PSYB38 Case Study
Select a case study from the list below. Read carefully and craft your response as a formal report in a maximum of 2 pages (12-point font, TNR, 1.5 line spacing).
Perform a functional assessment based on the information provided and 2) propose an intervention to change the behaviour. 3) Explain how you would conduct an experiment to test your intervention and what the results would indicate.
Define and identify the target behaviour, the antecedents, behaviour, and consequences of the current situation. What behavioural modification principal is maintaining this behaviour (e.g.. operant, respondent, both)? What cues are currently in place? How would you propose to change this behaviour using what we have learned in this course? How would you test your intervention? How would you assess if it worked or not?
You will be graded on the following criteria:
Functional assessment -20%
Accuracy-Target behaviour identified, ABCs identified, clear link to modification principles.
Depth- Nuances and subtleties identified and considered.
Intervention – 20%
Accuracy-Intervention clearly addresses issues identified in functional assessment. Clear justification for why this intervention was chosen.
Research, creativity and plausibility- Intervention is well thought out and plausible given the scenario’s context. Intervention is clearly aligned with principles of behaviour modification and has evidence to support it.
Experiment – 50%
Accuracy – Proposed experiment is of scientifically sound design. Conclusions drawn from the results would be meaningful.
Measures- measures are clearly stated and included in experiment design.
Interpretation- Experiment interpretation is clear and assessment of its results are justified.
Writing and Grammar -10%
Writing is clear, formal and concise. Report contains no grammar or spelling errors.
Case: Child under care
A child (TJ) lives in a group home for children with developmental disorders. There is a 24 hour staff (4 at a time) that help and care for the children. TJ is nonverbal, meaning he does not speak but occasionally grunts or mumbles to get his point across or signal that he wants something or is upset. TJ exhibits self-injurious behaviour (SIB) several hundred times a day. He does this by banging his fist on his thigh. It can get so bad that his bruises have turned to a deep callus. The staff has tried many approaches to get JH to stop but the behaviour continues. They have brought you in to help to see if you can suggest an intervention that may help. You observe the staff and JH for a day. You notice the only times when TJ is not exhibiting at least some SIB is when he is playing with his iPad, eating, or sleeping. The SIB usually begins relatively soft in intensity, and progressively gets harder and harder until one of the staff intervene to stop him. One staff member ignored him while he was exhibiting SIB and TJ’s response was to slowly walk closer and closer to the staff member and hit his leg harder and harder.