A seven year old girl named Lorelei enjoys playing soccer, swimming, and baking with her mother. She is very talkative and outgoing once she is with her close friend or family members, but she can become quite nervous when around new people and may be quiet and more reserved in those situations. Lorelei usually does very well in school. She is above grade level in reading, but says she dislikes writing. Recently, Lorelei has been coming home from school with her class work unfinished and has been “talking back” to her parents. This is unusual behavior for Lorelei and her parents don’t know how to respond. Otherwise, Lorelei continues to be helpful around the house and seems to enjoy playing with her new 5-month old brother, James.

Lorelei’s teacher requested a parent-teacher conference, as Lorelei has been acting up in class as well. The teacher said that Lorelei is usually a good listener and very attentive in class. However, Lorelei has been increasingly disruptive the past months. Recently, every time a student asks to go to the restroom Lorelei asks to go to the restroom as well. The teacher also noticed that Lorelei gets up from her desk a few times each hour to grab to a tissue to blow her nose and just generally appears to be easily distracted. She will wander around the classroom looking for books or games, usually at a time when students have just been asked to sit at their desk to complete their homework or in-class assignments. Since she doesn’t follow the teacher’s instructions, Lorelei does not finish her class work during the time allotted. Lorelei’s parents were shocked to hear about her behavior’s in class, as this has never been on issue before.

1. Identify issues at school and at home that may be affecting Lorelei’s recent behavior. As a behavioral therapist, what kinds of questions would you ask Lorelei’s mother and her teacher to help better assess the situation at home and school?

2. In behavior modification theory, a “target behavior” is a specific behavior or actions you would like to change or modify. For example , if a child is constantly throwing tantrums and hitting then the target behavior might be hitting. It is important to be specific in addressing target behavior so that therapist can be successful in correcting the behavior that need to be changed. With this in mind what are the target behavior you might want to address with Lorelei? In other words what is Lorelei specifically doing that is interfering with her success at home and/or at school? With every target behavior, identify a desired behavior that would be more appropriate (e.g., tell the child that instead of hitting they should stop, breathe, tell the teacher they are frustrated and step away until they can come down)

3. Considering what we’ve learned this module create a behavioral plan for Lorelei. How might you modify Lorelei’s behavior to address the issues she’s been having? For this question, please choose at least two of the terms below. first define this term in your own words. Second identify how you might modify Lorelei’s behavior using that specific technique

Reinforcement

Punishment

Extinction

4. Variable schedules of reinforcement produce responses that are most resistance to extinction. Explain why and provide an example to support your answer. In the case of Lorelei, how could you utilize a variable schedule of reinforcement to encourage positive changes in her target behaviors?

5. Let’s Explore how do you theories of child development play into this situation. Considering what we know about temperament, what type of temperaments do you think Lorelei’s demonstrates? Provide examples to support your answer how my Lorelei’s temperament play a part in her behaviors at home and at school