Title of Your Paper, Centered, and Using Both Upper and Lowercase Letters
Your Name Here
Walden University
Instructor’s Name
Course Title and Number
Date
Title of Your Paper Here, Centered
This is where the introduction to your case study individual will go. The first sentence of
each paragraph should be indented. Please use the headings that follow (i.e., Brain and Behavior,
Sensation and Perception, Learning and Memory, etc.) to organize your paper and make sure you
have covered all of the required topics. Where relevant, be sure to incorporate information from
the journal article that you found and summarized in Week 2 to support your analysis.
Brain and Behavior
Begin typing here. Apply the concepts you learned in Week 2: Brain and Behavior to
your chosen individual in a 1- to 3-paragraph analysis. Be sure to describe specifically how the
information about Brain and Behavior can be used to help explain to what you know about your
chosen person. See the “Final Project Example” document for a model of the assignment
expectations.
Sensation and Perception
Begin typing here. This is where you will describe specifically how the information about
Sensation and Perception can be used to explain what you know about your chosen person.
Learning and Memory
Begin typing here. This is where you will describe specifically how the information about
Learning and Memory can be used to explain what you know about your chosen person.
Motivation and Emotion
Begin typing here. This is where you will describe specifically how the information about
Motivation and Emotion can be used to explain what you know about your chosen person.
Development
Begin typing here. This is where you will describe specifically how the information about
physical, cognitive, and social and/or emotional development can be used to explain what you
know about your chosen person.
Personality
Begin typing here. This is where you will describe specifically how the information about
Personality can be used to explain what you know about your chosen person.
Social Behavior
Begin typing here. This is where you will describe specifically how the information about
Social Behavior can be used to explain what you know about your chosen person.
Conclusions
Begin typing here. This is where you will summarize the information you have shared
about your case study individual and provide closure to your case study analysis.
References
Feldman, R. (2012). Psychology and your life (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Anyon, J. (2009). Progressive social movements and educational equity. Education Policy,
23(1), 194–217.
Note: Reference(s) should follow APA style, as illustrated above.
Please remember that this model
is just an example. You may not
copy any text from this
document for use in your own
project. All writing in your project
must be your own original work.
What About Bob? A Psychological Case Study
Suzy Smarteepants
Walden University
Dr. Knowsalot
PSYC1001 – Introduction to Psychology
August 22, 2022
The title of your paper, your
name, and Walden University
appear here.
Your instructor’s name, the
course title, and the due date
appear here.
Note that the title is repeated
here, centered with capitalized
words
What About Bob? A Psychological Case Study
Bob is a 72-year old married man. He has 3 grown children who live in the same town as
he does. His twin brother also lives nearby. Bob was a chemical engineer for 45 years, but is
now retired. He spends his time playing tennis and doing crossword puzzles. Though his tennis
A strong introduction presents
necessary background
information and lets the reader
know what the paper will be
about. See here for more
information about writing
introductions:
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.edu/writingcenter/
writingprocess/introductions
game is still strong, Bob has recently begun struggling to think of the words he needs to
complete his puzzles, and he did not recognize his old business partner when he ran into him at
the grocery store last week. Bob’s wife reports that he is misplacing things more often than usual
and is repeating stories to her multiple times without realizing it. He also has a hard time
identifying the source of her voice; sometimes he looks for her in the kitchen when she is clearly
calling to him from upstairs. His social relationships have remained intact, but his friends notice
Note that each section
heading has the title listed
in the template. Section
headings are centered,
capitalized, and in bold
type.
that he sometimes seems a bit distant, or unable to keep up with the conversation.
Bob’s experiences can be explained by several psychological topics and theories, which
will be described in the following pages. The topics and theories are related to the nervous
system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, motivation and emotion, development,
personality, and social behavior.
Brain and Behavior
The brain and nervous system influence who we are, what we do, and how we behave.
Note that the first sentence of
each paragraph introduces the
topic of the section. See here for
more information about topic
sentences:
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.edu/writingcenter/paragraphs/
topicsentences
Throughout his life, Bob played on a tennis league, much as he does now. He always said that
he enjoyed the “natural high” he got from exercising his body. This is likely due to endorphins,
which are inhibitory neurotransmitters responsible for pleasurable feelings (Feldman, 2015); this
may be one reason behind Bob’s love of tennis.
Bob’s wife reports that Bob is experiencing bouts of memory loss and confusion, and is
concerned that he has early signs of dementia. Kennedy (2010) stated that once people with
Note how information from the
journal article summarized for
the Week 2 Application
Assignment is incorporated into
the final project. Citations
generally include the authors'
last names, separated by
commas, and the year of
publication.
