The document provides instructions for a 5-6 page assessment examining how conditioning has changed the author's own behaviors. Students are asked to summarize a research study on treating phobias published within the last 8 years, describe examples of conditioning influencing their personal behaviors, and analyze how behaviorism remains relevant today and its limitations. The assessment should cite at least three sources and follow APA style.

1. Write a 5–6-page examination of how conditioning changes
some of your own behaviors.
While modern research in psychology is not explicitly
behaviorist in its approach, behaviorism is still relevant in
certain areas today. For example, it is often taken for granted
today that objective, quantitative measures will be used in
psychological studies, as opposed to the introspective reports
that were used in many types of research in the early 1900s.
Suggested Resources
The following optional resources are provided to support you in
completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For
additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and
Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your
courseroom.
Capella Resources
Click the links provided to view the following resources:
Assessment 2 Context
.
APA Paper Template
.
APA Style and Format
.
SHOW LESS
Capella Multimedia
Click the links provided below to view the following
multimedia pieces:
Stimulus Learning
|
Transcript
.
Timeline: Classical Conditioning
|
Transcript
.
Classical Conditioning

2. |
Transcript
.
Instrumental Conditioning
|
Transcript
.
Instrumental Conditioning Case Studies
|
Transcript
.
FMG Video
Click the link provided below to view the following video:
Constant Craving: The Science of Addiction
.
This is a video from Films on Demand. Any distribution of
video content or associated links is prohibited.
To view an accessible version of this presentation, click
Transcript
.
Library Resources
The following e-books or articles from the Capella University
Library are linked directly in this course:
Jaycox, L. H., Foa, E. B., & Morral, A. R. (1998).
Influence of emotional engagement and habituation on exposure
therapy for PTSD
.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
,
66
(1), 185–192.
Epstein, L. H., Temple, J. L., Rhombic, J. N., & Button, M. E.
(2009).
Habituation as a determinant of human food intake
.
Psychological Review

3. ,
116
(2), 384–407.
Mitchell, C., Kodiak, R., Nash, S., Lavas, Y., & Hall, G.
(2008).
Analysis of the role of associative inhibition in perceptual
learning by means of the same-different task
.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior
Processes
,
34
(4), 475–485.
Beck, H. P., Levinson, S., & Irons, G. (2009).
Finding Little Albert: A journey to John B. Watson's infant
laboratory
.
American Psychologist
,
64
(7), 605–614.
Galef, B. G. (1998).
Edward Thorndike: Revolutionary psychologist, ambiguous
biologist
.
American Psychologist
,
53
(10), 1128–1134.
Pavlov, I. P.
Excerpts from
The work of the digestive glands
.
American Psychologist
,
52

4. (9), 936–940.
Woods, P. J. (1974).
A taxonomy of instrumental conditioning
.
American Psychologist
,
29
(8), 584–597.
Watson, J. B. (1913).
Psychology as the behaviorist views it
.
Psychological Review
,
20
, 158–177.
Skinner, B. F. (1989).
The origins of cognitive thought
.
American Psychologist
,
44
(1), 13–18.
Course Library Guide
A Capella University library guide has been created specifically
for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer to the
resources in the
PSYC-FP3500 – Learning and Cognition Library Guide
to help direct your research.
Bookstore Resources
The resources listed below are relevant to the topics and
assessments in this course and are not required. Unless noted
otherwise, these materials are available for purchase from the
Capella University Bookstore
. When searching the bookstore, be sure to look for the Course
ID with the specific
–

