Question

For this assignment, you will examine how learning theories can be used to understand persisting behavior, as well as how an understanding of these theories can help change behavior. First, select a bad habit or undesired behavior that a person might want to change from the following lists: procrastination, binge drinking, swearing, excessive caffeine consumption, chronic lateness, smoking, fear of speaking in public, or frequent road rage. Now, suppose a client has come to you because they want to understand and change their behavior.
Address the following sections in your Case Study Analysis:
(a) Identification of Behavior (Introduction paragraph)

Briefly describe the client's undesired behavior that he/she would like to change. Include details related to how long the behavior has persisted, the severity/frequency, and how it impacts the person's life.

(b) Based on what you have learned about classical, operant, and social learning theories, develop three brief descriptions (less than one page each), describing how each of the theories could help explain the development and/or persistence of the undesired behavior. Include terms and concepts related to theories that are most relevant in the plan for the client as indicated below.

Plan 1: How could classical conditioning explain the development and the persistence of the client's undesired behavior? Include in your discussion coverage of the relationship between and unconditional stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, and conditioned response.

Plan 2: How could operant conditioning explain the development and persistence of the client's undesired behavior? Include discussion of shaping and reinforcers (positive and negative), as well as punishments. How could operant conditioning be used to help lessen or change the behavior?

Plan 3: How could cognitive and social learning theories explain the development and persistence of the client's undesired behavior? In particular, discuss the role of latent learning, learned helplessness, vicarious reinforcement and/or vicarious punishment as applicable.

(c) Recommendation - Conclusion Section: Now that you have examined scenarios related to the persistence of the undesired behavior, consider how you would recommend the client change their behavior. Select one of the learning theories above and describe how it could be used to help the client lessen and change the desired behavior.

Requirements: Length = approximately 3-4 pages

Answer 1

The undesired behaviour that has been chosen is Procrastination. Procrastination in its simplest term means the act of delaying a task.

Case Study Analysis

a) Identification of behaviour: The case presented is of a person who is an impulsive procrastinator. This behaviour has creeped into him since he was an adolescent. Now he is in his young adulthood and still suffers from it. He feels lazy and lethargic all the time and does things only when it is necessary. This has hampered his work life as he does not show up on time, his assignments are incomplete and he frequently skips office. It is however important to note that he is academically qualified enough and his undesired behaviour is not because of any intellectual or physical issue.

b) Development and Persistence of the undesired behaviour:

1) Classical Conditioning: This is learning through pairing and associating. In order to understand how the person in the above case has learned his behaviour through classical conditioning, we need to go back to his adolescence. In his adolescence, he might have had situations where he left his work for a later period of time and hardly had any memorable negative experience from this delay. Therefore, he has made a connection that

work at hand (UCS) = urgency to do the work (UCR)

Laziness, Other priorities ( CS) = Procrastination (CR)

2) Operant conditioning: This is the kind of learning that happens through rewards and punishments of the behaviour displayed. The person in the case is a procrastinator since his adolescence. This means that nobody must have given him punishments and negative reinforcements for this behaviour. Instead, it could have happened that he might have received validations or positive reinforcements from his peers and siblings. Repeated positive reinforcements would increase the probability of his behaviour and by young adulthood this behaviour would have seeped into his personality.

3) Cognitive and Social learning theories: According to this model, people learn by observation, imitation and modelling. This might have happened in the case given, if the person as a child had often observed his parents procrastinating their chores. It could be in delay in making meals to delay in showing up at a place.

This silent observation might have become a latent learning for the person, who as an adolescent practiced it and as a young adult habituated it. So by his young adulthood, the person might have taken his laziness to be a physical condition or a mental state which he did not want to overcome. He therefore might have reached a state of learned helplessness. Moreover, since he has observed his parents being procrastinators themselves, there could be some vicarious reinforcements taking place too.

c) Recommendation: The client is now in his young adulthood. Therefore changes in behaviour would be best through social learning for this particular issue.This is because a classical conditioning or operant conditioning gives a lot of power to external factors. In young adulthood, this might not be a correct way to change this behaviour. The correct method should require inner strength and motivation.

Certain steps that would be shared with the client are:

1) A role model would be chosen by the client who does not have his issue. The client would be asked to spend time with the role model and remember the ways in which the model acts. The client would then be helped to get motivated to practice those acts of his model. For example, if the model is from his office, and is an active colleague,then practicing the same level of activeness would help him fight his procrastination.

2) Verbal instructions could be given to the client in order to help him fight with his learned helplessness and break his latent learnings. Also, desired behaviour could be asked to demonstrate.

3) In order to learn self control and stay motivated, the client could be asked to observe famous personalities and read effective books which would make him feel driven from within.