Reference no: EM132380117

Assignment: For Assignment #4, you may choose one of the following activities, either the "Understanding Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)" or the "Television Aggression" assignment. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO BOTH, ONLY ONE. You are more than welcome to do both assignments; however, you will only receive a grade for the one you turn in. Please use 12-pt Times New Roman font, double spaced format to complete the assignment and provide a reference page for any sources you use.

Understanding Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

By studying children who have great difficulty attending to relevant input in the learning setting, much can be learned about what non-ADHD children have learned about searching systematically, ignoring irrelevant input, and selecting and using appropriate strategies for gathering and remembering information.

ADHD affects multiple parts of development including perceptual attention and operant learning because many of the interventions involve the use of behavioral principles (particularly time-out, response-cost, and positive reinforcement). It also relates to Vygotsky's views regarding the use of self-talk to mediate behavior. ADHD children are sometimes given training in the use of self-talk to help gain greater self-control over their academic and social behavior. An attempt is made to help make explicit for ADHD children what often implicitly guides the typical child's behavior. Recent research has also emphasized the importance of community support in the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

For this assignment, you will learn more about ADHD. You will need to acquaint yourself with the diagnostic criteria, but the focus of this assignment is treatment for ADHD. You will research journals in psychology, medicine, and psychiatry for empirical evidence of the importance of three aspects of treatment:

• The use of stimulant medications

• The use of cognitive-behavioral training

• Benefits of social support for ADHD

Activity: In a written report (3 pages, double-spaced, 12-pt, Times New Roman Font, APA Format), summarize and evaluate the treatments for ADHD. Specifically, you should discuss the use of stimulant medications, the use of cognitive-behavioral training, and the benefits of social support for ADHD. Make sure you cite your sources (APA format). Tip: You should find at least 2 peer-reviewed journal articles for each type of treatment (for a total of 6 articles).

Television Aggression

This activity relates to the potentially undesirable effects of television. This activity can be an eye-opener if you have never given any thought to what messages might be coming across to children when they view television-messages about sex roles, ethnic and racial minorities, how to solve problems, how to be happy, etc.

INSTRUCTIONS

Identify the assumption(s) about children and the nature of their development that underlie each of the following practices.

1. Develop behavioral definitions of verbal aggression and physical aggression. What exactly do you mean by aggression-a slap, a kick, a put-down...or what? Must actual harm be done, or is intent to harm sufficient to count an act as aggression? Coming up with behavioral criteria is an important step because "aggression" is an abstract concept that cannot be measured until it is defined behaviorally. (You may need to watch a part of some programs to help you decide on what you will count as an example of aggression. It may also be useful to discuss criteria with a classmate and see if you can arrive at a consensus.)

Note: one of the purposes of this assignment is to give you first-hand experience that will build your appreciation of the difficulty in developing coding categories and in actually using them. The adequacy of these behavioral definitions can markedly affect the strength of conclusions that a researcher can make. Inconsistencies in behavioral definitions can also be an important factor behind inconsistencies in the results and conclusions of various studies, a possibility that you will more fully appreciate after completing this activity.

2. Choose four different television programs that children might watch. Select one program from each of the following four categories:

a. Educational program (e.g., Sesame Street)

b. Cartoon (e.g., Adventure Time)

c. Early-evening program aimed at older children and families (e.g., How I Met Your Mother)

d. Evening program aimed at youth and adults (e.g., Grey's Anatomy)

3. Record the title and length of each program. While viewing each program, tally the number of instances of verbal and physical aggression, using the behavioral definitions that you developed to aid in your identification of an aggressive incident.

Make note of the typical consequence of the aggression in each program (i.e., the aggressor gets something; the aggressor is punished; there is laughter suggesting the aggressive action was funny; the problem gets solved; the aggressor is treated like a hero; the aggression is portrayed as justified revenge, etc.)

4. Prepare a written report (3 pages, double-spaced, 12-pt, Times New Roman Font, APA format), that includes the following:

a. Your definitions of verbal and physical aggression

b. A summary of your results for each program and a comparison of the programs

c. A discussion that includes your results, your reactions to the programs, a brief overview of the findings of studies reported in your text on the impact of televised violence on children, and your recommendations regarding children's television viewing.