Spring 2010

Field Work in Psychology

Dates to Remember

March 4-11	Initial FW eval Feedback
April 1	Log Due
April 1	Article Critique Due
April 15	Exam

Sandra L. Harris, Ph.D., Professor
sharris@rci.rutgers.edu
Psychology 830:396 & 397

Required Readings

Lee, D., & Axelrod, S. (2005) Behavior modification: Basic Principles, 3^rd Ed. Pro-Ed.

Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center (2006). Tutor Handbook, New Brunswick: Author.

Schedule for Required Readings

January 28	Tutor Handbook
February 4	Tutor Handbook
February 11	Lee & Axelrod,   pp 2-31
February 18	Lee & Axelrod, pp 32-64
February 25	Lee & Axelrod, pp. 65-85
April 1	Lee & Axelrod, pp. 86-104
April 8	Lee & Axelrod, pp. 105-123

 

Campus-Wide Emergency Contact
The University Department of Emergency Services urges everyone on campus to register with them for emergency contact. Their website address is: http://personalinfo.rutgers.edu/ens.

Course Requirements

Grading
Your grade is based on two components: clinical performance (70%) and academic proficiency (exam and article critique) (30%). You will receive two evaluations of your clinical skills during the semester. The first will be for feedback, and the second will be used for grading purposes. The criteria for that evaluation are attached.

Readings and Exam
If you want to get the most out of the course you will complete the readings by the suggested date since these will be integrated into the lectures throughout the semester.

Both books are at the Douglass Book Store.

Attendance
As in any job, we expect perfect attendance. This applies to both your clinical work day and the Thursday class meeting. Your attendance will affect your grade in that if you are on the borderline between two grades and your attendance has been less than perfect, you will receive the lower grade. Every Thursday class meeting counts as 1/2 of one workday. You will be allowed to make up workdays and Thursday meetings that you missed providing you have called the school by 8:30 a.m. to let us know you are unable to make it in. Make-up days will occur during the last two weeks of the semester, and you will be able to arrange them ahead of time. This can only be done if you were granted an excused absence.

Safety
One of our most important responsibilities as therapists is to maintain a safe environment for our children. In most classrooms, this entails keeping track of where the children are at all times, not allowing them to engage in dangerous activities, keeping dangerous articles (such as scissors) out of their reach, etc. We regret having to establish punitive contingencies regarding this, but should a lapse in safety occur, this may be reflected in your clinical evaluation for that period.

Article Critique
You will do a very brief critique of an article from the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. One of your tasks as a Field Work student is to go the website of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, print an article and do a very short critique of that article. Here are the specific steps:

1. Enter the JABA website at the following address: http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/

• Go to "Selected Articles Archive"
• Open an article that has a title of interest and was written in the past 5 years

• Print a copy of the article

2. Answer each of the following questions in 2 to 5 typed sentences
    

   1. Give the APA style citation for the article. For example:

          Ricciardi, J. N., Luselli, J. K., & Camare, M. (2006). Shaping approach responses as intervention for specific phobia in a child with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 39, 445-448.

2. What is the problem that authors wanted to treat? (e.g., fear of animatronic objects)

3. What methods did they use to treat it? (e.g., reinforcing approach behavior)

4. Were their methods effective? (e.g., the graph shows an increase in approach behavior from 0% at baseline to 100% at final session)

Personal log
We expect you to keep a log of your reactions to your experiences at the DDDC. After each day you spend at the school, write down some of your thoughts and feelings about the experience. Some days you may have no more than a few lines while other days you might want to write a page or two. It is up to you. Working with the kids will stir up a variety of feelings in you and it helps to be able to talk about them. Understanding one's feelings in a clinical setting is an important aspect of professional development. Grades will be based on your thoughtfulness in describing your feelings, not on the feelings as such. The logs are due in the middle of the semester and will be returned to you after the discussion group leader has read them. The topics you raise, (but not the personal details of your experience), will form the basis for a discussion of these issues in class.

Procedure for Delayed Openings or Closings
Listen to WCTC (1450 AM) or WMGQ (98.3 FM) between 6:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. for school closing information. It will be announced under Special Facilities Closings.

If the school is on a delayed opening, staff and undergraduates will report at 10 a.m., and the students will arrive at 10:30 a.m. Staff are expected to come to work even if no students come to school.

If we have school during inclement weather and the conditions do not improve before midday, we will have an early dismissal at 1:15 p.m. If we have a delayed opening we will not have an early dismissal. It will be one or the other.

Inclement weather and building emergencies are unpleasant but to be expected. In keeping with the Delayed Opening/Closing Policy, we will also use a notification system called Connect-Ed to inform you when the school will have a delayed opening, when it will be closed, or if and when there will be an early dismissal. We will collect your information about points of contact to reach you (e.g. cell phone or e-mail) for this system.

Location
The DDDC is located in two buildings. One is the Douglass School building on the Gibbons Campus and the other is the Ryders Lane building which houses the Elementary and Secondary Satellites and the Adult program. To find the buildings and determine how to get there by campus bus see the Locations page of the DDDC website or go directly to the RU maps as noted above.

A FINAL NOTE
We realize that all of this printed matter with the requirements, do's and don'ts, and assignments may seem somewhat overwhelming to you at this point. Although it seems like a great deal of work (which it is), it can also be very rewarding for you to work at the DDDC, and FUN too! Please give us suggestions and feedback often about what you're getting out of your practicum experience and about how you could be getting more. We'll do whatever we can to make your experience here a positive one.

Topics and Locations for Thursday Lecture/Demonstrations

January 21	Organization (Hickman 201)
January 28	Classroom Teaching (Classroom)
February 4	Classroom Teaching (Classroom)
February 11	Classroom Teaching (Classroom)
February 18	Advanced Topics in Reinforcement  & Observation, Professor Sloman (Ryders Lane)
February 25	DRO, Shaping & Chaining as ABA Tools, Ms. Marrero (Ryders Lane)
March 4	Classroom Meeting
March 11	Data Based Decision Making, Professor Sloman; Writing an Article Critique, Ms. Marrero (Ryders Lane)
March 18	Spring Break
March 25	Classroom Meeting
April 1	Behavior Reduction, Professor LaRue. Critiques & Logs Due (GAs) (Ryders Lane)
April 8	Classroom Meeting
April 15	Exam (Ryders Lane) (GAs)
April 22	Discussion of Logs (Ryders Lane) (GAs)
April 29	Exams reviewed. Critique of course. (Ryders Lane) (GAs)

Note: "Classroom" refers to the classroom to which you have been assigned.