Describe operant conditioning in your own words.  Thinking of operant conditioning, how could you help your friend use rewards as motivation to study more often? 

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You have two friends who have been struggling with exams in their classes. They can’t figure out what they are doing wrong, so they approach you for advice. In talking with your friends, you learn:

  1. Both of them are studying in one big cram session the evening before the exam.  They’re just not motivated to put in more time.
  2. They primarily study by just reread­ing notes and the chapters.
  3. One of your friends is only 17 and she checks her phone about every 2 minutes for text messages or social media updates.
  4. Your other friend is returning to college after some time away and is 65 years old.  She finds it easy to recognize some information when asked a fill-in-the-blank question, but it is much harder if she has to define a vocabulary word or answer an essay.

The good news is that you are enrolled in a psychology class that can help both your friends improve their study habits and results on the exam.

As you prepare to help your friends, here are some specific topics to address.

  1. From Chapter 1, what part of the brain is responsible for remembering the important information that will be on the exam?  Describe that part of the brain and its purpose.
  2. As covered in Chapter 4, psychologists have determined that age can effect cognitive development and memory.
  3. For your friend who is 17, how could you use what you have learned about moral development to explain why she may be checking her phone every 2 minutes for text messages and social media updates.   How could she expand her attention?
  4. For your friend is age 65, and having a hard time with vocabulary, explain what may be happening that prevents her from doing well on this type of activity.  How could she improve?
  5.  In chapter 6, we learn about operant conditioning.  Describe operant conditioning in your own words.  Thinking of operant conditioning, how could you help your friend use rewards as motivation to study more often?
  6.  Using what we have learned in chapter 7, explain why your memory may not retain all the information learned in the cram session the night before the big exam.
  7. How would cramming effect encoding?
  8. How would cramming effect retrieval?
  9. What is one technique that each friend could use to help improve memory and prepare for the exam?
  10. It’s the night before the big exam.  You check on your friends and your younger friend is not doing well.  It turns out that things have turned out even worse.  Her boyfriend broke up with her, stole money from her bank account, and her grandmother passed away the week before.  You notice on her Facebook page that she posed, “Where can I find some rope?!?”
  11. In chapter 5, you learn about suicide and what to do.  Based on that, what steps can you take to help your friend?  Be sure to include any resources that you could call to get advice.

Summarize the main points of the presentation and reiterate why the proposed research is important and why it should be carried out.

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This interactive assignment will provide you with an opportunity to create a dynamic presentation of some of the materials you are creating for your Research Proposal. This type of presentation would be used in the professional world to request Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, and potentially elicit funding, for your research.

In your presentation, summarize the main points and ideas for your Research Design. Over the course of the week, you will have the opportunity to share feedback and suggestions with your classmates and instructor, which may assist you in improving your research proposal before submitting the Research Proposal.

Create a presentation file using PowerPoint. Please submit original script along with PowerPoint.

The content of the presentation must include the following:

• A brief introduction

• Devise a specific research question related to the topic you chose in Week One.

• Explain the importance of the topic and research question.

• A brief literature review

• Evaluate published research studies on your topic found during your work on the Weeks One, Two, and Four assignments and identify two relevant published studies.

• A description of potential methods

• Based on what you have learned about research design options and requirements in this course, create an appropriate research approach and design to investigate your research question.

• Provide a rationale for your design choices.

• A discussion on ethical issues

• Apply ethical standards to the proposed research and identify potential ethical issues that would apply. Explain how you plan to address these issues.

• A conclusion

• Summarize the main points of the presentation and reiterate why the proposed research is important and why it should be carried out.

In your initial discussion post, introduce your presentation and provide a link to the screencast URL.

Be sure to attach your PowerPoint presentation and script documents to your initial post.

What ethical issues might be encountered when collecting your information from this sample?

