages, prior to
stage four, the important part of the developing child is their attempt to try. Now in doing and
attempting to be successful performing tasks, the stress is being placed on doing it correctly,
instead of the credit being given for just trying. This is where her struggle with literacy may
have become evident. This may also have affected her friendship making abilities. According to
Erikson, the peer rejection, or deliberate exclusion from social interactions, she faced as a
young child carried through into her adolescent years. In Eriksons stage five, Identity versus
Role Confusion (occurring between the ages of 12 to 18), is where Tracey began to form her
self-identity, uncovering the answers to, Who am I? Due to Traceys perceived failures with
academics and friendships in the previous stage four, she came into stage five at a disadvantage.
Her lack of self-confidence is exemplified even more by her self-awareness of her weight. Being
overweight is a critical matter in a young girls perception of self. Currently, Tracey is in
Eriksons stage six of development, Intimacy versus Isolation (occurring between ages 18 and
35). Parsons (2010) elaborates stating, individuals in this stage should be able to care for others
without losing their self-identity, (p. 95). Tracey progresses in this stage daily as she functions
within the multi-roles she plays.
Tracey seems to operate in Lawrence Kohlbergs Level II stage of Conventional
Morality at this point in her life. Parsons (2010) describes this level stating, rather than
viewing morality in terms of immediate concrete consequences, the individual now makes moral
decisions considering factors of less concrete and more social nature, such as the approval of
others, family loyalty, obedience to the law, and social order, (p.78). However, Tracey still

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depends on the opinions of others due to her struggles in self-identity, but she has moved beyond
the egocentrism, or the preoccupation with her own internal world, of Level I. She has to think
about more than just herself due to the nature of her family unit including a husband and three
children. Tracey is still developing her interpersonal harmony, which is guided by the need to
live up to others expectations. Therefore, she is still trying to please others as she is further
developing her self-identity. In sum, she may be approaching the law and order level of
conventional morality, where she looks to society as a whole for guidelines about right or
wrong, due to her pursuit of an education and integration into a diverse, varied, and educated
society.
Summary, Conclusions, and Implications
Tracey is of general physical maturation of that of her peers. Her cognitive development
and socio-emotional development have been affected by her ADD/ADHD and dyslexia, causing
a stunted growth in her self-identity. She also is very motivated and passionate about
overcoming her adversities. In all, she falls into Eriksons Stage Six, Intimacy versus Isolation,
as well as Kohlbergs Level II, Conventional Morality, interpersonal harmony. In general,
Traceys development is age appropriate. She leads a typical life as a wife, mother, and student.
Although her adult life is complicated by her ADD/ADHD as well as her dyslexia, she displays
self-determination, her ability to make a decision for herself without influence from outside,
and is driven and motivated to succeed. Tracey shows more immature socialization skills than
that of her peers due to her emotional scarring as a child. As a result, she is still working to
overcome these obstacles. In addition, she is still creating her newfound sense of self, especially
after having gastric bypass surgery and seeing that she is able to achieve at a collegiate level.
Currently, Tracey exhibits specific strengths [as Bryant (2011) describes as, what a student is

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able to accomplish, (p. 427)], such as seeing the importance of pursuing a higher education, and
the will to be successful despite her disadvantages. Tracey may still lack the support and selfidentity to successfully achieve her goals and aspirations though.
Some specific strategies to help Tracey develop her positive self-image include support
and encouragement. Tracey should surround herself with a system of supporters, or individuals
who are going to help her form positive self-statements in place of the negative self-talk she
has become accustomed to using. Also, helping Tracey to further develop her self-awareness by
highlighting her strengths over her weaknesses will encourage her to see the good qualities, and
provide her a chance to enhance upon her strengths. Tracey should continue to develop her
communications skills through communication classes offered at the college she attends.
Concerning academics, Tracey should continue to meet with the disabilities specialist at her
college in order to keep her letter of accommodation current. This will help her continue her
academic success. Modeling, or looking to certain individuals, like peers or teachers, may help
Tracey learn as well since she tends to be a more visual learner. Tutoring is another form of
learning that may be advantageous to her. Although she prefers to work alone, I think study
groups could help her learn and may also broaden her communication skills. In sum, Tracey
should continue her education and broaden her perspective to help develop into Kohlbergs
Level II Conventional Morality, law and order stage. The more she is able to broaden her
perspectives and advance in her social skills and communication skills, the better enhanced her
moral judgment becomes.
When differences are embraced, individuals can grow to appreciate others uniqueness.
Ones very being is special because of the diverse society in which he/she lives. In
understanding and learning about development in the areas of physical, cognitive, and socio-

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

emotional development, a person can reap the benefits of knowing just what makes individuals
so special.

References

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Bryant, D., Smith, D., &Bryant, B. (2011). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive
classroom: Custom edition for College of Southern Idaho EDUC 205. Boston, MA:
Pearson Learning Solutions

Parsons, Hinson, & Sardo-Brown. (2010). Educational Psychology: College of Southern Idaho.
Mason, OH: Cengage Learning