Major Differences Between Thomas And Laura's Decision example essay topic

Development psychology is concerned with the different stages that an individual must go through throughout their lifetime. During these life stages, individuals are forced to face issues, make decisions, and psycho socially develop. Thomas and Laura are two individuals in different life stages that are facing important issues. There are forced to use their fluid intelligence, go through transitions, and cope with gender schema.

As these individuals progression through these various stages they are grow mature and gaining real life experience that will help them through out their life. Thomas is a 23-year-old Puerto Rican male. His parents were both born in their native country of Puerto Rican. Thomas, however, was the first in his family to be born and brought up in the states.

Thomas is the oldest in his family with two younger sisters. He graduated from High School, and instead of going to college he started working for Metro-North train station. He has been working for Metro-North for approximately three years, and has recently been promoted to a cable-splicer. With this promotion he makes roughly $40,000 a year and lives comfortable in his own apartment. Thomas in not married, but he has been in a serious relationship with the same female for four years. Thomas' major current issues in life revolve around his work and relationship.

Even with his promotion, Thomas feels that he is not making enough money and thinks about going back to school and becoming a physician assist. Many people have made comments about Thomas' consideration of becoming a nurse. They sometimes joke about it and saying that nursing is strictly a female's job. However, Thomas is not bothered about what other people are thinking or saying.

He is concerned about if he will be able to work and go to school consecutively. Working and going to school part time might be too much for him to manage, so for now he has put off all considerations of going back to school. Another major issue in Thomas's life comes from his relationship. After being with his partner for four years he is being pressured to move into the next level of their relationship.

His partner feels that they should prepare themselves for marriage and having children in the near future. Thomas, on the other hand, does not feel he is ready for neither marriage nor children. Even though he loves his partner, he has told her that he is not ready to move on and would like to keep things as they are and not change anything. Laura is a 17-year-old Russian female who also lives in Yonkers, New York. She was born in Moscow but moved to the United States when she was about 4 years old. She lives in a family with three other siblings.

She is the youngest of three girls, and has one older brother. Laura is currently in high school. She is a very good student that has been on the Honor Roll for many years. She is also extremely athletic and is the best player on her basketball team. She loves playing, watching and participating in anything that has to do with basketball.

Laura's major current issues in life revolve around her future plans. Laura is planning to get her driver license soon, however, she is very nervous and feels she might not do well on the test. To help her prepare, her older brother is giving her some driving lessons. Her driver test is coming soon and hopeful she will be able to pull it off and pass.

Laura also wants to go to college but does not know where to go and what to study. She has always dreamt of playing college basketball, but has been teased by her sister's about this dream. Her sister claim that she does not have the ability and that even if she did basketball is a male sport. This has made Laura uncertain about many things in her future. To help her choose an appropriate school she is seeking the advise of family, friends, and teachers. She also plans to visit several colleges and universities and become well informed before making her decisions.

As to what she wants to be, this still remains undecided. She has decided to take her sister's advice and not pursuing her basketball dream. She plans to wait at least until after her first year in college before making a decision on what to study. Fluid intelligence is an important psychosocial aspect that gives an individual the ability to reasoning and make the best decision based on their given situation.

With fluid intelligence a person will be able to absorb new information, asses the situation appropriately, and development a coherent response. In Thomas and Laura's cases we found that both individuals were able to use their fluid intelligence. Thomas believed he did not make enough money. Therefore, he absorbed this information, assess his circumstance and came up with the best possible answer to his conflict by considering going back to school. Laura followed the same steps as Thomas when she feared that she was going to fail her driving test. Instead of panicking until the last minute, she got help from her old and experienced brother.

This gave her a better chance to pass the driving test. Each of us has a gender identity that is a key part of our self-concept. It essential involves a person's identification as male or female. We become conscious of gender identity at an early stage usually around two years of age.

Gender schema is learned information and beliefs that makes us aware of who were are and what it means to be either male or female. Gender schema is very important to develop when we are young because it gives us a basic foundation and helps us distinguish a man from a woman. However, as we get older this schema can limit the functions and expectations of each gender. It sets boundaries that tell an individual what they can and cannot do depend on their sex. Thomas and Laura experienced gender schema as they were considering professionals. Thomas was looking into becoming a nurse to help him make more money.

However, the people around him did not feel that it was appropriate for a man to be a nurse because the majority view nursing as a feminine occupation. Similarly, Laura had also dreamed of playing basketball in college and maybe even taking it up as a profession. Laura was a great basketball player, but her sisters mocking and laughed at her when she told them of her dream. Basketball and various physical sports are viewed as a man sport, and when a woman considers participating in a so-called manly sport they are looked at as out of the ordinary. Transitions are certain events that are set to occur at a particular time in an individual life.

They require individuals to cope with situations and make some type of change or modification to accept the new events. Individuals go through several transitions throughout their lifetime that is essential to their developmental psychology. Thomas was involved in a long-term relationship that involved the possibility of a complete change in lifestyle. This transition was making Thomas and his partner consider long-term commitment such as marriage and even children. Laura's life was taking two transitional leaps. One was small, as she was preparing herself for a driving test.

The next transition is one that many individuals most cope with, which was going from small high school to a large college or university. Thomas and Laura were both faced with issues that there were forced to handled. Even though they were in different life stages, they were able to similarly handle some of these circumstances. Similarly, Thomas and Laura were faced with life decisions that required them to make choices.

Thomas wanted to make more money and Laura wanted to go to school. Both of them took their time, assessed their situation, and consider the best method for them to make these decisions. Then they were able to make appropriate decisions. Thomas decided that in his current condition he would not be able to go back to school, while Laura made the decision to explore her options before picking a school to go to. There were also major differences between Thomas and Laura's decision-making.

They were both faced with gender crisis that were limiting their choices due to their sex. Unlike Laura, Thomas did not let these gender restrictions effect his decision. He was told that being a nurse was a feminine occupational, but this was not the reason that he did not pursue this career. On the other hand, Laura was mocked for consider playing a sport in college by her sisters. This mockery effected Laura and made her decide not to play basketball in college or take it up as a profession. Psychosocial development progresses with time and experience.

Before people can consider themselves as mature and mental developed they must live through different stages of life. These stages force them to cope with issues and difficult circumstances. However, every time an individual is able to successful cope with stages and make the appropriate decision they gain the necessary experience. This knowledge is the ultimate power in helping us gain wisdom and guide us as we move forward in time.