Case Study Analysis

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The first step in understanding the behaviors that are associated with mental disorders is to be able to differentiate the potential symptoms of a mental disorder from the everyday fluctuations or behaviors that we observe. Read the following brief case histories.

Case Study 1:

Bob is a very intelligent, 25-year-old member of a religious organization based on Buddhism. Bob’s working for this organization has caused considerable conflict between him and his parents, who are devout Baptists. Recently, Bob has experienced acute spells of nausea and fatigue that have prevented him from working and have forced him to return home to live with his parents. Various medical tests are being conducted, but as yet, no physical causes for his problems have been found.

Case Study 2:

Mary is a 30-year-old musician who is very dedicated and successful in her work as a teacher in a local high school and as a part-time member of local musical groups. Since her marriage five years ago, which ended in divorce after six months, she has dated very few men. She often worries about her time running out for establishing a good relationship with a man, getting married, and raising a family. Her friends tell her she gets way too anxious around men, and, in general, she needs to relax a little.

Case Study 3:

Jim was vice-president of the freshmen class at a local college and played on the school’s football team. Later that year, he dropped out of these activities and gradually became more and more withdrawn from friends and family. Neglecting to shave and shower, he began to look dirty and unhealthy. He spent most of his time alone in his room and sometimes complained to his parents that he heard voices in the curtains and in the closet. In his sophomore year, he dropped out of school entirely. With increasing anxiety and agitation, he began to worry that the Nazis were plotting to kill his family and kidnap him.

Case Study 4:

Larry, a 37-year-old gay man, has lived for three years with his partner, whom he met in graduate school. Larry works as a psychologist in a large hospital. Although competent in his work, he often feels strained by the pressures of his demanding position. An added source of tension on the job is his not being out with his co-workers, and, thus, he is not able to confide in anyone or talk about his private life. Most of his leisure activities are with good friends who are also part of the local gay community.

  1. For each case, identify the individual’s behaviors that seem to be problematic for the individual.
  2. For each case study, explain from the biological, psychological, or socio-cultural perspective your decision-making process for identifying the behaviors that may or may not have been associated with the symptoms of a mental disorder.
  3. Based on your course and text readings, provide an explanation why you would consider some of these cases to exhibit behaviors that may be associated with problems that occur in everyday life, while others could be associated with symptoms of a mental disorder.

***Do not attempt to label or diagnose the mental disorder there is not enough information in the case study. Just look at the behaviors presented.Submit your rating in a Microsoft Word document.7th edition APA. ***NO PLAGIARISM

Behaviorism And Social Cognitive Theories

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Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read and view the following required sources:

  • The importance of a deeper knowledge of the history and theoretical foundations of behavior analysis: 1863–1960
  • The Importance of a Deeper Knowledge of the History and Theoretical Foundations of Behaviorism and Behavior Therapy: Part 2—1960–1985
  • John B. Watson – The Father of Behaviourism
  • Bandura’s Social Cognitive theory: An Introduction

In your initial post, include the following:

  • Summarize the foundational approaches of behavior analysis (previously known as behaviorism) and social cognitive (previously known as social learning) theory (SCT) and the early theorists associated with Be sure to note the drastic differences between behaviorist theories versus cognitivist theories.
  • Describe how the two theories might be utilized in practice in the career path that interests you.
    • If you are not pursuing a career field, how might it apply to your daily personal interactions?
  • Evaluate the cultural considerations that should be considered when applying these theories in research today?
    • Example: Social cognitive theory suggests modeling and efficacy as key variables that determine behavior. How might culture affect how we analyze these variables? How could self-bias affect our research findings if not considered?

Your initial post should be a minimum of 500 words.

The Importance of a Deeper Knowledge of the History and Theoretical Foundations of Behavior Analysis: 1863–1960

John M. Guercio Benchmark Human Services, St. Louis, Missouri

The present article argues for the greater examination of the importance of studying the historical foundations of the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA). The increased volume of students in the behavior analysis field over the last 10 years underscores the need to emphasize the historical, scientific, and philosophical foundations that have made the field so strong. The philosophy of science of behaviorism and ABA was linked to several disciplines initially, and evolved into a role in the field of psychology. A detailed justification for the study of the history and philosophy of a science of behavior is presented and will flow into the earliest origins of behaviorism and the maturation of the field. Current financial contin- gencies have resulted in the misperception that the ABA field is primarily targeted at behavioral challenges related to the mitigation of autism spectrum disorder. As a consequence, there has been a departure from the philosophical and conceptual aspects of behavior analysis. A departure from the philosophical and scientific underpinnings of the field can prove problematic in the long run. This article will detail the contributions of the pioneers in the field, and end at the beginning of the second generation of behavior therapy in the early 1960s. Discussion of the foundations of behavior analysis will help new practitioners and students of behavior analysis to better appreciate the intellectual depth of the field.

