Brittany Serpico
Concordia University
HS 555
28 February 2013
 Birth
to 24 months
 Born
Sunday, 8-14-1988, at 3:09am weighing
7lbs. 4.5 oz. and 19 in. long, with blue eyes
and brown hair.
 First words “ma-ma-ma” at 6 mos.
 Rolled around room, stood up and crawled
at 10 mos. First steps at 1 yr. According to
Santrock (2012) locomotion refers to when
an “infant develops the ability to crawl,
walk, run as they are developing their loco
motor skills to explore and expand their
social world” (p.318).
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
Played “peek a boo” at 8 mos. According to Santrock
(2012) “face-to-face play may include vocalizations,
touch, and gestures” (p. 318).
Recognize self in mirror. Santrock notes this behavior
as self-recognition. (p.340)
Put different shaped blocks through matching holes
at 13 mos. Build with blocks at 15 mos. Santrock
(2012) explains this as information processing or joint
attention, which is when the “caregiver and infant
focus on the same object or event” (p.318).
Use writing utensils (ex. crayons) at 18 mos. Santrock
explains this event from Piaget’s Cognitive Theory as
the preoperational stage, which is when “children
begin to go beyond simply connecting sensory
information with physical action and represent the
world with words, images, and drawings” (p. 22).
 Reached
for people at 7 mos.
 Develop bond with parents. “Attachment is a
close emotional bond between two people”
(Santrock, 2012, p.317).
 Basic cry, anger cry, pain cry. My primary
emotions were present, which include
“surprise, interest, joy, anger, sadness, fear,
and disgust” (Santrock, 2012,p.304)
 2-5

years old
Photos below: (Left: me at 2yrs; Right: my kindergarten
portrait)
 Balance
and coordination from horseback
riding. According to Santrock (2012),
“participation in sports can provide exercise,
opportunities to learn how to compete, selfesteem, persistence, and a setting for
developing peer relations and friendships”
(p.158). It is also a great
way to exercise to help
prevent obesity.
 Started
horseback riding lessons and showing
at 5 yrs. “Niche-picking refers to finding a
setting that is suited to one’s abilities”
(Santrock, 2012, p.61).
 Asked Mom about heaven and God.
 I am asked to name objects. Santrock (2012)
calls this event as labeling, “the identifying
names of objects” (p. 293).
Had similar friends with my younger sister,
playing with neighborhood kids. “Shared
environment experiences are siblings’ common
experiences” (Santrock, 2012, p.61).
 Recognize differences in skin colors of people of
other ethnicities. “Ethnic identity is an enduring
aspect of the self that includes a sense of
membership in an ethnic group” (Santrock, 2012,
p.357).
 Homesick when leave home or when parents
leave me “Separation protest is when the child
cries when the caregiver leaves” (Santrock,
2012, p.306).

 6-11

years old
Photo: below (right)- me drilling in the Blue Shadows
Mounted Drill Team
 Played
Tee-ball and won 1st place overall for
the skills competition.
 Started to ride in a Mounted Drill Team at 11
yrs.
 Learned to swim.
Learned to play violin in 5th grade. My father is a
musician therefore this is an example of passive
genotype-environment correlation. This “occurs
when children inherit genetic tendencies from
their parents, and parents also provide an
environment that matches their own genetic
tendencies” (Santrock, 2012, p.60).
 Learning and memorizing drills for Mounted Drill
Team at 11 yrs. Know the lingo and jargon in
equestrian team. This dialect is “a variety of
language that is distinguished by its vocabulary,
grammar, or pronunciation” (Santrock, 2012,
p.289).

Recognized for meekness as a positive character
trait by my teachers.
 Was sad when my best friend left my school after
5th grade going into middle school; I had to make
new friends.
 Grieved for death of grandfather. This is an
example of contemporary life-events approach.
Santrock defines this as “an approach
emphasizing that how a life event influences the
individual’s development depends not only on
the event but also on mediating factors, the
individual’s adaptation to the event, the lifestage context, and the sociohistorical context”
(p.361).

 12-15
years old
 Reached
puberty. “Menarche is a girl’s first
menstrual period” (Santrock, 2012, p.92).
 More active in fitness and strength training.
 Understood
Christianity and what it means to
be a Christian.
 Discovered that flashcards are useful for
studying and maintaining knowledge for
exams.
 Not sure of future occupation. “Identity
diffusion is the status of an individual who
has not yet experienced a crisis or made any
commitments” (Santrock, 2012, p.354)
 Made
new friends at church; joined youth
groups at church when I first attended in 8th
grade. As Santrock (2012) suggests, I am an
adolescent and I start to hang out with
heterosexual groups (p.329).
 16-19
years old
 Started
wearing makeup to enhance natural
beauty.
 Seriously injured my back by slipping/falling
at my restaurant job.
 Had X-rays on my back and doctor says I have
Spina Bifida Occulta. According to Santrock
(2012), “this Gene-linked abnormality is an
incomplete development of the spinal cord”
(p. 57-58;67).
 Started
working at restaurant and also as a
caregiver.
 Graduated high school as a Valedictorian,
which boosted my self-esteem. “Self-esteem
refers to global evaluations of the self, selfworth, or self-image” (Santrock, 2012,
p.345).
 Planning for college and major life goals.
“Possible selves are what individuals might
become, what they want to become, and
what they are afraid of becoming” (Santrock,
2012, p.344).
First “boyfriend” in junior/senior years of high
school. Started dating in groups, “which is
common and reflects embeddedness in the peer
context” (Santrock, 2012, p.329).
 Made friends with coworkers at restaurant job.
Developed passion for caring for elderly when I
became a caregiver. Emotional competence
involves a number of skills such as having
awareness of one’s emotional states, detecting
others’ emotions, having empathetic and
sympathetic sensitivity to others’ emotional
experiences” just to name a few (Santrock,
2012, p. 303).