5. FP
(FlexPath) course designation.
Terry, W. S. (2009).
Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and
procedures
(4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
You may find Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 particularly relevant to the
topics in this assessment.
Assessment Instructions
Think about examples of how your own behavior can change
due to conditioning effects—how rewards and punishments have
shaped your own behavior over the years. What role have
rewards and punishments played in your life? For example, how
did your parents encourage you to learn multiplication tables or
drive a car? Even job incentives can be framed in terms of
rewards and punishments to improve employee performance.
In preparation for this assessment, research behaviorism and
some of the classic studies conducted by John Watson and B. F.
Skinner. It is important to understand the basic principles of
behaviorism and how behaviorism fits into psychology research
today. Find a peer-reviewed research study that addresses the
theory or treatment of phobias that was published within the last
8 years.
Directions
For this assessment, complete the following:
Conditioning treatment of phobias.
Find a peer-reviewed research study that addresses the theory or
treatment of phobias that was published within the last 8 years.
Summarize the methods used and the conclusions made, and
describe the key aspects of the research that reflect behaviorist
principles.
Conditioning related to personal behavior.
Describe how conditioning explains changes in your own
behavior that you have observed, either at work or at home.
Provide three examples. (If your examples are from personal
experience, your descriptions may be in first person.) Be sure to

6. relate theory and research to your examples. For example, you
might describe how behavioral theory would explain your
learning process in that situation. Cite scholarly articles to
support your conclusions.
Relevance of conditioning today.
Analyze how behaviorism is still relevant today. What are the
limits of behaviorism? Are there processes that it does not
explain well? For example, behaviorists believed that babies
and children learned language through rewards and
punishments, but today we know that language learning is a
much more complex process. The behaviorist approach was not
sufficient to explain the totality of language learning.
Strive to be as concise as possible and limit the length of your
completed assessment to 5–6 pages, in addition to a title page
and a references page. Support your statements and analyses
with references and citations from at least three resources.
Additional Requirements
Include a title page and a references page.
Use at least three resources.
Follow APA format.
Note: You may use the APA Paper Template linked in the
Resources..
Use 12-point, Times New Roman font.
Double-space your paper.
Conditioning Theories Scoring Guide
CRITERIA
NON-PERFORMANCE
BASIC
PROFICIENT
DISTINGUISHED
Summarize a scholarly research article regarding treatment.
Does not summarize a scholarly research article regarding the
treatment of phobias.
Partially summarizes a scholarly research article regarding the
treatment of phobias, but the summary is incomplete.

7. Summarizes a scholarly research article regarding the treatment
of phobias.
Summarizes the key points of a scholarly research article
regarding the treatment of phobias in a clear and concise
manner.
Describe aspects of a scholarly research article that reflects
conditioning principles.
Does not identify aspects of a scholarly research article that
reflects conditioning principles.
Identifies aspects of a scholarly research article that reflects
conditioning principles, but provides little or no description.
Describes aspects of a scholarly research article that reflects
conditioning principles.
Describes aspects of a scholarly research article that reflects
conditioning principles and supports conclusions with a strong
rationale.
Analyze how conditioning is relevant today.
Does not describe how conditioning is relevant today.
Describes how conditioning is relevant today, but provides little
or no analysis.
Analyzes how conditioning is relevant today.
Evaluates how conditioning is relevant today and supports
conclusions with examples.
Apply conditioning theory and research to personal learning
experiences.
Does not apply conditioning theory and research to personal
learning experiences.
Attempts to apply conditioning theory and research to personal
learning experiences but the application is incomplete or
inappropriate to the situation.
Applies conditioning theory and research to personal learning
experiences.
Applies conditioning theory and research to personal learning
experiences and supports conclusions with a strong rationale.
Write coherently to support a central idea with correct grammar,
usage, and mechanics as expected of a psychology professional.

8. Writing does not support a central idea. Does not use correct
grammar, usage, and mechanics as expected of a psychology
professional.
Writes to support an idea but is inconsistent and contains
numerous errors of grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Writes to coherently support a central idea with few errors of
grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Writes coherently, using evidence to support a central idea with
correct grammar, usage, and mechanics, as expected of a
psychology professional.
Successfully implement APA style.
Does not apply proper APA formatting and style.
Written communication is adequate but has some APA errors
and inconsistencies.
Successfully implements APA style with only minor errors in
format.
Applies scholarly writing skills, and uses proper APA
formatting and style in the body of the paper and references list.