Changes in treatment for individuals with psychological illness

Kaplan University:Psychology / Applied Behavior Analysis

PS499: Bachelors Capstone Course in Psychology

One original discussion post and two replies.

TUTOR INSTRUCTIONS:

   The student is required to answer the questions below to make a new discussion post, then make a reply comment to two other student’s posts. So, one new original post, and two reply comments (one comment about Student 1’s post, and one comment about Student 2’s post).

 

Requirements:

Original post 300-450 words. 2 references. APA format.

Reply comments 150-250 words

 

Discussion

The field of psychology has changed dramatically over time. As our knowledge has grown, treatment of individuals and groups has improved. Review your materials from previous classes and locate additional resources as necessary. Choose one aspect of the field in which there has been an improvement and discuss the change(s). Some areas to consider are:

  • Changes in what is considered a mental disorder
  • Changes in treatment for individuals with psychological illness
  • Changes in research practices
  • Changes in common educational or organizational practices

Next, answer the following question: In what way(s) can we still improve in this area?

 

 

Student 1’s (Tiffany) post:

There have been significant changes to the field of psychology over the years. One example of this is the field of Applied Behavior Analysis itself, this is a relatively new science in the field of psychology. However, across psychology as a whole, there have been large changes in the way in which assessments of clients is done. This characteristic of psychology is something that is constantly changing and improving throughout the course of time and of individual treatment. Using ABA as an example, there are four methods to obtaining information about clients, there is interviews, checklists, tests and direct observation (Cooper, 2014). However, each of these forms of assessments come with their own pro’s and con’s. This means that there is still much room for growth in the manner of how assessments are given to clients. The big con for most of these methods is the fact that there is a large possibility for bias. These assessments for the most part are based on the reporter’s thoughts and observations. There is not a lot of reliability in some assessments simply because there is a chance that 2 people observing the same client may see 2 completely different things. Take direct observation for example, 2 therapists are observing a client on the playground, they are watching for a particular behavior, let’s say hitting. One therapist may see the client hit the slide while the other observes it as trying to get a grasp as the client climbs up the slide. Another type of assessment is interviews, interviewing family and friends is a good way to get information, but do these individuals have their own agenda, maybe they see things from a different view point. So while I agree that assessments have developed over time, I also see that there is still room for developing better methods of assessment.

Reference

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2014). Applied behavior analysis. Edinburgh gate: Pearson educational international.

Thanks

Tiffany

 

Student 2’s (Kaitlin) post:

The field of psychology has indeed evolved throughout history. Research practices have changed over time to better protect the participants involved. A code of ethics have been developed in order to assure this. An example of this would be the subject referred to as “Little Albert”. Schultz (2012) reports that Watson conducted experimental studies with “Little Albert” when he was 8 months old. The purpose of these studies was to demonstrate Watson’s theory on conditioned emotional responses. Watson conditioned Albert to fear what was a previously neutral objects to him such as white rat, rabbit, and a santa clause mask. Watson did this by presenting these objects to Albert, and pairing it with the loud striking sound of a hammer coming down hard on a pipe. (Schultz, 2012)

Today, an experiment such as that would not be permitted to be conducted because the welfare of the child would be a concern.

This example of Watson’s experiment also touches on psychology evolving and the development of behaviorist as a science. Behaviorism influenced psychology to move in a more objective position focusing on observable and measurable behaviors. (Schultz, 2012)
According to Passer (2014), the code of ethics serves as a system of moral principles to provide guidelines for researchers. Passer (2014) further states that the APA Code of Ethics includes the following principles: Beneficence and no maleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, as well as respect for people’s rights and dignity.
We can continue to improve on this area by reflecting on oneself as well as professional peers in their research to ensure that the APA code of ethics are being followed and constantly assessing and evaluating thee experimental procedures and making sure that the overall welfare of the subjects is continuing to be held to the utmost importance.

Kaitlin Gallagher

References:

Passer, M. (05/2014). Research Methods, 1st Edition. [Kaplan]. Retrieved from https://kaplan.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781464198991/

Schultz, D. P. (2012). A History of Modern Psychology, 10th Edition. [Kaplan]. Retrieved from https://kaplan.vitalsource.com/#/books/1133173624/

What was Plato’s understanding of human nature?

