Essay Items

Use the information in the following scenario for Items 93 and 94.

Russell is a fourth grader, and it is early in the school year.  He is a bit above average according to intelligence tests.  His teacher has math from 9:30–10:30 each morning.  One day she gave the class a math test, and unfortunately Russell did very poorly on it.  He was devastated, choking back tears when he saw the score.

Russell was determined to try harder for the second test.  However, when the time came to take it, he woke up that morning with a pain in his stomach.  His mother, not sure what was wrong, let him stay home from school.

Now, whenever a math test is scheduled, Russell tells his mother that morning that he doesn’t feel well, and she let’s him stay home.  He tells her later, however, that he feels better, and he then goes to school after lunch.

93.Classical conditioning is illustrated in the case study.  Carefully describe the classical conditioning portion, and identify specifically the concepts involved in your explanation.

94.Operant conditioning is also involved in the case study.  Carefully describe the operant conditioning component including an identification of the concepts involved.

95.You are sitting in the workroom of your school with a faculty member who has just said, “I got sick of the students’ continually talking today, so I fixed them. I doubled their homework assignment. I had assigned the odd problems at the end of the section, and now they get to do all the problems.”

You comment courteously, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?” your colleague retorts. “It stopped the talking.”

Using classical conditioning as a basis for your response, explain why using homework as a form of punishment is not a good idea.

96.Suppose that you have a student who is acting out in your class. Describe the steps you would follow in designing an applied behavior analysis plan to help the student learn to behave more acceptably.

97.Describe three guidelines that you can follow that will help you use behaviorism to create productive learning environments, and provide an example of each.