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Introduction
Leadership in the human services world is a demanding task.
By now, you know a lot of facts about the Washington family. It’s time to apply what else you know and solve the mystery of who killed Mercury.
First, you’ll find out more about some of the family members. Then you’ll test your knowledge of developmental stages as demonstrated by each person. The more clues you learn, the better your chance to figure out who did it!
Let’s Get Started
Emma
Emma has been heartbroken since Mercury died. But Emma also thinks her grandpa David hates her for having Mercury in the first place. She worries about what her family members think about her, and just wants to get along with everyone. She is tired of all the fighting, and she decides to forgive Ava and her grandpa because her family relationships are more important than a dead animal.
Emma’s Statements:
Statement 1: I saw Liam and Grandpa whispering together after Mercury died. I know they were talking about me. They seem to spend a lot of time together, just the two of them, and they give me the strangest looks.
Statement 2: Ava hated Mercury and she’s always messing with my things. She’s always trying to get me. I know she killed him. Ava doesn’t care about me and she wouldn’t see an issue with killing an animal.
Statement 3: Whoever killed Mercury should be ashamed of themselves! Animals may not have the same rights as a human being, but they are living, breathing creatures. Killing him was wrong. And it was unfair to take away his life, especially since he was our pet. We take care of those who are dependent on us.
Statement 4: I want the person who murdered Mercury to be punished. Not by the laws, they don’t cover this. But, as a family, we should punish the culprit.
Reflection Question
Based on theories of moral development, how would you evaluate Emma’s reaction to her life situation?
This question has not been answered yet.
Tyler
Tyler has a lot going on in his life. He watches the obsession the family seems to have about Mercury and thinks it’s absurd. He believes Emma was too young to have a pet in the first place and ultimately should be held responsible for Mercury’s death, because he was often let out of his cage.
“My kids won’t get pets until they prove they’re reliable and dependable,” he says.
His wife thinks a low-maintenance pet like a fish would be a good start. But Tyler is stuck in his ways, and he refuses to change his mind. “No pets of any kind in my household!” he says.
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Tyler’s Statements:
Statement 1: Grandpa David spends an awful lot of time on the Internet. He reads some terrible stuff and he can’t seem to sort out truth from fiction. Now, he’s got Liam believing in zombies. I don’t want to tell him that he can’t spend time with Liam—but I worry about his influence. Liam has been so withdrawn and wary since Mercury died.
Statement 2: Emma really loved Mercury. Dad thought it gave her experience in taking responsibility. Mom thought it was filthy and unhealthy. Grandpa David thought it was going to bring some sort of plague down upon on us. And great-grandma Betty thought every child should have a pet. Me, I think kids should be old enough for pets. And if a pet isn’t taken care of, it doesn’t stay in the house.
Statement 3: I’m lucky to have a decent job. I know Dad still hopes I’ll go to college. But I met Anna and we got married and had kids. I like being a father; I hope I’m good at it. I just don’t understand why Liam seems to need Grandpa David so much. I was never that close to my grandparents, never mind my great-grandparents.
Statement 4: Liam said Mercury was a danger and that it’s a man’s job to protect the family. I’m not sure what he meant by that—probably something Grandpa David told him. I can’t see Liam coming up with that — he gets upset if we kill a spider in the house.
Reflection Questions
Based on Perry’s theory of cognitive development, how would you evaluate Tyler’s thoughts about his current life situation?
This question has not been answered yet.
Bob
Bob is feeling the pressures related to his multiple roles as a caregiver. It’s not just the tension between Emma and Ava about Mercury. He isn’t happy at work, and he’s considering a career change. Sometimes, he just wants to walk away from everything — including his marriage.
Bob’s Statements:
Statement 1: I know having Grandma Betty and the three kids in the house really stresses my wife out. That’s why I’m so glad Dad comes over so often to spend time with them. But it seems like Dad is getting more selfish as he gets older. He’s more worried about what we can do for him then what he can do for us. His obsession with the gerbil is a great example. Why should it matter so much to him if my granddaughter keeps a rodent in her room?
Statement 2: Liam’s been different since Mercury died. But he’s even gentler than Ava, and he loves all animals.
Statement 3: When I was little, my dad killed my cat because it starting peeing in the house. He’s never had much patience for pets.
Statement 4: Anna agreed with me about that gerbil, but she’d never go against Tyler. My son is the man in that household.
Reflection Questions
Based on Levinson’s Seasons of Life, how would you evaluate Bob’s thoughts and feelings about his current situation?
This question has not been answered yet.
David
David is doing his best to support Tyler and his mother Betty, but he is doing it on his own terms. At the age of 64, he wants to explore new things and go on adventures. When reflecting on his life, he thinks he has done a good job of raising his son and feels happy about what he has accomplished. Of course, there are a few regrets, but his focus is on the present. He wants to live life to the fullest and make a difference in the lives of others.
David’s Statements:
Statement 1: Those kids don’t listen to me. I read the news and stay informed. Kids today don’t know their history, their past. There’s outbreaks of all types of diseases occurring and everyone knows rats were the reason for the plague in the Middle Ages. And then there’s all the news about what they are putting in water supply.
Statement 2: I may have worked all my life in construction, but I learn fast. I don’t even need to ask the grandkids how to work my smartphone like Bob does. I’ve gotten pretty savvy about using the Internet. It’s all about who you trust.
