PSYCHOLOGY APPLICATION PROJECT

By: Amy Griffin

In-Home Tutoring Student’s Pseudonym: Danielle

1-2 hours each Wednesday since February 1st resulting in approximately 15 hours

In her home in the city of Temple

Tutored Danielle in writing and a bit in Calculus

A little about Danielle… 17 years old and a senior in high school Only child of a single mom, biracial, slight

OCD tendencies Homeschooled but goes to Koinonia-ACIS Extremely artistic, has been passionate

about art since she was in elementary school Loves extra-curricular activities such as

dance and tutoring others when she can Extremely motivated academically (except in

writing) and does well in school

Theories Erikson’s Theory of

Psychosocial Developmental

Social Cognitive Theory

The Attribution Theory

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development

Identity versus Role Confusion

Identity is someone knowing who they are.

Role confusion is defined as “having no clear conception of appropriate types of behavior that others will react to favorably” (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler p. 29).

Relating this to Danielle… Danielle’s art is an

expression that she is still trying to decide who she is in some ways.

She struggles with analytical writing because she feels her words will not be accepted or right.

Social Cognitive Theory This “incorporates elements of both

operant conditioning and information processing, and it emphasizes how behavioral and personal factors interact with the social setting in which behavior occurs” (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler p. 279).

Self-control, Self-regulation, and Self-efficacy

Self-control and Danielle Self-control is defined as

the “ability to control one’s actions in the absence of external reinforcement or punishment” (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler p. 281).

For the most part, Danielle has great self-control. Unless, of course, it is something that she struggles with and then she needs more of a nudge.

Self-regulation and Danielle

Self-regulation is “the consistent and appropriate application of self-control skills to new situations” (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler p. 281).

Academically, Danielle self-regulates wonderfully. If she does not feel adequate in a certain area, though, she tends to procrastinate.

Self-efficacy and Danielle Self-efficacy is “how

capable one feels to handle particular kinds of tasks” (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler p. 282).

Danielle’s self-efficacy as far as writing is very low. As a consequence of that, she is not motivated to do it.

Attribution Theory This where students attribute success or

failure to some type of factor.

These include lack of ability, lack of effort, task difficulty, and luck.

How this applies to Danielle… Even though she is

generally very successful, she attributes her success and failure to things that generally unsuccessful students attribute theirs to.

For things she succeeds in (i.e., math, art, etc.) Danielle attributes her success to the ease of it.

For things she struggles with (i.e., writing), she attributes it to lack of ability.

Conclusion Danielle’s OCD tendencies

cause her to feel like she must be perfect and succeed in everything

Needs encouragement in areas she struggles with (needs a boost in self-efficacy to increase feelings of adequacy)

Relating things back to art and expression seem to help her because it is how she is determining her identity

References Snowman, J., McCown, R., & Biehler, R. (2009). Psychology

Applied to Teaching (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Maimon, E., Peritz, J., & Yancey, K. (2010). A Writer’s Resource: A Handbook for Writing and Research (3rd ed.). USA: The McGraw Hill Companies Inc.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)-Symptoms (2010). WebMD. http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/tc/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd-symptoms

Calculus.org http://www.calculus.org/