Responsible Youngster
Responsible Youngster
Professor Lauren Goldstein
PSY 105
February 2, 2014
Responsible Youngster
This is the moment my life changed forever; I became a teenage mother. Let me explain. As far back as I can remember, growing up as a child was full of sugar rushes, imaginary friends, and endless adventures. I was the only child in my mother 's house for nine and a half years until my brother was born. I had every toy I asked for and every light up shoe I ever dreamed of. My parents both worked well paying jobs and practically gave me any and everything I wanted. Many people called me spoiled, but I considered myself loved. Over the years, receiving gifts turned into earning them. I recall my mother giving me a list of daily tasks and chores to complete throughout the week. If I completed each chore and kept my grades up in school I would earn an allowance. It didn’t take long for me to appreciate the value of money. When I was 12 I started saving my money in a purple shoe box that I kept under my bed. Each week I would ask my parents for additional chores so that I could make extra income. By the time I was 14 I decided to do something I loved while getting paid to do it; babysit. On my sixteenth birthday I had saved over $700 and my father took me to open a savings account at the local bank. I remember feeling accomplished and “grown”; not knowing that I would find out the true meaning of that word within a couple of months. As I entered the eleventh grade my uncle, who is two years younger than me, had a baby at fifteen. This caused a hardship on him because the mother of the child signed away her maternal rights and gave him full custody of the baby. No one in my family was willing to help him support his newborn child.
This behavior could be described as cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember, and learn. I have
Professor Lauren Goldstein
PSY 105
February 2, 2014
Responsible Youngster
This is the moment my life changed forever; I became a teenage mother. Let me explain. As far back as I can remember, growing up as a child was full of sugar rushes, imaginary friends, and endless adventures. I was the only child in my mother 's house for nine and a half years until my brother was born. I had every toy I asked for and every light up shoe I ever dreamed of. My parents both worked well paying jobs and practically gave me any and everything I wanted. Many people called me spoiled, but I considered myself loved. Over the years, receiving gifts turned into earning them. I recall my mother giving me a list of daily tasks and chores to complete throughout the week. If I completed each chore and kept my grades up in school I would earn an allowance. It didn’t take long for me to appreciate the value of money. When I was 12 I started saving my money in a purple shoe box that I kept under my bed. Each week I would ask my parents for additional chores so that I could make extra income. By the time I was 14 I decided to do something I loved while getting paid to do it; babysit. On my sixteenth birthday I had saved over $700 and my father took me to open a savings account at the local bank. I remember feeling accomplished and “grown”; not knowing that I would find out the true meaning of that word within a couple of months. As I entered the eleventh grade my uncle, who is two years younger than me, had a baby at fifteen. This caused a hardship on him because the mother of the child signed away her maternal rights and gave him full custody of the baby. No one in my family was willing to help him support his newborn child.
This behavior could be described as cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember, and learn. I have
References: Stahl, C., Voss, A., & Klauer, K. (2011). Cognitive methods in social psychology . New York, NY : Guilford Press. Psychology 101. (2003). Retrieved from http://allpsych.com/ psychology101/ Conditioning.html