Assignment 3: Greek Influences

When early Greek philosophers developed theories in the premodern period, they challenged many dominant assumptions of this period. Socrates and Plato were two of the most influential early philosophers who addressed the issue of the good life. For these two philosophers, the good life was an ethical life.

Socrates was famous for his statement “Know thyself.” Psychologists throughout history have echoed this. Plato had some revolutionary ideas on what it means to be human. He was responsible for bringing dualism into popular thought. This had a profound influence on religion, philosophy, and Western thought as a whole.

  • What implications does the statement “Know thyself” have, along with other ideas of Socrates and Plato, for the process of human change?
  • How is this related to achieving the good life?
  • How will this impact the evaluation of a person’s degree of living the good life?
  • What was Plato’s understanding of human nature?
  • How did dualism influence this understanding?

Be sure to support your conclusions with information drawn from the online content, the textbook, and other credible, scholarly sources to substantiate the points you are making. Apply APA standards to for writing and citations to your work.

Submit your response to the M1: Assignment 3 Dropbox by Wednesday, November 23, 2016. The paper should be 3-5 pages, double-spaced 12-point typescript, Times Roman font, with 1-inch margins all around, and free from grammatical errors. This page count includes the title page, text, and references. Name your assignment as follows:
LastName_FirstInitial_PSY450_M1A3FinalProj

Assignment 3 Grading Criteria 
Maximum Points
Stated the implications of the statement “Know thyself” along with other ideas of Socrates and Plato for the human change process.
16
Stated how this statement is related to achieving the good life.
16
Stated how this statement impacts the evaluation of a person’s degree of living the good life.
16
Discussed Plato’s understanding of human nature.
16
Analyzed how dualism influenced Plato’s understanding of human nature.
16
Used APA standards.
20
Total:
100

Define Nuclear family and elaborate on how it became the norm.

1. Define Nuclear family and elaborate on how it became the norm. Is this still the traditional family form in the United States? If not, what other forms of ‘family’ have emerged and what are the social causes for their emergence?

2. Discuss the main findings from research on the Chore Wars —the gendered division of household labor—as studied by Hochschild (1989, 2003) and Zelizer (2005), in detail.

3. Discuss and analyze 3 of the main reasons surrounding the increase in number of single mothers in the United States.

4. Describe the ways new reproductive technologies are changing families. Do you think the changes in the family structure have a major influence on our society, its social institutions, its structure, & composition? What would be some of the consequences of one such major change?

(For this question, keep your answer focused on how the structure of ‘family’ as a social unit is changing because of improvements in reproductive technologies. This is not same as last week’s discussion on the positives and/or moral concerns surrounding the technology.)

 

Assignment 1:The Sociological Viewpoint Toward Social Problems

Assignment 1: the sociological viewpoint toward social problems (Due Week 3)

Overview

One of the most crucial components to this course concerns addressing social problems in society from a sociological viewpoint as opposed to a strictly policy-oriented, psychological, or criminal justice viewpoint. Although many different viewpoints in social science are valid and have a lot of importance, it is equally important for us to understand how sociology looks at the nature of social problems in society today. This paper will enable us to explore why certain social problems seem to be regarded as more significant than others. Our job will be in defining the sociological viewpoint, and choosing one social problem that we think is of high importance. We will build upon the topic we choose in this paper for our second and third writing assignments.

Instructions

Construct a 2-4 page paper that fully explores each of the following areas:

1)    Citing our textbook material, explain how the sociological approach toward social problems differs from other approaches. Why are certain problems considered significant and others are not?

2)    Next, choose one social problem that exists in society that you think is particularly serious, and explain it in sociological terms. This social problem should be measurable in some statistical way. (Is it increasing, and if so, how? Among which groups of people, and for how long, etc.?)

3)    What might be one important way in which the social problem is currently being addressed in society?

4)    Please define and identify at least four concepts from our text relevant to your chosen social problem.

5)    Analyze the way in which these concepts help us better understand the nature of the social problem you are discussing.

Don’t forget to include proper APA-style citation and reference.

 

The paper should be typed, double-spaced, 1” margins, arial or times new roman 11 pt font, and saved as .doc, .rtf or .pdf in the format: lastname_SOCI212_HW1.doc

DISCLAIMER: Originality of attachments will be verified by Turnitin. Both you and your instructor will receive the results.

 

Leon-Guerrero, A.  (2015).  Social Problems, 5th edition.  Los Angeles: Sage

Publications, Inc.   (book)