CASE STUDY

Case Study

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Case Study

Gloria son is making poor decisions because he is a 16-year-old teenager. Most teenagers make poor decisions ranging from getting drunk at parties to wearing outfits that appear to be outlandishly stupid (Blakemore & Choudhury, 2014). The reason for this is that the sections of the brain which control making of decisions are not fully developed until they reach early adulthood.

Gloria can utilize some strategies to assist her son in making better decisions. First Gloria should remind her son to ask for help when he needs to make decisions. Teenagers do not need to make decisions on their own (Blakemore & Choudhury, 2014). Gloria should ensure that her son saves contact of people who will be available when he is in a difficult situation. Secondly, Gloria should encourage the son to stop and think before making any decisions; it will assist him to remove himself temporarily from the case and make decisions away from the existing pressures.

From what I have learned about self-regulation and human development I think these strategies will be useful because the teenager will be able to ask for assistance from grown-up people who are better at making decisions. The teenager will also take time to deliberate his actions before making any decisions.

Reggie is demonstrating a fixed mindset towards the compliance test. He does not see the benefits of learning new safety policies. Reggie made a joke that one cannot teach an old person new tricks. The fixed mindset will affect his performance negatively because he already has a negative attitude towards the compliance test.

Brian plasticity refers to how the brain changes throughout its lifetime. The brain has the capability of reorganizing and creating new connections (Judge et al., 2013). Reggie fears that he is too old to learn new things but the brain changes throughout the lifetime. Reggie needs to have an open mindset and be ready to learn new things because new connections will be formed in the brain.

The strategies that Reggie should utilize to pass the compliance test include establishing milestones and be involved in group discussions. By having a goal will assist Reggie to make a list of the tasks to read and check off after finalizing reading them. Group discussions will help to change the mindset of Reggie and be open to learning new things.

Gloria and Lekeisha have different approaches to the project. Openness is the personality trait on the Big 5 personality trait that they differ most. Both of them dislike change, and they are not ready to learn new things. They both resist new ideas from one another.

Gloria can use cognitive reappraisal and emotional regulation to be able to work effectively with Lakeisha. Gloria can reframe her thoughts and accept the feeling without judging or controlling them. Doing this will reduce the intensity of the emotions that she experiences and permit her to deal productively with what that triggered them (McRae et al., 2014).

Gloria should breathe and label. When Gloria becomes aware of the negative emotions that are taking over the mental state she should take deep breaths. By breathing deeply, Gloria will deliver oxygen to the brain that assists in calming down to allow one to concentrate and think clearly. Gloria should focus on what she is feeling then label the emotion. Labeling the feelings lowers brains emotional response.

References

Blakemore, S. J., & Choudhury, S. (2014). Development of the adolescent brain: implications for executive function and social cognition. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 47(3‐4), 296-312.

Judge, T. A., Higgins, C. A., Thoresen, C. J., & Barrick, M. R. (2013). The big five personality traits, general mental ability, and career success across the life span. Personnel psychology, 52(3), 621-652.

McRae, K., Ochsner, K. N., Mauss, I. B., Gabrieli, J. J., & Gross, J. J. (2014). Gender differences in emotion regulation: An fMRI study of cognitive reappraisal. Group processes & intergroup relations, 11(2), 143-162.