Statement 3: I follow NothingButTheTruth on Twitter. And I paid attention to those warnings about zombie-ism being spread by rodents and small animals who drank the water.
Statement 4: Liam’s a good kid, always does what he’s told. He’s a bit squeamish for a boy, though. Wouldn’t hurt a fly. He must get that from Anna. He’s too much like a girl and Ava’s too much like a boy.
Reflection Questions
Based on David’s attitude and approach to life, which of the following most accurately reflects his current level of development?
This question has not been answered yet.
Apply Research
Read the following excerpt from the discussion section in the “Emotion” section of Age and Emotion Regulation in Daily Life. Then read what Bob has to say, and answer the question that follows.
“Emotion” from Age and Emotion Regulation in Daily Life
Older adults often report high levels of emotional well-being despite normative declines in cognition and physical functioning, and this is often attributed to age differences in emotion regulation. SST suggests that older adults prioritize emotional well-being goals (Carstensen, 2006); other models propose that older adults may shift how they regulate to maintain effectiveness (Charles, 2010; Urry and Gross, 2010). The current study aimed to test these models by examining everyday emotion regulation of younger, middle-aged, and older adults to test whether age differences in emotion regulation frequency, strategy and tactic use, and/or effectiveness might clarify how older adults might achieve high levels of well-being.
Across the sample, regulation occurred in less than half of episodes (45 percent); 69 percent of the time participants reported having no strong emotions, and 31 percent of the time participants reported letting emotions play out unregulated. When regulation occurred, there was a clear preference across all groups for earlier intervention in the emotional process, with situation-focused strategies being the most commonly used, and decreasing preference for attention, cognitive change, and response modulation. Tactics that introduced or increased positive aspects were favored over those that reduced negative. This was especially the case for older adults, who favored positive situation selection and modification and attention to positive. Middle-aged adults were more likely to avoid negative situations and make them less negative, whereas younger adults showed more willingness to seek negative situations and make them more negative, although this was quite rare. Older adults also reported less frequent contra-hedonic goals than younger adults, though prohedonic goals did not differ across age groups. Thus, although they did not differ strongly on the frequency of prohedonic goals, older adults used more positive tactics on average to achieve them.
Consistent with previous experience sampling studies (Carstensen et al., 2000), older adults reported more momentary positive affect than younger adults, but they were no more likely to regulate their emotions in general, or to use any of the general strategies, than younger adults (see also Eldesouky and English, 2018). Contrary to hypotheses, younger and older adults did not differ in their emotion regulation effectiveness; rather, it was middle-aged adults who reported less affect change from before to after regulation. Two differences in strategy effectiveness emerged, however. First, in contrast to laboratory studies, where situation selection has been linked to more positive affect for both younger and older adults (for example, Livingstone and Isaacowitz, 2015), situation selection was associated with more positive affect for younger, but not older, adults. Second, situation modification, in the form of making situations less negative, was associated with more positive/less negative affect for younger, but not older adults. For older adults, only making situations more positive was linked to better emotional outcomes.
Livingstone, K. M., and Isaacowitz, D. M. (2019). Age and emotion regulation in daily life: Frequency, strategies, tactics, and effectiveness. Emotion.
Statements
Bob’s Statements:
Statement 1: I worry about Emma. She’s been taking this so hard. This is the first death she has had to face, and dealing with grief is tough. It’s even harder for her with all the accusations flying around about who did it.
Statement 2: I hate feeling so bad, and over the death of a rodent. I tried staying at work longer so I wouldn’t need to deal with it, but that didn’t help much.
Statement 3: I do wish my Dad would show Emma some compassion. He’s been acting like Mercury’s death is a good thing.
Statement 4: I’m constantly worried about Emma and how she’s handling all of this. I try not to worry but it doesn’t work.
Reflection Questions
Based on this research, how would you evaluate Bob’s statements?
This question has not been answered yet.
Final Clues
Go into the house and hear what each member of the family says about Mercury.
Statements
Liam: I did a bad thing; I took out the trash. Grandpa David said it was right, but great-grandpa Mike said grandpa David was bad. I just wanted to help grandpa David.
Ava: I didn’t like Mercury, but I didn’t kill him. Killing is wrong—the Bible says so.
Emma: Grandpa said he’d got out of his cage and that I must have left it open but that’s because he doesn’t like me. I always closed the cage. I took great care of Mercury.
Kyla: I think Dad killed Mercury by accident. He probably stepped on him. Emma knew not to let Mercury out of the cage, but she kept doing it anyway. She should take responsibility, too.
David: Ever since my wife left, I feel disconnected. I try to spend more time with mom and my son, but I did my work raising my kids already. I don’t want to raise another generation. But, my goodness, my son is making a hash of things. Letting the rodent in the house to run around when everyone knows rodents spread diseases. What was he thinking?
Betty: Someone told me David killed that gerbil, but someone else said it was Ava. I just can’t remember who.
Reflection Questions
Based on what you’ve seen, who do you think killed Mercury the gerbil?
This question has not been answered yet.
Conclusion
People change throughout their lives. As you’ve seen with the Washington family, we use both theory and research to get a better understanding of people’s thoughts and behaviors. As you move forward with your studies in psychology, remember the importance of age for people’s physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains.
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