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Based on the feedback you received on your submission from last week, submit a revised draft of your paper with this additional information:

  1. Five additional references that could be used for your research paper and include a 1-2 sentence description for each of the five additional references, explaining how they fit with the research topic and the research question proposed. Make sure that these references come from scholarly sources using Argosy’s library resources.
  2. A  very detailed outline of what you would like to cover in the intro/lit review of your paper. Write it as an outline and think about what you want each paragraph or section to cover. Paste your references into each section where the information from that article applies to the topic. Below is an example of the outline although the references have not been pasted in yet:
    1. Introduction or Statement of the Problem (e.g. Predictors of Depression in Men)
      1. Research question (E.g. What factors predict depression in men? For example, age, marital status, family history, stressors).
      2. Why is it important/implications  (E.g. xx% of men are depressed; less likely to seek treatment; if we can identify who is at risk, may be able to direct them to treatment sooner)
      3. Revised hypothesis based on feedback from the instructor
    2. Review of the Literature (the following is an example for above topic):
      1. Brief description of depression, symptoms, and any unique symptoms for men (Cite articles from which you will obtain this information).
      2. How widespread is it? Stats on depression in general but also stats on depression in men (Cite articles from which you will obtain this information).
      3. List factors that put men at risk for depression (Cite articles).
        1. Difficulty communicating distress or sadness (Cite articles).
        2. Job/work pressures (Cite articles).
      4. Demographic characteristics (Cite articles).
        1. Relationship between age and depression (Cite articles).
        2. Relationship between marital status and depression (Cite articles).
  3. A 1-2 page description of the sample you would like to use for your study, that provides the answer to the following questions:
    1. What sampling technique would you use?
    2. Does the sample generalize to the population? Explain why or why not.
    3. What inclusion criteria would be used? What exclusion criteria would be used, if any?
    4. What ethical issues might be encountered when collecting your information from this sample?
  4. Be sure to also submit all your ten references (the five from last week and the five new ones you added) in an APA-style reference page. Be sure to also include an APA-style title page with your submission. Your paper should be at least 2-3 pages long. Make sure you write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Submit your assignment to the Submissions Area by the due date assigned. All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.

Assignment 2 Grading CriteriaMaximum PointsProvided five additional valid references and explained the reasoning behind their selection.20Discussed the sampling technique for the proposed study and included the aspects of generalization, inclusion, and ethical issues as requested in the assignment.25Provided a detailed outline of the intro/literature review section of the paper, along with revised hypothesis.25Included an APA-style title page and reference page (with at least 10 references).10Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.20Total:

Write a 2–3-page paper in Word format. Be sure to include separate title and reference pages. Apply APA standards to citation of sources, including use of in-text citations and full references.

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Review and Research of Childhood Influences

In M1: Assignment 2, you examined an important factor contributing to a child’s success. Now with your understanding that there are many different areas of impact within the realms of family, peers, school, and community, it is helpful to explore your own experience and reaction to some of these areas of influence. It is very common for our own experiences as a child to significantly impact our interactions with children, if we are not first aware of our beliefs and reactions.

Based on your review of the influences of family, peers, schools, and community, respond to the following:

  • Looking back at your own experiences and influences, analyze which of these influences had the biggest impact on your own development when you were a child or adolescent. Give reasons for your answer.
  • How has this impact (for example, family or peer situation, community influence, or school environment) been influenced by the various adults in your life (parents, teachers, coaches)?
  • Using the module readings, Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet, research your findings further. Respond to the following:
    • Explain how your biggest influence aligns with the research. Incorporate information from at least two academic sources to support your statements and ideas. Academic sources could include your textbook, required readings for this module, or academic journal articles found in the Argosy University online library.
    • Who are the major proponents (theorists past or current) of your chosen influence and how did they reach these conclusions?
  • Ask two adults what or who had the most impact on them. Compare this self-report data with your experience and your research about prominent influences.

Write a 2–3-page paper in Word format. Be sure to include separate title and reference pages. Apply APA standards to citation of sources, including use of in-text citations and full references. Academic sources could include your textbook, required readings for this module, or academic journal articles found in the Argosy University online library.

Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M1_A3.doc. For example, if your name is John Smith, your document will be named SmithJ_M1_A3.doc.

By the due date assigned, deliver your assignment to the Submissions Area.

Grading CriteriaMaximum PointsAnalyzed the influence that had the biggest impact on your development as a child or adolescent.8Explained how the “influence factor” was further affected by the various adults in your life.8Incorporated information from at least two academic sources in identifying the research that aligned with your biggest influence.24Identified the major proponents of the chosen impact area providing reasons for the conclusions of those theorists (past or current).24Compared and contrasted your experience about influence with data from at least two adults.16Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.20Total:100