See here for more
,
information about citing:
http://academicguides.waldenu
.edu/writingcenter/apa/
citations/intextparenthetical
dementia begin to show cognitive impairments, neurons have already begun to die and synapses
have already begun to deteriorate. Since neurons are the basic building blocks of the nervous
system, and synapses allow nerves to communicate with one another, damage to either or both of
these could be causing Bob’s memory problems (Feldman, 2015).
Despite concerns about some areas of Bob’s memory, his motor cortex seems to be
unaffected, because he continues to play tennis two days per week without a problem. The motor
cortex is the part of the brain responsible for processing voluntary movement (Feldman, 2010).
His ability to play tennis also suggests that the visual area of Bob’s sensory cortex also appears
to be intact, since he can see the ball (Feldman, 2010). It may be that Bob’s left brain hemisphere
is damaged because that is where most language processing occurs; this is because of brain
Note how information from the
textbook is also cited to give
credit to the author for his ideas.
Any information you learn from
the text should be cited. See here
for more information on how and
when to cite:
http://academicguides.waldenu
.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations
lateralization, which means that each side of the brain is specialized for specific tasks (Feldman,
2010). Bob’s brain and nervous system are also related to how he senses information and makes
meaning from those stimuli.
Sensation and Perception
Bob’s visual senses seem to be strong and appropriate for his age. He sees information
from the environment through visual sensation, and can make meaning out of what he sees
through visual processing. His retinas process visual stimuli in the environment and transfer
Note how this sentence provides
a transition to the next section on
sensation and perception. See
here for more information on
transitions:
http://academicguides.waldenu
.edu/writingcenter/paragraphs
/transitions
information through his optic nerve, which allows him to perceive depth perception and motion
of a tennis ball. Bob is experiencing a decline in his hearing ability, which is common as
individuals age (Feldman, 2010). Specifically, Bob struggles with sound localization, or
knowing where sounds are coming from. This could be due to something wrong with one of the
structures of Bob’s inner ear, or with the auditory nerve or auditory cortex, which help Bob turn
sound waves into meaningful auditory information (Feldman, 2010). Though most of Bob’s
Feeling overwhelmed by all your
research? See here for tips on
organizing:
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.edu/writingcenter/
writing-process/organizing
Not sure if you should divide the
information into two paragraphs
or keep as one paragraph? See
here for help with paragraphs:
http://academicguides.waldenu
.edu/writingcenter/paragraphs
brain structures are functioning properly for his age, his wife has concerns about his learning and
memory.
Learning and Memory
Bob’s profession as a chemical engineer shows that he had a strong ability to learn new
information and retain it over time. Kennedy (2010) reported that working memory, or shortterm memory, is commonly impacted in adults with memory loss, and that the area of the brain
responsible for recognizing faces “loses functionality with age” (p. 32). This might explain why
Bob did not recognize his old business partner in the grocery store; his declarative memory for
that person was impaired (Feldman, 2015).
It is also possible that Bob is experiencing problems with short-term memory. His wife
reports that he has been misplacing things around the house. He may not rehearse where he is
putting things, like his car keys, so that information does not make it from short-term memory
into his long-term memory. Rehearsal of new information makes that information meaningful,
and transfers it to long-term memory (Feldman, 2015). He maybe forgetting the location of his
keys because the memory of where he left them has decayed, or because he does not have the
proper cues to help him “find” that piece of information and retrieve it from his long-term
memory (Feldman, 2015).
Finally, Bob may be having difficulty recalling information that has already been stored
in his long-term memory. For example, sometimes the correct word for his crossword puzzle is
just beyond the reach of his memory; this is referred to as the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
(Feldman, 2015). His explicit memory for words and dates is not working quite right, but his
implicit and procedural memory seem to be intact because he remembers how to drive a car and
Note that if a direct quotation
must be used because paraphrasing would compromise the intent
of the message, a page number
must be included. Direct quotes
should generally be avoided;
paraphrase and summarize in
your own words instead. See
here for more information on
paraphrasing:
http://academicguides.waldenu
.edu/writingcenter/evidence/
paraphrase/effective
the rules of a tennis match. He may be highly motivated to maintain these abilities, as they make
him happy and make him independent.
Motivation and Emotion
Bob is highly motivated to continue living a productive life and doing the things that he
enjoys. The cognitive approach to motivation might say that Bob’s motivation to practice tennis
several times a week is due to his desire to win the “Old-Timers Tournament,” a yearly tennis
match for men over age 60 at his tennis club. According to Maslow’s hierarchy, Bob’s tennis
league gives him a sense of belonging and self-worth, and contributes to a state of selffulfillment (Feldman, 2015). His needs for achievement and affiliation further motivate him to
continue with his sport.