 20’s

Photos below: (Left- me, my parents, received my
Bachelors; Right- me and my boyfriend now)
Starting to notice grey hairs and began dying
hair.
 Treatments for my back pain include massage
and physical therapy.
 I’m having to exercise more in order to maintain
fitness or lose weight and also watching my diet.
Started a caloric restriction, which evidence has
shown in animals that have increased their
lifespan by doing so (Santrock, 2012, p. 139).
 Less sleep than I used to get when I was younger.
“Eight hours of sleep or more per night are
necessary to be at your best the next day”
(Santrock, 2012, p. 113).

 I’m
more conscious of my appearance (ex.
weight and fashion). I compare myself to
others, which is what Santrock (2012) calls
social comparison (p. 341).
 I’m thinking about my future career and
goals in life: marriage, family.
 Earned my Bachelors degree at age 24 and
plan to have my Master’s degree at age 26.
This is an example of identity achievement,
which is “the status of individuals who have
undergone a crisis and have made a
commitment” (Santrock, 2012, p.355).
Drinking alcohol socially, but in controlled
settings. Santrock (2012)defines self-regulation
as the “ability to control one’s behavior without
having to rely on another’s help” (p. 348).
 Had numerous dates with different guys and few
serious relationships. I experienced infatuation,
which is “if passion is the only ingredient and
intimacy and commitment is low or absent”
(Santrock, 2012, p.333) .
 Current relationship is very serious. I’ve found
consummate love: which includes passion,
intimacy, and commitment” (Santrock, 2012,
p.333)

 30’s

Photos: below (left: me and hopefully my future husband;
right: me and my older nephew)

Hopefully will have had one or two kids and
live with my future husband.
 Hopefully
comfortable and satisfied with
meeting my goals of having a career and
starting my own family. “Life review involves
looking back at one’s life experiences,
evaluating them, interpreting them, and
often reinterpreting them” (Santrock, 2012,
p.344).
 Hopefully
have a few close friends who share
the same stage in life and be happily married
with kids. “Socioemotional selectivity theory
states that older adults become more
selective about their social networks”
(Santrock, 2012, p.310).
 40’s
 My
body not able to get back to the way it
was before kids even with workouts.
 Advance
in my career because of my
expertise. Santrock (2012) defines expertise
as “the extensive, highly organized
knowledge and understanding of a particular
domain” (p.233).
 Develop
more relationships with clients and
colleagues.
 50’s
(Thrifty Fifty)
 Join
ballroom dance club for leisure time.
Santrock (2012) defines leisure as “pleasant
times when individuals are free to pursue
activities and interests of their own
choosing” (p.502).
 Find
new hobbies to keep my mind and body
active.
 Experience midlife crisis. “Trying to cope
with the gap between the past and the
future, that threatens life’s continuity”
(Santrock, 2012, p.360).
 Attend
my grown children’s weddings.
 Become a grandparent. According to
Santrock, “grandparents play an important
role in the lives of many grandchildren” (p.
479).
 60’s
 Take
afternoon naps
 Make more doctor appointments.
 Prefer
more quiet time for prayer and
reading for entertainment.
 My life review reveals a life well spent, my
integrity achieved. “Erickson’s Theory
Integrity vs. despair is when individuals
experience in late adulthood and they look
at their past” (Santrock, 2012, p.22).
 Retire
from career and enjoy retirement with
my husband as we bond together again.
 Santrock (2012) says that some adults in
their sixties don’t retire, while some do
retire but pick up volunteer work.
 70’s
 Required
to take all kinds of medications.
 Create
a living will for my family someday
when I die. “This document is designed to be
filled in while the individual can still think
clearly; it expresses the person’s desires
regarding extraordinary medical procedures
to sustain the life when the situation
becomes hopeless” (Santrock, 2012, p.566).
 Pray to God more and ask for forgiveness and
thank Him for everything He’s done in my
life, for anything I’ve ever achieved, and for
things given to me.
 Enjoy
family gatherings with my children and
my grandkids someday.
 80’s
and older
 May
have cancer of some sort.
 Receive hospice care. “Hospice care is a
program committed to making the end of life
as free from pain, anxiety, and depression as
possible” (Santrock, 2012, p.567).
 Inevitable mortality.
 Make
sure I’m right with God before I die.
 May become more forgetful. “Tip-of-thetongue phenomenon is when individuals are
confident that they can remember something
but just can’t quite seem to retrieve it from
memory” (Santrock, 2012, p.289).
 Have
closure and make peace with family
members.
 Communication during the dying process.
“Most psychologists stress that it is best for
dying individuals to know that they are dying
and that significant others know they are
dying so that they can interact and
communicate with each other on the basis of
this mutual knowledge” (Santrock, 2012,
p.576).
 Santrock,
J. A Topical Approach to Life-Span
Development, (2012), 6th edition, McGrawHill Company, New York, NY.