Keywords: history of behavior analysis, theory, behavior analysis graduate training, philosophy of science, behaviorism

The field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) has significantly grown in the last 10 years (Guercio & Murray, 2014). Some recent reports on the proliferation of new students into the field shows that there were 7,419 certified be- havior analysts documented in 2011. This num- ber increased to over 14,000 by the year 2014 (see www.BACB.com). The drastic increases in the demand for behavioral services has led to significant growth in board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) course sequence curriculum that provides the requisite training for the pro- fession (Dixon, Reed, Smith, Belisle, & Jack- son, 2015).

There are presently over 200 colleges and universities across the world that offer course

sequences that are approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB). The sheer volume of these programs should compel us to institute some manner of quality control and rigor related to the material that is presented (Dixon et al., 2015). There has been a recent call in the field to develop some type of metric for evaluating ABA training programs. Dixon and colleagues (2015) detail the process of pro- gram accreditation that the Association for Be- havior Analysis International (ABAI) has had in place since 1974. This process takes into ac- count the accreditation procedure that is used by ABAI that takes into consideration a number of factors including; curriculum, graduate employ- ment rates, faculty curriculum vitae, and student progress (Dixon et al., 2015). All of these are important aspects of a well-grounded discipline based in the philosophy of science and the de- velopment of a science of human behavior that Skinner envisioned (Skinner, 1938, 1954). There is a danger that our pedagogical standards and instructional content will change due to the

Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- dressed to John M. Guercio, Clinical Services – Behavior Analysis & Therapy, Benchmark Human Services, 1215 Fern Ridge Parkway #204, St. Louis, Missouri 63141. E-mail: johnmguercio@gmail.com

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Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice © 2018 American Psychological Association 2018, Vol. 18, No. 1, 4 –15 2372-9414/18/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bar0000123

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http://www.BACB.com
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bar0000123

 

increasing volume of students and market driven force. It is unfortunate that many practi- tioners in behavior analysis today are pigeon holed, so to speak, into having expertise primar- ily in the assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Behavior analysis is so much more than that. Though this is an important realm of what we do, it is not all that we do, nor have done. The clear and present danger that is present is a market-driven curric- ulum based on a narrow focus on ASD. Rather than an ASD curriculum, applied behavior anal- ysis (ABA) programs would be better served by a curriculum that is as rigorous as possible by incorporating courses in the philosophy of a science of behavior and essential readings in behavior analysis. Students should be well versed in the diversity of applications of ABA and behavior therapy. All undergraduate psy- chology programs have history courses that ori- ent students to the schools of thought from its inception to contemporary 21st century intellec- tual foundations and theories inherent to the field. A narrow focused, market-driven training sequence limits the extent to which behavior analysis will have an impact on society at all levels. The study of the history and philosoph- ical foundations of behavior analysis are crucial to the training program of any behavior analyst. The interventions that we presently use in prac- tice are built from the history of our science and we would be remiss to neglect them. A shift does appear to be occurring with respect to how we train behavior analysts in our academic set- tings. The course sequences approved by the BACB for graduate programs in ABA will have new requirements that focus on the philosophy of science and the historical foundations of the field of behavior analysis.

The BACB published its new fifth edition of coursework requirements in April of 2017 that will be implemented in 2022. Significant additions have been made to the content area of principles and concepts. Within these re- quirements there have been additions made to the preexisting content area of concepts and principles of behavior analysis. This content area currently requires approved course se- quences to contain 45 hr of instruction that falls within this content area. Such a move emphasizes the increasing importance of training in the philosophy of science of be-

havior analysis. Such a focus brings with it an historical context.

Importance of the History of Behavior Analysis

Why study history? The American Psycho- logical Association (APA) has described a com- pelling set of reasons to study history with re- spect to specific scientific disciplines (see www .apa.org/monitor/2010/02/history.aspx). The area of learning and conditioning, that is, be- havior analysis remains a sub discipline of psy- chology, for example, Division 25 of the APA. For that reason alone, the history of behavior analysis should have closer scrutiny in graduate training programs.

