Psychology Case Study Activitythe Approaches To P

Approaches to Psychology CASE STUDY ACTIVITY

The purpose of this activity is for you to practice using the terms and facts associated with each of the approaches of Psychology. For each of the approaches, you must develop a case study (an intensive study of a single individual or group). These will be fictional case studies. For each of the modern approaches…

1. Present background information for a fictional individual or group and explain the behavior problem or concern. (minimum of 3 sentences; same scenario can be used for all of the approaches)

2. Explain how someone believing in that modern approach would study the individual or group, or provide information on how they might treat that person. Knowledge of the key concepts of the approach must be evident in your proposed treatment. (minimum of 2 sentences for each approach)

• EXAMPLE: Biological Approach A middle-aged man walked into work one day with a shotgun, stood up on his desk and opened fire. He was apprehended by the police, but not before killing and injuring several of his co-workers. This man, we’ll call him Tom, has no history of violence and was generally liked by most of his co-workers (prior to today). Recently he has been complaining of headaches, but otherwise is a healthy person. A biological psychologist might decide to scan Tom’s brain, looking for any tumors that might have explained his irrational and unordinary behavior. They might suggest that his recent headaches are a sign that there is a physical problem in his brain. Perhaps a tumor is pressing on the part of his brain that controls aggression.

NOTICE: I have listed 6 of the approaches so I expect to see 6 examples/scenarios that would be typical of each of the 6 approaches.

1. Biological Approach ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Psychoanalytic Approach ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Behaviorist Approach ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Humanistic Approach ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Cross-Cultural or Socio-cultural Approach ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Cognitive Approach