clinical psychology

Posted: December 10th, 2013

Part 1 Write 1 ½ pages or more on the following:
Environment and Biological Effects on Intelligence and Achievement

Intelligence tests are controversial, partly because they sometimes determine important aspects of people’s lives. For example, intelligence test scores have factored into determining school placement, identifying giftedness, and diagnosing mental retardation and learning disabilities. Even when an intelligence test shows that a child has normal intelligence, there might be speculation of a learning disability due to him or her falling behind in academic achievement. A child’s biology and environment influences his or her academic achievement as well. Children from different cultures and socioeconomic status have diverse experiences, beliefs, and attitudes which affect a child’s academic achievement. There are also differences in skills that caregivers emphasize during a child’s development that contribute to a child’s school readiness, which influences intelligence and achievement.
Intelligence and achievement are often used to determine many aspects of a person’s life, including the diagnosis of a learning disability. Most identifiers of learning disabilities are seen within the realm of intelligence and achievement. The Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 is an example of a federal mandate that allows for identification of indicators of learning disabilities, such as limited response to intervention or a meaningful discrepancy between a student’s intelligence and achievement scores. When diagnosing a learning disability in determining a child’s intelligence, a combination of indicators is more accurate than a single test score.

Part 2 Write 1 ½ pages or more on the following:
Moral Dilemmas and Moral Reasoning

Every day there are decisions you must make, some of which require moral reasoning. Should you tell the truth and risk hurting someone’ s feelings or tell a “little white lie”? Do you make a donation to feed the hungry or purchase something for your spouse? Piaget, Kohlberg, and Gilligan believed that it is not the decision a person makes that determines his or her level of moral development; rather, it is the rationale or reasoning behind the decision that is most telling. Haidt, on the other hand, examined the roles of culture and affect in relation to morality.

Consider how children of different ages might address the following analogous age-appropriate scenario:

Jane has been relentlessly asking her parents for a new toy she saw on television. Many of her friends’ parents have already purchased the toy for their children. Jane has told her parents this and explained to them how cool the toy is. Her parents, however, have told Jane they cannot afford the toy. One weekend, Jane is at the mall with her friend’s parent. While she is there, she notices something fall out of the pocket of the person in front of her. She quickly picks it up and realizes no one appears to have noticed. It’s a $20 dollar bill! She knows she can afford the toy she wants if she keeps the money. Should she tell her friend’s parent that her mom gave her the money to purchase the toy or should she give the money back?