Benefit to the Discipline of Behavior Analysis

Study of the history of behavior analysis is a pertinent field of study and relevant to the fur- ther evolution of behavior analysis training pro- grams. Studying the history will illuminate the evolution of the science of behavior. The his- tory of the field should illuminate those study- ing it as to the reasons that the conventional methods used in psychology were not effective and that and an alternative approach was nec- essary. The conceptualization of “mental disor- ders” occurring as a function of environmental variables was an important transition and radi- cal departure from the mentalistic conceptions of psychological disorders and how they should be treated. One of the most pertinent reasons for the study of the history of the behavior analysis is the prevalence in the field of focusing on subject matter that is represented in the BACB exam as opposed to delving deeply into the work of the early contributors in the field. Be- havior analysis as a field was made possible through the pursuit of a science of behavior as opposed to an amalgam of poorly defined con- structs that were not amenable to accurate mea- surement. John B. Watson (1924) proposed his viewpoint on the basis of these early tenets of the behavioral revolution, stating that “Psychol- ogy as the behaviorist views it is a purely ob- jective, experimental branch of natural science” (p. 158).

The evolution of the behavior therapies is one with a rich and variegated history that, as be-

5THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY

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Psychological Responses To Societal Challenges

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Assessment Task 2: Case study

3000 words.

(Please study carefully the instructions provided in the assessment brief below before attempting the assignment)

 

Limit: 3000 words -References not included in the word count

 

Pick one of the cases in the guidance below and devise a social psychology intervention to address the issue presented.

 

Assignment Guidelines:

 

1.1. You need to pick one of the cases below and devise an intervention to address this using social psychology principles and research to help you. The cases are as follows:

 

1) You have been asked by the manager of a local nursing home to find ways to improve the quality of life for the community of long-term residents in this home. She has heard that increasing group cohesion can help to improve well-being and quality of life and would like to hear some suggestions as to how this might be implemented. Your task is to plan an intervention which will improve the quality of the community, to justify your plan with reference to research and to indicate what well-being/quality of life benefits will result from a stronger community.

 

2) You have been asked by the management of a residential refugee centre to help improve the situation for those coming into the centre following a recent wave of migration from a neighbouring country. The management have noticed tension between the existing refugee residents and the incoming residents and need to find ways of defusing this tension. Your task is to plan an intervention which will improve the relations between the two groups, to justify your plan with reference to research and to explain how to maintain good intergroup relations once the intervention period is over.

 

3) You are assisting a local community who have recently been displaced following an environmental disaster. Community leaders have noticed an increase in mental health issues, a decrease in general well-being and a disruption in community cohesion following this displacement. Your task is to plan an intervention which will help to bring the community back together and help them to cope and move forward from this difficult situation. You should justify your plan with reference to research on social, environmental and health psychology (if appropriate).

 

This assessment is a case study assignment which means that we are looking for you to develop a plan which relates to the case under consideration and support it with reference to appropriate academic literature. You need therefore to take research which has been applied to other contexts and generalise it to this new one. You also need to predict what the outcomes will be and how you will both ensure and measure success.

 

Each case is quite general and so there is scope for you to place each in context, according to your own experience and interest. For example, you could specify the age range and health issues of the residents in case 1, decide on which refugee groups are in conflict in case 2 or decide what type of disaster and what size community in case 3. If you are planning to do this, you need to ensure that you do not contradict the information given. Additionally, you will need to justify these choices and will need to ensure that your argument and research can be applicable to this more specific context.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.2. Key Points Required for this Assessment

 

Key Point 1: Clarity & Consistency

A clear and consistent argument needs to be maintained throughout this assignment. It should be evident to the reader how the different points link to your recommendations and how the evidence clearly supports the recommendations. You also have a certain amount of freedom about how you present your assignment; better answers will use a format that allows for the clearest and most persuasive account of your argument to your audience.

 
Key Point 2: Awareness of Your Audience

As this is a case study, all assignment titles have a “practice” element to them. However, they also have an intended audience (e.g. the nursing home manager, the residents, the centre management, the two refugee groups, the community leaders, the displaced community members). You need to consider who the audience is, what their expectations are and how your answer addresses those expectations. Better answers will link to these potential expectations in the recommendations, evidence or structure of the answer.