As a grown adult, Bob continues to experience the full range of human emotions, both
positive and negative. Sometimes at large social events, Bob seems to drift off and have a
difficult time following conversations, but if the group breaks into laughter, Bob will laugh, too,
and say that he is happy and having a great time. The Schachter-Singer theory of emotion would
explain this as Bob labeling the general arousal of being at a party as happiness based on the
environmental cues of joy and fun around him (Feldman, 2015). He sometimes feels frustrated
when his family expresses their concerns about his declining memory, but he tends to cope well
and “get over it” easily. Perhaps these strong coping skills are partially due to Bob’s
development as discussed in the next section.
Development
Bob’s twin brother provides a unique opportunity to examine which of Bob’s
characteristics are due to heredity, and which are due to his environment. In other words, we can
examine the nature-nurture issue by comparing Bob’s characteristics and behaviors to those of
his brother to help determine the relative influence of genes and environment (Feldman, 2015).
We know that Bob and his brother both have 23 chromosomes, and that their mother was
extremely healthy during her pregnancy, limiting her exposure to teratogens. The children had
strong, healthy attachments to both parents, who set limits, but also allowed them to make their
own decisions and experience consequences for their actions. This is consistent with an
authoritative approach to parenting (Feldman, 2015).
According to Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, Bob is moving from the
generativity-versus-stagnation stage, or from feeling like he is contributing to his family and
community, to the integrity-versus-despair stage, or reflecting on his accomplishments and
regrets in life (Feldman, 2015). The activity theory of aging would suggest that it is good that
Bob continues to exercise his body and mind with tennis and crossword puzzles, and that this
will help him feel fulfilled and happy as he ages. Indeed, happiness is part of what makes Bob
who he is.
Personality
Both Bob and his brother have both been described as active, sociable, independent,
disciplined, kind, and cold. These descriptions are consistent with the “Big Five” set of
personality traits (Feldman, 2015). These traits give a broad description of how Bob is likely to
be perceived by others, and help create a schema of his likely behaviors in different situations.
The fact that he shares these traits with his brothers suggest that there could be a biological basis
for Bob’s personality, or simply that he and his brother were raised together and have similar life
experiences that have shaped their personalities in comparable ways.
Bob’s wife has expressed concern about the changes she has noted in Bob’s memory.
Bob explains that he has been very busy lately, and that he just isn’t paying attention to where he
Note that information from other
sections of the paper can be
woven in throughout. This is
okay, and even brings a sense of
continuity or connectedness
between psychological topic
areas.
puts the keys, and that his mind is often distracted, which is why he cannot remember the
answers to the crossword puzzle. According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, Bob is using the
defense mechanisms of rationalization and denial to explain his behaviors (Feldman, 2015).
While this could be true, Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, discussed in the
Development section above, may also factor into Bob’s personality development. Regardless of
how Bob’s personality is described, it is clear that he maintains high self-esteem and selfefficacy about his tennis skills, believing that his hard work will help him to be successful in that
area of his life. Success in tennis is important to Bob, partially because it allows him to spend
time with his friends.
Social Behavior
Bob enjoys spending time with his friends and family, and has always put his
relationships first in life. Bob’s friends and family agree that he is difficult to persuade; if he
does not want to do something, it is difficult to get him to comply. Bob’s family wants him to
see a doctor who specializes in dementia, just to make sure that nothing has been missed by his
primary care physician. Bob’s family asks Bob’s eldest daughter to try to persuade him from an
emotional perspective, attempting to cause peripheral route processing, whereas his wife lays out
the facts and arguments in an attempt to cause central route processing. They hope that this
combination of routes to persuasion will be most effective in influencing Bob to comply with
their request. The family attempts to create cognitive dissonance by reminding Bob of how
much he wanted his wife to see a specialist when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Unfortunately, Bob has strong stereotypes about people with dementia, and he becomes stressed
when considering that he may become part of that group. This apprehension initiates the first
stage of the general adaptation syndrome model: alarm and mobilization (Feldman, 2015).
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ASCapaformatting
Thankfully, Bob has proven himself to be a resilient man, who copes with stress in healthy ways.
He also has a strong network of social support to help him deal with any diagnosis that comes his
way.
