Assignment Details

Complete this week’s Learning Activity to prepare for the Assignment.

PS360-2: Explain how the principles of applied behavior analysis are applied when modifying target behaviors.

GEL1.02: Demonstrate college-level communication through the composition of original materials in Standard English.

For this week’s assignment, you will write a 4-5 page narrative essay to present to a group of undergraduate students prior to their graduation (note for this assignment you will only write the essay. There is no actual presentation component).

You are playing the role of a behavior analyst who has been working in the field for 25 years. You have been asked to speak to college students who will be graduating with their Bachelor’s in Psychology in Applied Behavior Analysis in less than a month. You want your message to be meaningful to these students and you want to engender pride in the work done by behavior analysts and inspire these students to obtain their Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) certifications. You want to establish your credibility as a speaker for the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) by presenting some background information about your education and expertise in the field, as well as a brief overview of the science of ABA.

You believe that describing a day in the life of a behavior analyst might be the best way to get your message across. Sharing an early experience you had speaking to a group of foster parents will be an effective approach. You recount an experience you had speaking to a group of new foster parents who had many questions about behaviors being demonstrated by their new foster children.

Listen to the parent questions from three different parents during that discussion.

• Parent#1(transcripts)
• Parent#2 (transcripts)
• Parent#3 (transcripts)

Write a 4-5 page narrative essay in which you include the following:

• Introduce yourself and establish yourself as a credible representative by presenting some background information about your education and expertise in the field, as well as a brief overview of the science of ABA.
• Include each parent’s question and provide your recommendations for modifying the behaviors.
• Include explanations of the contingencies at work maintaining the target behaviors, i.e., reinforcement, punishment, and motivating operations, and possible approaches to modify the behaviors of concern (brief behavior modification approaches).
• Discuss mock future communications you received from each of these three parents regarding the successes they encountered when implementing your suggestions.
• Conclude with a paragraph that leaves your audience with an inspiring thought or quotation that reflects your joy in making a difference in the lives of those who are struggling.

Directions:

Your Assignment should be a 4-5 page narrative essay, not including the Title and Reference pages, and should include the following elements:

• Title page should be in APA Style.
• Body: Answer the questions in complete sentences and paragraphs
  • The assignment must be written in Standard English and demonstrate superior organization, including a highly developed viewpoint and purpose. The communication of your thoughts must be highly ordered, logical, and unified, displaying exceptional content, organization, style, and mechanics (including the use of correct grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure).
• Reference Page should be in APA Style.
• Use Arial or Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced
• Use 6th Edition APA Formatting and Citation style