A summary of the person’s life experiences.

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The Final Project for this course requires that you apply the material that you have studied during the term to a case study of your choice. For this Assignment, you must choose a well-known current or historical person for an in-depth analysis of personality development. Some examples of the type of person you can choose are famous politicians, philanthropists, entertainers, businesspersons, or individuals who made significant contributions to your field of study or career. You should choose a figure whose biographical information can be easily researched.

During this course, you have studied several models of personality development. For your Final Project, you will write a 5–7 page paper that describes the way in which each of the models that you studied in the course applies to the personality development of the case study that you chose. Your paper must include the following components:

  1. A summary of the person’s life experiences. This section must include all relevant background, including family history, significant life experiences, and important contributions that may have influenced or resulted from the individual’s personality development. This section should be a maximum of 1–2 pages in length.
  2. A discussion and evaluation of the ways in which each of the following models would explain the individual’s personality development:
    1. Psychoanalytic and Neoanalytic theories
    2. Psychosocial theories
    3. Trait, Evolutionary, Genetic/Biological approaches
    4. Cognitive, Behavioral, and Social Learning theories
    5. Humanistic theories

    Be sure to include an explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of applying each model to your case study.

    This section should be 3–4 pages in length.

  3. If you wanted to measure and assess this individual’s personality, what specific methods of personality assessment would you use that we have learned during this course and why? What information would you gain from each of the assessment tools that you chose? This section should be at least 1 page in length.

Include references from the text and course learning activities. Your project should be double-spaced, include a reference page, include a minimum of three resources, and adhere to APA guidelines.

Application: Symptoms and Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Application: Symptoms and Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder

One of the disorders of childhood and adolescence that has received increasing research and media attention over the past few years is autism spectrum disorder. In Abnormal Psychology, the author highlights the core features of this serious childhood disorder and provides a description of a child named Mark who embodies a typical clinical picture of autism (Comer, 2014, p. 539). In this week’s Application Assignment, you will review a video program featuring two children with autism and draw connections between their behaviors and the symptoms described in the textbook.

To prepare for this assignment:

  • Review the textbook section titled “Long-Term Disorders That Begin in Childhood,” focusing on symptoms, causal factors, and treatment approaches.
  • Peruse the two websites about autism spectrum disorder included in the required Learning Resources list, focusing on information about the major symptoms of autism and treatment approaches.

The assignment: (2–3 pages)

  • Consider the following scenario, in which you presume you are a mental health professional: You have recently met with James and his family. As an infant, James rarely showed interest in his parents or toys. Now, at 5 years old, he does not use intelligible words to communicate with his parents. He will not tolerate being read to. He likes to watch the same recorded television program over and over. He screams loudly and begins to hit himself when the program shuts off. He quickly becomes calm when the program resumes.
    Your evaluation has determined that James meets the criteria for autism spectrum disorder. James’s parents are coming to your office tomorrow to discuss the results of your evaluation.
  • Prepare a written report of what you will tell James’s parents about autism spectrum disorder. Be sure to cover the symptoms that James meets from the DSM-5 Checklist (Table 17-6).
  • Discuss symptoms of autism spectrum disorder in light of normal development in the following domains: language, cognition, emotion, and social. In other words, what is noticeably abnormal in children with autism spectrum disorder versus what you might see in their same-age peers?
  • Summarize the research evidence on the effectiveness of different approaches to treatment, based on your textbook reading. Include your final treatment recommendation to James’s parents.
  • To close your paper, consider how you might answer if the parents ask, “How did my child end up with this disorder? What did we do wrong? Is there any hope for him?”

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list only for those resources not included in the Learning Resources for this course.

Review And Application Of Learning Theory

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Background

In psychology, learning theory refers to how we acquire basic responses and behaviors. We study three different types of learning: learning through association (classical conditioning), learning through reward or punishment (operant conditioning), and learning through imitation (observational learning). Learning theory is explored primarily through the Behavioral perspective, which emphasizes how the environment shapes who we are and how we behave.

Instructions

Choose one of the following options and respond to the essay questions:

Option A:

  1. Provide an original example from your own life history of Classical Conditioning. Your example should provide enough specific detail to illustrate the concept.
  1. Explain how each of the five key terms listed below may apply to your example.
    • Unconditioned Stimulus
    • Unconditioned Response
    • Neutral Stimulus
    • Conditioned Response
    • Conditioned Stimulus

Option B:

  1. Provide an original example from your own life history of Operant Conditioning. Your example should provide enough specific detail to illustrate the concept.
  1. Explain how each of the five key terms listed below apply to your example. If a term does not apply to your example, explain why.
    • Positive Reinforcement
    • Punishment
    • Schedule of Reinforcement
    • Thorndike’s Law of Effect
    • Extinction

Your response should be at least one page (500 words) written in a clear, concise, and organized manner. Be sure to demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e. APA); and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. For help in citing sources, click on Academic Resources under Course Home.

Company Assessment

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Directions:

Conduct an interview with an employee (preferably a supervisor or manager) at your current job or a previous job. If you have no prior work experience, you may interview a family member or friend who is currently employed.  You have just been promoted to the manager of your department and have been asked to review the following:

  • Value of a team environment: Is the company operating with a team structure?  How effective is the team structure?  How could the company improve the effectiveness of the team environment?  If there is no team structure currently in place, how should one be implemented?
  • Job satisfaction of the employees: Are the employees satisfied or is there a lot of complaining, absenteeism, and turnover?  What could the company be doing to improve job satisfaction?
  • How does the company currently communicate with their employees regarding company changes?  Do they rely on technology for their announcements?  Is this an effective method of communication?
  • Efforts made to motivate your employees: What is being done to motivate the employees? Do employees get regular pay raises?   Is there a rewards program?  Are they being recognized for their accomplishments?  Name at least three things the company could be doing to motivate their employees.
  • Assistance offered in helping your employees to deal with stress management: Are the employees given any tools to deal with stress management?  Does the company have access to mental health counselors?  Are employees given permission to take any mental health days?  What could the company be doing to help employees deal with their employees’ stress?

Prepare a 4-6 page report that includes an overall assessment of how each of the above is currently being handled and how you would change the system.  Be sure to provide examples and be specific in your reasoning behind your suggested changes.  Utilize at least three scholarly resources in your report (one of which may be your text book). This report must include:

    • Executive Summary
    • Analyze and explain what is being done in the five areas described above (team, job satisfaction,  communication, motivation, and stress management) in the company.
    • Write recommendations for what they could be doing better in all five areas
    • Conclusion
    • Appendix: List of questions asked in interview

 

The paper must be well organized using headings and subheadings.

The written report must be in APA format, have proper punctuation and grammar, as well as free of typographical error.