Conclusions
There are many areas of psychology that may seem to be quite different at first glance,
but applying the course topics to create a complete case study of Bob illustrates how they interact
and can be used to explain human thinking and behavior. The changes noted by Bob’s family
and friends can be partially explained by possible changes in his nervous system and modes of
sensing and perceiving his environment. Bob’s personality traits, motivation to succeed, and his
A strong conclusion summarizes
the major arguments presented
in the paper and gives the reader
a sense of closure. See here for
more information about writing
conclusions:
http://academicguides.waldenu
.edu/writingcenter/
writingprocess/conclusions
ability to learn and remember information contribute to a complete understanding of who Bob is
and how he acts in daily life. Additionally, the way he was raised influences how Bob reacts to
other people in his life, as well as personal stressors that he encounters. All of these factors,
taken together, make Bob the man he is and provide an answer to the question, “What about
Bob?”
Consider submitting your paper
to Grammarly, a program Walden
offers you free of charge, before
turning in your paper for
grading. To access Grammarly,
follow these instructions:
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accessing
You can also have a Walden
Writing Center tutor review your
paper before you submit it for
grading. See here on how to do
that:
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writingcenter/paperreviews
References
Feldman, R. (2012). Psychology and your life (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Kennedy, G. J. (2010). How neuroscience explains age-related changes in cognition:
Implications for the early diagnosis of dementia, Primary Psychiatry, 17(9), 30–33.
Note that every resource cited in
the paper is listed in the reference page. There are no references to sources that were not
cited in the paper.
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 selfworth 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.
©2015 Laureate Education, Inc.
2
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.
©2015 Laureate Education, Inc.
4
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
©2015 Laureate Education, Inc.
5
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
Name: PSYC_1001_Week5_Assignment_Rubric
Description: PSYC 1001 Week 5 Assignment Rubric Demonstration of Knowledge. Did the student fully
respond to each Assignment prompt? Do the responses demonstrate that the student applied and
learned the information or skills? Is the answer accurate?
•
•
Grid View
List View
A
B
Paragraph summarizing Individual (10 points)
9 (4.5%) - 10 (5%)
Complete summary of the individual;
all relevant information is included
8 (4%) - 8 (4%)
Satisfactory summary of the individual
most relevant information is included
Application of the following sections will be
scored with these point values (10 points for
each topic area. 30 Total points.):
- Brain and Behavior
- Sensation and Perception
- Learning and Memory
0 (0%) - 0 (0%)
Excellent application/analysis of
concepts, skills, or issues
AND
Is supported by evidence from the
assigned Learning Resources
0 (0%) - 0 (0%)
Good application/analysis of concepts,
skills, or issues
AND
Is supported by evidence from the
assigned Learning Resources
Brain and Behavior
9 (4.5%) - 10 (5%)
8 (4%) - 8 (4%)
Sensation and Perception
9 (4.5%) - 10 (5%)
8 (4%) - 8 (4%)
Learning and Memory
9 (4.5%) - 10 (5%)
8 (4%) - 8 (4%)
Application of the following sections will be
scored with these point values 25 points for each
topic area. 100 points total.):
- Development
- Motivation and Emotion
- Personality
- Social Behavior
0 (0%) - 0 (0%)
Excellent application/analysis of
concepts, skills, or issues
AND
Is supported by evidence from the
assigned Learning Resources
0 (0%) - 0 (0%)
Good application/analysis of concepts,
skills, or issues
AND
Is supported by evidence from the
assigned Learning Resources
Development
23 (11.5%) - 25 (12.5%)
20 (10%) - 22 (11%)
Motivation and Emotion
23 (11.5%) - 25 (12.5%)
20 (10%) - 22 (11%)
Personality
23 (11.5%) - 25 (12.5%)
20 (10%) - 22 (11%)
Social Behavior
23 (11.5%) - 25 (12.5%)
20 (10%) - 22 (11%)
Incorporation of journal article (10 points)
9 (4.5%) - 10 (5%)
8 (4%) - 8 (4%)
A
B
Information from journal article
thoroughly incorporated; relevance of
article is clear
Information from journal article
incorporated; relevance of article is
somewhat clear
Conclusion (10 points)
9 (4.5%) - 10 (5%)
All main points are thoroughly
summarized; sense of complete closure
8 (4%) - 8 (4%)
Most main points are satisfactorily
summarized; some sense of closure
Quality of Writing.
36 (18%) - 40 (20%)
No or very few MUGS errors
AND
Writing is always clear, well organized
AND
All work is properly citied and
referenced as per AWE
Writing is original, free of mechanics, usage,
grammar, or spelling (MUGS) errors, and
follows academic writing expectations (AWE)
guidelines for citing and referencing (40 points)
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