PS-365 Applied Behavioral Analysis II
04/09/2013
Case Study Assignment
Anxiety is define as a “vague uneasy feeling of discomfort or dread accompanied by an automatic response; the source is often nonspecific or unknown to the individual; a feeling of apprehension caused by anticipation of danger, it is a potential signal that warning of impending danger and enables the individual to take measures to deal with treat” (Taber’s, 1997). Anxiety disorders are classified as disorders such as panic disorders, agoraphobias, phobias, extreme avoidance of feared objects associated to distress or impairments. B. F. Skinner (1974) talking about this conditions state “It is often said that there is an intrapsychic life of the mind, totally independent of the physical world, in which memories evoke memories, ideas suggest ideas, and so on. Here are few examples of the intrapsychic life of motivation and emotion: Feelings of frustration produce a sense of powerlessness, or impotence, which in turn leads to apathy or to feelings of aggression.” In another words phobias are a product of anxiety in which are also a product of traumatic experiences that happen in many cases when where children. In the past twenty years Applied Behavioral Analysis is the science of human behavior and is best definition was given in 1968 by Baer, Wolf, & Risley: “Applied Behavior Analysis is the process of systematically applying interventions based upon the principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree, and to demonstrate that the interventions employed are responsible for the improvement in behavior.
Using this process I would identify and answer question related to the case study assign for this week. In case number one we have Marla 24-year-old woman who recently graduated from college and began a new job at an advertising firm. She suffers from extreme fear of social situations. In college, she avoided parties
References: Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R., (1968). Some Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis Donohue, T. O., & Fisher, J., (2009). General Principles and Empirically Supported Techniques Of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L., (2007) Applied Behavior Analysis Merrill, Prentice Hall Edelson, S. M., Ph.D. (2013). Self-Stimulatory Behavior Autism Research Institute http://www.autism.com/index/php/symptoms_self-stim Heward, W. L., (2013). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education 10th Edition Miltenberger, R Shabani, D. B., & Fisher, W. W., (2006). Stimulus Fading and Differential Reinforcement For the Treatment of Needle Phobias in Youth with Autism Taber’s Cycopedic Medical Dictionary (1997). Anxiety Definition AllPsych Online (2013)