Greta-Case Study
Greta is a 32-year-old single woman who has recently begun dating someone new and believes they could really have a future. There is just one problem. Greta is very afraid of dogs. Her new love has 3 enormous Leonbergers and has said that life wouldn’t be worth living without animals around. Greta knows she has to change.
When Greta was six years old, while she was walking the two blocks to school all by herself, a beautiful shiny black dog was in a yard along her path. Delighted, she opened their gate and rushed to the dog. The dog charged at her and gave warning barks but Greta just wanted to pet it and kept coming. The dog bit her on the shoulder and shook her and dragged her around the yard, not releasing her until a passer-by pulled the dog off her and called 911. Greta sustained some injuries from the bite and had a shoulder surgery to repair a ligament. Throughout the rest of her childhood, Greta developed more and more fears. First, it was anything about hospitals and dogs, other black animals, then loud noises, sirens, first responders, and she struggled with wetting accidents due to fears for quite some time as a child. In college Greta worked through some of her anxieties with a counselor, but she did not address her dog fears as she claimed “I have just become really good at avoiding dogs”.
There is no need to recopy the case from the courseroom into the paper. Use the case name in the title of your paper. That will suffice for letting your reader know which person you will be working with.
Choose two learning theories from the list provided. Notice that you may be using theories not covered elsewhere in the course. If there is a specific learning theory you are currently working with in your studies that is not in this list, and if you would prefer to use it for this paper, check with your instructor.
- Köhler’s insight theory/Gestalt.
- Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of learning.
- Bruner’s discovery learning.
- Knowles’s andragogy.
- Rogers’s humanism (used as a theory of learning).
- Hebb’s neuropsychological theory.
- Miller’s information processing theory.
- Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance.
- Skinner’s behaviorism.
- Watson’s behaviorism.
- Pavlov’s behaviorism.
- Bandura’s social learning theory (1977).
- Bandura’s social cognitive theory (1986).
- Siegel’s connectivism.
- Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning.
Activity Instructions
Write a 4–6 page paper that addresses the following:
- Explain the basic assumptions, strengths and limitations of each learning theory.
- Analyze the ability of each theory to explain and predict a case.
- Using terms and concepts from Theory 1, describe the case study, hypothesizing how a person has learned things so far to result in their current challenge. Then, predict what will come next for them, using theoretical concepts.
- Then, using terms and concepts from Theory 2, describe the case study once again. Hypothesize how this person has learned things so far to result in their current challenge. Then, predict what will come next for them using theoretical concepts.
- Analyze an intervention.
- Explore at least one intervention for the challenge presented in the case that would be grounded in or connected with one of the theories.
- Explain why it would work better than an intervention grounded in the alternate theory, using evidence from your research.
- Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.
- Exhibit adherence to stylistic conventions, document structure, and source attributions.
Additional Requirements
- Written communication: Write coherently to support central ideas, using appropriate APA format, with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.
- Tone: Write in the third person, adhering to conventions of academic tone.
- Length of paper: 4–6 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page or reference page.
- References: At least five scholarly articles (from peer-reviewed journals). Books and other sources can be used, if needed, in addition to the journal articles.
- APA format: Follow current APA guidelines for style and formatting, as well as for citing your resources in the body of your paper and in alphabetical order on the reference page. Refer to APA Style and Format. You may also use the APA Paper Template [DOCX].
- Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
(Brief descriptions of the theories you have to choose from for this assessment can all be found at the following link. Although this would NOT be an appropriate academic reference to use for a paper, it will give you a good start on a basic understanding and offer additional leads. Learning Theories (2019). Retrieved from https://www.learning-theories.com/ )