Case Study

CASE STUDY

Case 1: The Case of Brenda This is Brenda.

She is 17 years old and plays competitive tennis. In fact she hopes to get a scholarship to play in college. Brenda’s coach asked her to go see a behavior analyst that specializes in sports and fitness because she is having difficulty with her serve. She does not have enough speed and accuracy to win matches. Her coach has tried every strategy he knows with no success. Based on her interview with Brenda and her review of videotapes of his serve, the behavior analyst decides to use chaining to help. The behavior analyst will break down Brenda’s serve into individual units of behavior such as the starting position; ball toss; swing of the racket back; acceleration of the racket, contact with the ball; and follow-through.

Case 2: The Case of Mrs. Riley This is Mrs. Riley.

She has just been asked to take over a class of third graders who are very energetic and have tried the patience of many teachers. In fact, Mrs. Riley is the third teacher to take over the class this year and it is only November! These students are not only unruly but most of them did not earn passing marks on their most recent state administered exam of basic skills. Mrs. Riley thinks these poor scores were due to class time lost to constant disruption. The major behavior challenges in the class are, fighting, yelling out answers/questions, not staying seated during work time, and failure to complete in class assignments. Mrs. Riley contacted a behavior analyst to design some effective behavior modification methods that would help the children settle down and be able to better focus on learning. The behavior analyst recommended a class-wide token economy. Students would receive pennies for engaging in appropriate behaviors such as: raising their hand, completing assignments, helping others, and remaining in their seat during instructional time. A penny would also be earned at the end of the day if the student had not engaged in any challenging behavior throughout the day. Friday afternoons will be “store” time. The students will be able to trade their pennies in for different items in the “store.”. Items available will include: candy, small toys/crafts, and class privileges such as a night “off” of homework. Students can “spend” their pennies each week on smaller items or save up to buy bigger items like a day with early dismissal from schoo