Topic: Faith Development

Thread: James Fowler was an American theologian who was the professor of Theology and Human Development at Emory University. He has produced several pieces of literature illustrating his theory of faith development. This week, you will review an article that introduces his stages of faith in relation to the developmental concepts you have learned about in this course. Faith theorists recognize the complex interplay of factors that impact ones faith development. Development of faith, like other aspects of human development, involves movement from one stage to another and is not always systematic or predictable. Individuals can reach chronologic and biological adulthood while reflecting structural stages of faith that are more indicative of early or middle childhood or adolescence. Spiritual nurturing and practice, combined with a persons spiritual aptitude and discipline, impacts the pace and depth of faith development.

After reading and reflecting on the article, develop your thread addressing these questions:

What are your impressions of faith development in relation to an individuals other developmental processes? Do you feel that there is interconnection, or do you oppose the idea that successful faith development requires successful development in other areas? Explain your answer using examples and support from the article and/or other sources of information.
Using your personal experiences, briefly describe some of the most meaningful characteristics of your faith development process. If there were pivotal moments or notable influences, good and bad, mention the significance of those people or events. Only include the most relevant details. Make sure to relate your thread to elements of Fowlers faith development theory and your specific experiences.
Reply Prompt:  Provide a response to 2 classmates threads. Your replies can include dialogue regarding their impressions of Fowlers faith theory or contribute to their personal reflection and analysis of faith development. Seek to integrate insight from the article, or relevant source of information, to support your own ideas.

Submit your thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of Module/Week 5, and submit your 2 replies by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of Module/Week 6.

Discussion Board Forum 2: Thread
Topic: Impact Project Collaboration

Thread: Use the name of your topic as your thread title. For your thread, you will take on the role of advocate and educator to present an introduction to your impact assignment topic. You have spent this week researching your topic and have collected a wealth of information that you could share. Write your post as if you are trying to convince your audience that this topic has a significant impact on the field of human development. Provide facts, statistics, and relevant evidence that allow your readers to become more informed and inspired by your knowledge and presentation of ideas.

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Discussion Board Forum 2: Replies
Reply Prompt: This week you will post a draft of your PowerPoint presentation by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday by posting it as an attachment to a reply to your own thread. Your instructor will assign you to 2 classmates, and you will complete peer evaluations for these 2 classmates’ PowerPoint presentations using the Peer Evaluation Form. The Peer Evaluation Form can be found in the Assignment Instructions folder under the Impact Assignment: Part 2. Along with attaching the Peer Evaluation Form, address these 4 questions in your replies to your assigned classmates.

In evaluating the quality of the presentation, is the content interesting, relevant, and professional?
Do the slides have good organization and attractive appearance?
What did you learn or appreciate most from the presentation?
What improvements could be made to the presentation? Identify at least 1 recommendation.
The peer evaluation is meant to give you an opportunity to evaluate others’ work, recognizing the strengths and challenges of producing original professional presentations. You will also benefit from critical and complimentary feedback from others. Note that peer feedback is not considered in the instructors evaluation of your work. Your instructor will provide the grade for your thread, PowerPoint presentation, and your peer reviews of your classmates work.

Submit the draft of your presentation by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday and your peer evaluations by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Saturday.

Topic: Case Study

Thread: For your thread, you will develop a case study by creating a scenario involving a child between 312 years of age. Write as if the child is being referred to you or your agency for help with a presenting developmental or behavioral problem. Include adequate, yet concise information. You only need to include the most relevant details. This should include demographics, family dynamics, parenting styles, cultural considerations, influence of religion, behavioral history of the child, temperament, and other pertinent facts that make your case unique. Do not make your presenting problem a mental illness diagnosis like bipolar disorder or conduct disorder. Instead, the issue must be relevant to development and the challenges related to development for a child this age. You must include enough detail and clarification that your classmates can analyze your case study using the theories and developmental concepts from the readings during Modules/Weeks 12.

(Brief Example: John is 3 years old and has just been placed in foster care. His parents were arrested after it was discovered that they were manufacturing methamphetamines in their home. His foster parents say that he cries uncontrollably and has tremors. He does not walk well and has a limited vocabulary for his age. They wonder if he has been exposed to drugs. Apparently, John and his mother stayed in the home and rarely left. The father worked various day jobs, sold drugs, and was only home late at night. His mother was very protective and affectionate towards him but established very few rules, and he was allowed to wonder freely in the home, eat when he wanted to, and sleep wherever he wanted to.)

Submit your thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday.

Reinforcement is the cornerstone of behavior analysis. How frequently (or not frequently) reinforcement is delivered has a large impact on how quickly one may respond. This is the case for all behavior. For example, someone who sells cars may be paid on a fixed interval schedule (every two weeks regardless of how many cars are sold) or fixed ratio schedule (100 dollars for every car sold). As you can imagine, based on the pay schedule, the response rate of car selling by the individual who is paid every two weeks, regardless of the number of cars, is likely to be much lower than that of the individual who is paid per car sold. This type of reinforcement schedule and rate of responding translates the same for when you may be teaching a client a skill. Choosing the appropriate reinforcement schedule allows us to support our clients in achieving those successes.

For this assignment, write a paper that includes the following:

Describe the main types of reinforcement schedules (fixed interval, fixed ratio, variable ratio, and variable interval).
Explain how each schedule works to evoke a behavior and the type of responding that results.
Describe how you would use this information on response rates and reinforcement schedules to evoke a behavior in your personal or professional life.
Analyze why you would choose a particular reinforcement schedule for that particular behavior.
Assignment Requirements

Your assignment should meet the following requirements:

Written communication: Should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: References and citations are formatted according to current APA style guidelines.
Resources: 12 scholarly or professional resources.
Length: 34 double-spaced pages, excluding the title page and reference page.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.

Visual Representations of Response Rates

Choosing when to deliver reinforcement is an important factor that can impact how quickly clients master skills. Understanding the different response rates can assist behavior analysts in deciding the most appropriate reinforcement schedule.

Describe how a response rate looks on a graph for each of the following reinforcement schedules: variable ratio, variable interval, fixed ratio, and fixed interval.
Describe a mnemonic device you may use to remember how each of these graphs would look.
Provide one example of a behavior that would benefit from each of the different types of reinforcement schedules.
Choosing when to deliver reinforcement is an important factor that can impact how quickly clients master skills. Understanding the different response rates can assist behavior analysts in deciding the most appropriate reinforcement schedule.

Describe how a response rate looks on a graph for each of the following reinforcement schedules: variable ratio, variable interval, fixed ratio, and fixed interval.
Describe a mnemonic device you may use to remember how each of these graphs would look.
Provide one example of a behavior that would benefit from each of the different types of reinforcement schedules.