Foundational Psychological Concepts and Applied Behavior Analysis
This assignment will provide you with a connection between foundational psychological concepts, your career field and your future as a student.
Review the Concepts in Psychology document and Openstax index from your reading this week and choose concepts that might be used in your specialization.
Answer the following questions using the Unit 2 Template, which will guide you through writing a cohesive paper:
Choose one concept from the general psychology list and use your own words to define the concept. Explain its relevance or importance in your specialization area and how it might be used.
Choose three concepts from your specialization area and use your own words to define these three concepts. Explain their relevance or importance in your specialization area and how each concept might be used.
How can knowledge of these concepts help you in the future as a student or in your career field?
Your assignment should using the provided template, should be 2 or more pages not including the title and reference pages, and should include the following elements:
Title page: Provide your name, title of assignment, course and section number, and date.
Body: Answer all the questions in complete sentences and paragraphs.
The assignment must be written in Standard English and demonstrate superior organization, including a highly developed viewpoint and purpose. The communication of your thoughts must be highly ordered, logical, and unified, displaying exceptional content, organization, style, and mechanics (including the use of correct grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure).
Reference page: Sources listed in APA format.
Use Arial or Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced and left aligned.
Use standard 1" margins on all sides.
Use current APA formatting and citation style.
Foundational Psychological Concepts
First/Last Name
Department of Psychology, Purdue University Global
PS115 Psychology and the Profession
Instructor’s name and title
Date
Foundational Concepts in Psychology
General Psychology Concepts
Creativity
According to the American Psychological Association (n.d.), creativity refers to the ability to develop and produce original work, thoughts, theories, or techniques. As such, individuals achieve the enviable distinction of being creative if they typically and effortlessly demonstrate originality, expressiveness, and imagination (American Psychological Association, n.d.). Creative thinking involves processes that pave the way for new inventions or solutions to prevailing problems. Some products resulting from creative thinking include new social ideas, machines, scientific theories, and artistic works, among many more.
Creativity is relevant and critical in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for several reasons. According to Autism Speaks (n.d.), ABA is a therapy based on the science of learning and behavior. It plays a pivotal role in helping people understand how behavior works, how the environment impacts behavior, and how learning happens. As such, ABA therapy programs are integral in increasing language and communication skills, mitigating problem behaviors, and improving attention, focus, memory, and academics. That said, having a creative mind as a professional involved in ABA is of utmost importance. First, it would enable one to craft new communication skills that would suit the children they are working with. Similarly, creativity would allow a professional to improvise new techniques to help decrease behavior problems. For example, if one is dealing with an unruly child, creativity would enable one to devise appropriate mechanisms to put such a child under check. Creativity plays a significant role in applied behavior analysis.
Specialization Concepts
Behavior
One fundamental concept in ABA is behavior, which refers to people’s actions that can be observed, repeated, and measured. As a professional involved in ABA, it is paramount to understand all aspects of behavior. This would require one to understand and change the behaviors of those under their charge by adopting several techniques. As a practicing professio...