Marla's Case Study Target Behavior

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Target behavior in Marla’s case The target behavior is Marla’s case is an extreme fear of social situations which hinders her from engaging in social situations. Describe how respondent conditioning and operant conditioning are involved in the development of an anxiety problem or fear. According to Matthew D. Jacofsky, Psy.D., Melanie T. Santos, Psy.D., Sony Khemlani-Patel, Ph.D. & Fugen Neziroglu, Ph.D. of the Bio Behavioral Institute, edited by C.E. Zupanick, Psy.D. and Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. B.F. Skinner made the discovery of operant conditioning which paved way for the assessment of what influenced behavior through analyzing the classical conditioning and what acts followed as a result. Skinner assumed that human behavior could be explained …show more content…

Determine whether Jon’s target behavior is a behavior excess or behavior deficit. Think of the risks of not intervening in Jon’s case and respond to the following: Jon’s behavior is considered a behavioral excess problem as it occurs too often. Sadly however, instances of inactivity can be too much in a day for a child of his age thus meaning if inactivity is the problem then Jon is facing a challenge at his age. What are the short-term risks to Jon (in the next 3 months)? In the short term, Jon can begin to use the hair pulling as an excuse to keep to his own self, whether he is angry, sad or otherwise. For a six-year-old, it becomes a habit they take in too quickly and adapt to it and thus if left unmonitored carries on for a long period of time and becomes detrimental in the long-term. What are the long-term risks to Jon (in the next 6–12 …show more content…

The awareness training creates awareness and improves on self- control whereby Jon will be taught how to curtail the urge to pull out hair (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). Awareness training can be achieved through having Jon look at himself in the mirror and making a detailed description of himself before during and after he engages in the act of hair pulling. In this way Jon will be aware of what he does enough to see the implications of it (Friman, 2010). In the creation of awareness, the therapist makes the problem aware to his/her client each time they feel the urge to pull out hair and actually proceed to do so (Gupta, & Gargi,