PSY310 Behavior plan - Identify the target behavior of interest

Behavior plan

PSY310

Overview:

Reflect back on what you have learned in this class about the learning theories of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. For this assignment, you will have an opportunity to apply what you have learned to create a “behavior plan” to mediate behavior change. You will develop a plan to decrease an undesirable behavior, and increase a desirable behavior. Review the Appendix in your textbook (pp. 537-543) to help develop your thinking for this project.

Instructions:

First, create a one-paragraph “case study” of an individual who displays an undesirable behavior (see sample).

Then answer the following questions using appropriate conditioning terminology:

Identify the target behavior of interest.

Discuss how you would operationalize the behavior and measure its occurrence.

Identify the circumstances under which the behavior typically occurs.

Discuss how you think the behavior “came to be,” based on the most relevant theory of conditioning.

Identify a common stimulus for this behavior.

Identify a common consequence of this behavior.

Identify how you would attempt to change the behavior using conditioning principles (behavior plan).

Identify how you would reduce the undesirable behavior.

Identify how you would increase a substitute desirable behavior.

Discuss how you would follow up to determine whether or not your behavior plan was effective.

Requirements:

Support the efficacy of your behavior modification plan by citing and referencing at least three (3) scholarly sources. One of these sources may be your textbook.

This paper should be a minimum of three (3) pages in length. The page requirement does not include the title and reference pages.

Writing should be in paragraph form, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.

CASE STUDY NINETEEN: ANGELINE

Case Study Covers:

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Transition Setting

Angeline program. is She a 19-year-old is receiving student services in her under district’s the Autism 18-22 Spectrum transition Disorder category, but she has also had diagnosis of intellectual disabil ity and emotional disturbance as well. Angeline’s parents are divorced and she lives with her father and her 17-year-old brother, who is a junior in high school. Angeline spent most of her academic career in special day classes that served only students with disabilities, and she rarely interacted with peers without disabilities. Angeline’s academic skills are fair at best and she received little vocational instruction during her K-12 schooling. Now that she is in the transition program, the focus is on her obtaining job experience (she has not previously worked) and then having a job that she will keep after she leaves the transition pro gram and is supported by an adult service agency.

Angeline has a limited range of interests (anime, Star Wars, Italian cooking, and the singer Adele), though her knowledge of these inter ests is very detailed. She is not interested in other topics and when presented with tasks to do (her behavior is consistent both at school and at home), she will do the bare minimum, do a very poor job as quickly as possible, or refuse to do the task at all. If she refuses and is pressed to do the task, she will start saying “no way” over and over and she will start destroying the materials, or throwing them at the wall if destruction is not possible. Then, if the request continues, as a final es calation she will start throwing things at the person making the request.

In her transition program, Angeline has had two opportunities for job shadowing job tryouts, and situational assessments in an office and

310 | Case Studies in Applied Behavior Analysis for Students and Adults with Disabilities

a retail store. Neither of these worked well at all, and the staff had to abort each situation after a short time period when Angeline quickly started having undesirable behaviors. The school staff is pretty frus trated with Angeline, as these are longstanding places where they rotate students through for initial assessment purposes, and it is very rare for students to have behavioral issues in these sites. The employers are not pleased, and the school staff was embarrassed by Angeline’s undesirable behaviors. The school staff is not sure if Angeline is capa ble of holding a real job, and that maybe a day program would be a better placement for her so that she can work on controlling her unde sirable behaviors. In addition, many of her friends that she knows from school are at the day program, so she would be around people similar to herself, and the staff feel they would likely be more understanding of her quirky behaviors.