 
Key Point 3: Critical Evaluation

As well as presenting a coherent argument, your assignment should include some analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the research evidence which links to this. Better answers will also resolve contradictions in the research evidence and present a clear synthesis based on valid information.
Key Point 4: Originality

As this is a Level 7 assignment, your essay should show an original or novel contribution to knowledge. This can be through suggesting a better way to apply an approach to a problem, generating some points of critical evaluation that have not been presented by others or combining research/ideas in a novel way. Better answers will suggest ways that these original conclusions could be tested/verified by further investigation.
Key Point 5: Use of Evidence

It is important that you are using evidence which is from appropriate sources – with a strong balance towards peer reviewed journal articles. You need to present both theory and empirical research. All research must be relevant to support your argument but better answers will include research which is more current or contemporary to support the points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.3 Assessment Structure

As this is a 3000-word assignment, we would suggest the following split of content:

 

· Introduction and analysis of the problem – 300 words

· Explanation of the intervention/plan; including details/elements and Implementation – 600 words

· Justification of the elements of the plan from literature – 1400 words

· Any practical or ethical issues associated with your plan and how you intend to address them – 300 words

· How you will measure/assess success – 200 words

· Conclusion – 200 words

 

Suggested Reading

Concise/Indicative Reading List
Books:

Ellemers N., Spears R. and Doosje B. (1999). Social Identity. Oxford: Blackwell

 

Harre, N. (2012). Psychology for a Better World: Strategies to Inspire Sustainability. University of Auckland

 

Haslam, C., Jetten, J., Cruwys, T., Dingle, G. & Haslam, S.A. (2018) The New Psychology of Health. Unlocking the Social Cure. Routledge, New York.

 

Hogg, M. A. & Vaughan, G. M. ()

 

Jetten, J., Haslam, C. & Haslam, S.A. (2011) The Social Cure: Identity, Health and Well-Being. Psychology Press: Hove.

 

Steg, L., van den Berg, A.E. & de Groot, J.I. (2012). Environmental Psychology: An Introduction. BPS Blackwell

 

 

 
Journals:

British Journal of Social Psychology

European Journal of Social Psychology

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Journal of Social Issues

 

Learning Outcomes to be assessed

1. Critically reflect on the role of social psychology in facilitating individual responses to societal challenges

2. Critically appraise the efficacy of social psychological interventions to address societal and individual issues.

Grading Criteria:

 

CRITERIA MARKS AWARDED
 

Introduction (10%)

 

· Demonstrate that the problem at hand is actually a problem.

· You will need to demonstrate this using statistics or research as evidence. In some cases these might come from academic papers, in other cases they might come from other sources (e.g. government reports, information from charities, items from the news).

 

  

 

 

 

 

/10
 

Explanation of the intervention/plan (20%)

 

· Although you won’t actually get the chance to carry out your intervention, you will need to maintain some grip on reality here!

· Make sure that you consider the practical implications of your interventions.

· Make sure that you suggest clear guidelines for how things will practically work. This will differ for different projects; some people will need to include more discussion here than others; what is key is that the marker can discern exactly what you want people to do from the information that you include and that this is practical and achievable.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

/20

 
Literature review (45%)

 

· Demonstrate that you have read more widely than just the papers supplied and that that this reading is relevant to the topic. Better assignments will include more evidence of independent literature searching to locate the most suitable supporting evidence.

 

· As well as simply reading extensively around the area, you’ll need to synthesise the information effectively to demonstrate the current understanding in the field. This will include outlining current perspectives and interventions within social psychology but also considering other relevant perspectives and interventions. It would be useful to consider examples where interventions have been successful (and why) as well as instances where interventions have not been successful (and why).

 

· Think of this as an essay where you are arguing towards your own intervention – use it as a way of presenting the rationale for your idea.

 

· You will need to demonstrate that you can take the theory and/or research findings and link them successfully to your intervention/plan. What we are looking for here is for you to argue strongly, using evidence effectively to bolster the points that you are making.

 

· For example, if you present a specific idea, you should then present evidence to back up that idea. If you are presenting a number of different ideas, you should organise these logically so that the reader can follow what you are saying.

 

· Better assignments will show your reader that you understand the difference between opposing perspectives/different topics. Additionally they will demonstrate that you understand how similar perspectives and topics fit together.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/45
 

Ethical/practical considerations and measurement (10%)

 

· You need to briefly consider assessing the efficacy of your intervention/plan. What measures/apparatus are you going to use and why have you selected those?

 

· You also need to consider the ethical issues here. Think about how your plan fits in with the BPS ethics guidelines for instance. If you have any aspects of your plan that are ethically difficult, how will you deal with them?

 

  

 

 

 

 

/10
 

Conclusion (10%)

 

· Well developed

· Follow the line of argument within the overall piece of writing and have a basis in critical evaluation of the literature.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

/10
References – Presentation (5%)

 

· Correct use of grammar, punctuation and spelling

· Appropriate writing style (use of “third” person)

· References reported accurately in essay text

· References reported accurately in attached ‘References’ section

 

  

 

 

 

/5

 

Students should recognise that the marking criteria are weighted to indicate its importance in relation to the information required.

NB: these subsections should only be used as guidance towards marking and content. This is an academic essay and subsections should not be used within the main body of work.

