As you read last week, you will be applying concepts and theories from each broad area of psychological study covered in this course to one of two individuals, either a child or an adult,
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Casestudy.pdf
Introduction to Psychology Case Studies-Allen Whitcomb & Melissa Hershey
Two case studies are presented for your consideration. Select one of the two case studies to learn more about that particular individual.
Introduction to Psychology Case Studies-Allen Whitcomb Program Transcript
Allen Whitcomb Reports:
47 years old; married with two children in college
Has been healthy all his life, but recently had a bad car accident and lost a leg; he was texting while driving
Reports that the car that hit him appeared to be farther away and moving slower than it was
Reports chronic pain since the accident; and takes over-the-counter medications to reduce discomfort
Reports that his trouble at work is due to pain, but therapist thinks he has anxiety because his mother always said he wasn’t good enough
Believes he can succeed at work if he can “get it together”
Is color blind
Says his heart rate increases when he hears the song that was on the radio when he got in the accident; this also happens when any similar-sounding song plays
Has gained 20 pounds since the accident and is trying to lose it
He knows his wife loves him no matter what; he believes she can do no wrong
Thinks all managers at work are unfair and overly directive
Feels people think of him as disabled and treat him differently because of his injury
Erin Whitcomb (Allen’s Wife) Reports:
He is always seeking a calm, quiet environment.
He always seems on edge.
©2015 Laureate Education, Inc. 1
Introduction to Psychology Case Studies-Allen Whitcomb & Melissa Hershey
She describes him as quiet, tense, anxious, and unfriendly.
He has never had many close friends.
She loves him no matter what.
He watches television a lot since the accident and treated her unkindly after watching violent television shows, but he seems to feel bad and is trying to stop that.
She encourages him to remain as active as possible.
She wants him to contribute to the family, community, and society.
Dawn Taylor (Allen’s Therapist) Reports:
He has difficulty sleeping, has continued pain after the accident, and reports feelings of sadness and fatigue.
Therapist is teaching him to control his heart rate and breathing when he feels stressed.
He remembers how to drive a car, but cannot remember the accident itself, except for the song that was playing when it happened.
Therapist has told him to smile more throughout the day to help improve his mood.
Therapist is encouraging him to take online classes to develop his sense of self- worth and feelings of contributing to the greater good.
Mark Flowers (Allen’s Manager) Reports:
Allen works the night shift but is having attendance problems, frequently showing up late and calling in sick.
Manager is setting attendance goals with him and he is working toward earning lunch for his team based on timely attendance.
Since Allen returned to work after his accident, the filing system has changed and he now frequently gets confused.
Allen has trouble remembering information for more than a few seconds.
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Introduction to Psychology Case Studies-Allen Whitcomb & Melissa Hershey
Allen is frequently late to work.
Allen performs better when he is working with the rest of his team.
Suggested Keywords for Searching Walden Library
Texting, driving, attention
Work, attendance, reinforcement
Classical conditioning and trauma
Chronic pain and depression
Unconditional love and marriage
Television violence and aggression
Social learning theory and aggression
Biofeedback therapy and anxiety
Improve attendance and incentive
Goal setting and behavior change
Head injury and memory
Walden Library: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library
©2015 Laureate Education, Inc. 3
Introduction to Psychology Case Studies-Allen Whitcomb & Melissa Hershey
Introduction to Psychology Case Studies-Melissa Hershey Program Transcript
Melissa Hershey Reports:
7 years old and has two sisters, one older and one younger
Believes she is a good soccer player
Likes when quiet, smoothing music is played
Enjoys bringing friends to her school counselor’s office so she can watch them and learn how friends play together kindly
Says mom lets her and her sisters do whatever they want at home
Makes herself dinner and puts herself to bed at night.
Says her teacher is mean because she tells Melissa what to do and gives her consequences
Amy Hershey (Melissa’s Mother) Reports:
She had a grand mal seizure at age 4.
She has involuntary muscle movements in her hand on the left side after the seizure.
She had trouble walking after the seizure, but walks fine now.
She has nightmares sometimes.
She is sensitive to loud noises and bright lights.
Her father left 2 years ago and does not have contact with the family; parents fought a lot before dad left.
She cries when she smells cologne that her dad wore, though this is decreasing over time.
Mother used to give spankings for bad behavior, but Melissa began hitting her sisters.
Mother used marijuana during pregnancy.
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Introduction to Psychology Case Studies-Allen Whitcomb & Melissa Hershey
Mother acknowledges being inattentive to her children’s needs when they were infants.
Wendy Subocz (Melissa’s Teacher) Reports:
She is having trouble in school and is disinterested in completing schoolwork.
She has difficulty with abstract reasoning and taking others’ points of view.
She earns a sticker for every homework assignment she submits and is making progress, so now the teacher wants to change the plan so she earns a sticker for each day all homework is submitted.
She can point out the correct answer on tests if given choices, but cannot state the correct answer on her own.
Math class is at the beginning of the day and she does well with facts, but if tested again in the afternoon, she can’t remember math what she learned.
She wants more friends, but tends to tell others what to do and bosses them around.
Tanya Smith (Melissa’s School Psychologist) Reports:
She has difficulty labeling emotions and often looks to others to see what emotion she should display.
She is lively, active, imaginative, disorganized, and insecure.
She participates in Big Brothers/Big Sisters weekly after school.
She tends to go along with the group without considering consequences.
She can be aggressive with other students.
She takes food from other students because she comes to school hungry.
Suggested Keywords for Searching Walden Library
Prenatal and marijuana
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Introduction to Psychology Case Studies-Allen Whitcomb & Melissa Hershey
Seizure and learning and child
Spank and aggression
Corporal punishment and aggression
Homework and motivation
Homework and intervention
Recognition and recall and child
Peer and social and intervention
Emotion recognition and child
Aggression and intervention and child
Walden Library: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library
©2015 Laureate Education, Inc. 6
