Behaviorism Evaluation
Resources
This is the first chapter of a cumulative evaluation. Over the length of this course, you will write four chapters for this evaluation, one each on behaviorism, social cognitive theory, cognitive information processing, and constructivism.
Although this class covers many learning theories, they can easily be grouped into four distinct categories. These four categories are continuing to develop and expand as the study of human learning has become more popular. Educational psychology researchers have advanced their interests to applied settings, such as teaching and learning. This new interest in academic learning, in combination with the technological advances made in this field, both continue to affect the evolution of the field and the competencies addressed in this course. Although the emphasis in this class is on cognition-related learning theories, behaviorism will also be discussed.
You will complete one paper in this unit, and one paper each in Unit 5, Unit 7, and Unit 9. For each paper, you are asked to examine specific aspects of the learning theory category. As you complete each chapter, compare it to your previous chapters. Each paper should be four to five pages in length, not counting your title sheet or references. Be sure to use examples from your readings and research to support your position throughout your paper. Papers should be double-spaced with a font size of 12 and follow APA style. Address the following in your paper:
Summarize the four conditioning theories of behaviorism.
Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of behaviorism, in general.
Apply behaviorism to a practical situation in your specialization. Describe the situation, how the theory can be applied, and what the expected outcomes would be.
Describe the relation of behaviorism to self-regulation.
Write in a concise, balanced, and logically organized manner.
Use grammar, punctuation, and mechanics expected of graduate-level composition, using APA style and format for all citations and references.
Paper Requirements:
Number of References: A paper of this length should include references. As a graduate student, you are responsible for determining the appropriate number of resources. The majority of them should be original research articles published in legitimate scientific journals. A few review or survey articles are also acceptable.
Article Distinctions: Research articles present original research, review articles discuss research already presented elsewhere, and survey articles are comprehensive review articles that discuss an entire field or area of research. If these distinctions are unclear to you, investigate them on your own or ask your instructor for help. References to books are acceptable, but they should be kept to a minimum—probably no more than five.
APA Style: You must use proper APA style to cite and list your references. Refer to the Capella Online Writing Center’s APA Style and Formatting guidelines for more information.
Format: Use the following structure to organize your paper:
Cover page (your name, your specialization or program, title and course number, current quarter and year, instructor’s name).
Optional: abstract.
Body of paper, including headings and subheadings over the appropriate content.
Reference list.
Refer to the APA Style and Formatting guidelines for additional formatting information.
Style: Write in the third person as an impartial narrator. Avoid the use of I, we, or you. In particular, avoid phrases like “I think” in favor of phrases like “the evidence suggests” or “research indicates.” In science, personal opinion carries no weight unless it is supported by a combination of empirical research and statistical or logical-mathematical inference.
Other Notes: Avoid long quoted passages from your source texts. Your paper should be a synthesis of your own ideas, in your own words—even if your ideas refer to the original ideas of others, in which case the references should be explicit. A paper at the graduate level should be scholarly and more than a mere summary. It should present a unique thesis or at least a significant point that you are trying to make, adding appreciably to what is already known of your topic. Your point or thesis will stand or fall solely on its strength—that is, the quality and quantity of the evidence you present.
Review the Behaviorism Evaluation Scoring Guide for the grading criteria of this assignment. You can use the resources available with this assignment to help you with your writing, including Smarthinking, the free tutorial and writing review service. You can use Smarthinking to get feedback on your writing before submitting it to your instructor for a grade.
In addition, your instructor may choose to use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. This tool, provided under Resources, contains a list of resources that you can use to improve and refine your writing. A good approach for using this tool in this course is to pick 2–3 resources from the list for each assignment, review each resource, and apply it to your paper. You will complete four papers in this course, so you have the chance to focus on something different for each paper. After you have refined your paper using the resources, submit it in the assignment area.

Discussion: Trend Analysis and ForecastingGreen Hills Health System comprises a small community hospital and a primary care practice. Located in a rural area the nearest large city is approximately 100 miles away. Individuals age 60 and older constitute one of the largest patient populations Green Hills serves. Recently members of the nursing staff have noticed that the numbers of geriatric patients admitted to the hospital seem to be increasing. Many of these patients have multiple comorbidities and need specialty care that is not available through Green Hills Health System. Some of the patients have commented that they lack the financial resources and transportation required to travel to the large metropolitan health care center that provides a variety of specialty services.Imagine that you are a nurse leader-manager in the organization described above. How could conducting an internal and external scan of the environment help you and your colleagues to identify opportunities for change moving forward? What literature sources would you consult to learn about trends and emerging issues that are likely to affect the organization? What data would you examine?In this Discussion you analyze trends that are likely to have a significant impact on nursing and health care in the coming years. You may use this Discussion to formulate initial thoughts related to trends and unmet needs that you might choose to address through the Course Project which is introduced this week.To prepare:Review the information on forecasting and trends in the Learning Resources.Conduct a search of the literature to investigate trends and emerging issues in nursing and health care. Evaluate the research evidence in the literature.Based on your research identify three trends that are likely to impact nursing and health care in the coming decade.Select one of these trends on which to focus in greater detail. Then conduct additional research and analyze evidence-based issues related to this trend.Based on your analysis consider whether this trend creates or contributes to an unmet need that currently impacts or will impact a specific group unit or organization.Post an analysis of the impact of your selected trend on nursing and health care in the coming decade. Explain how this trend creates or contributes to an unmet need that a specific group unit or organization may encounter now or in the coming years.Read a selection of your colleagues responses.Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:Share an alternative perspective on a trend reported by your colleagues synthesizing the information to provide a different perspective.Ask a probing question substantiated with additional background information or research.Validate an idea with your own experience and additional resources.Required ReadingsUrsell F. (2011). Care home funding: What to expect and what to do. Nursing & Residential Care 13(2) 9496.Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.This article provides an example of forecasting for the costs associated with running nursing and residential care homes and examines related future trends.Weiss R. (2010 Summer). The forecast for health care. Marketing Health Services 30(3) 7.Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.The author describes predictions for future developments in health care.Harding S. (2012 November 15). Long-term forecasts are mostly worthless. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/11/15/long-term-forecasts-are-mostly-worthless/The author addresses the notion that trends only continue until they are interrupted by change so predictions rarely actualize as expected.Peters B. (2012 February 16). Healthcare forecast: Increasing clouds with a chance of dramatic improvement. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/bradpeters/2012/02/16/healthcare-forecast-