Assignment: Testing For One-Way ANOVA

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Please read and follow ass

6210 Week 7 Assignment: How To Complete The Week 7 Assignment

 

Review the Week 7 Course Materials

 

Use only the dataset for this assignment.

 

A one–way ANOVA is only a series of t-tests that SPSS runs simultaneously to provide both speed and statistical power to a statistical analysis. For example, if you want to know if there is a difference in a dependent variable based on an independent variable, do the following:

 

Open the AB data set, select Analyze, select one-way ANOVA, drag an interval or ratio variable into the Dependent List box, drag a nominal variable with at least 3 levels into the Factor box, select Post Hoc, select an appropriate Post Hoc test from the Equal Variances Assumed box, click Continue, click OK.

 

Review the Sig. value in the Between Groups row in the SPSS Output under ANOVA and decide to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis.

 

If you reject the null and determine that the ANOVA is statistically significant, review the Multiple Comparisons Output below the ANOVA Output.** This Output compares each level of the IV to every other level of the IV and tells us if the comparison is statistically significant.

 

If your IV has 4 levels like School Geographic Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) there are 6 comparisons that we are interested in reviewing, Northeast/Midwest, Northeast/South, Northeast/West, Midwest/South, Midwest/ West, and South/West. Observe that South/West is the same as West/South, etc.

 

**Note: If you fail to reject the null and find that the ANOVA is not statistically significant, then there is no need to review Multiple Comparisons… …so don’t.

 

For this assignment, follow this outline and use each point as a header:

1. Identify the dependent variable (DV) and its Level of Measurement. The DV must be interval or ratio.

2. Identify the independent variable (IV) and its Level of Measurement. The IV must be nominal and it must have 3 or more levels). School Geographic Region is a good choice for the IV.

3. Write a research question (RQ)** that can be addressed by a one-way ANOVA. Use this format:

Is there a difference in the DV based on the IV?

**Note: a question is an interrogative sentence that ends with a question mark. Keep your RQ simple and concise.

4. Write a null hypothesis for your question. Use this format:

There is no difference in (insert DV) based on (insert IV).

5. State the research design that aligns with the RQ.

6. Run the one-way ANOVA in SPSS and provide the Output and the following analysis:

-Decide if the ANOVA is statistically significant and decide to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis based on the significance finding.

-If the ANOVA is significant, discuss the post hoc test comparisons in terms of statistical significance. If the ANOVA is not significant the post hoc comparisons are meaningless; do not discuss them… …just don’t.

-If the ANOVA is significant, calculate the effect size.** For a one-way ANOVA effect size is measured by = eta-squared. Calculate eta-squared this way:

Go to the ANOVA Output.

Go to the Between Groups row and select the value in the Sum of Squares column.

Go to the Total row and select the value in the Sum of Squares column.

Divide the Between Groups Sum of Squares by the Total Sum of Squares. The result of this division is eta-squared and it must have a value between 0 and 1.

-Explain the meaning of effect size.

-Decide if the effect is small, medium, or large.

**If the ANOVA is not significant, the effect size is meaningless… …so don’t calculate it… …just don’t.

7. Discuss social change.

ignment instructions carefully.

You had the chance earlier in the week to perform an article critique on ANOVA testing and obtain peer feedback. Now it is time to put all of that good practice to use and answer a social research question with the one-way ANOVA. As you head into the assignment, be sure and pay close attention to the assumptions of the test. Specifically, make sure the dependent and independent variables (factor) are amenable to use in the ANOVA (i.e., be sure to note levels of measurement).

For this Assignment, you will examine the one-way ANOVA based on a research question.

To prepare for this Assignment:

  • Review this week’s Learning Resources and media program related to one-way ANOVA testing.
  • Using the SPSS software, open the Afrobarometer dataset or the High School Longitudinal Study dataset (whichever you choose) found in the Learning Resources for this week.
  • Based on the dataset you chose, construct a research question that can be answered with a one-way ANOVA.
  • Once you perform your one-way ANOVA analysis, review Chapter 11 of the Wagner text to understand how to copy and paste your output into your Word document.

For this Assignment:

Write a 2- to 3-paragraph analysis of your one-way ANOVA results for your research question. If you are using the Afrobarometer Dataset, report the mean of Q1 (Age). If you are using the HS Long Survey Dataset, report the mean of X1SES. Do not forget to evaluate if the assumptions of the test are met. Include any post-hoc tests with an analysis of the strength of any relationship found (effect size). Also, in your analysis, display the data for the output. Based on your results, provide an explanation of what the implications of social change might be.

Use proper APA format, citations, and referencing for your analysis, research question, and display of o