Assessment 2 Instructions:

Wisdom, Courage, and
Humanity Reflection Paper Write a 3–4 page paper reflecting on what you learned when completing a
positive psychology activity, how it relates to optimal human functioning, and how
you can apply that to your life.
Introduction
Note: You are encouraged to complete the assessments in this course in the
sequence in which they are presented. It is best to complete Assessment 1 first.
Assessment 1 will help to prepare you for the other assessments. It is best to
complete Assessment 4 last since it is the most complex of the four assessments.
A significant part of positive psychology is determining a person’s strengths and
building on those to enhance well–being. The VIA is one way to measure and
categorize strengths. Identifying your top strengths is an interesting academic
exercise, but it becomes more interesting and helpful when you can find ways to
use that information to improve your personal or professional life. In this
assessment, you reflect on what you learned when completing one of the positive
psychology activities related to wisdom, courage, or humanity and apply that
knowledge to your personal or professional life.
Overview
Note: You are encouraged to complete the assessments in this course in the
sequence in which they are presented. It is best to complete Assessment 1 first.
Assessment 1 will help to prepare you for the other assessments. It is best to
complete Assessment 4 last since it is the most complex of the four assessments.
Preparation
For this assessment, complete the VIA Survey of Character Strengths and one
of the wisdom, courage, or humanity activities in the Positive Psychology
Activities media piece. You are encouraged to record your personal reflections
(thoughts) and insights (things learned or relearned). These notes will help you
complete the assessment.
• In Section 2, complete Activity 2.1 VIA Survey of Character Strengths.
• In addition, complete one of the following activities in Section 2, 3, or 4.

o 2.2 Advice From Your Inner Sage.
o 2.3 Curiosity Activity.
o 2.4 Creative Thinking Activity.
o 3.1 Courage Activity.
o 3.2 Zest Activity.
o 3.3 Honesty Activity.
o 4.1 Sentence Completion.
o 4.2 Compassionate Love Scale.
o 4.3 Close Relationships Questionnaire.
o 4.4 Drive–by Flowering.
Use the Capella University Library to find scholarly articles. If you aren’t familiar
with the library, the “Finding Articles” section of the Psychology Research Guide is
a great place to start your search. You are required to include a minimum of 2
properly cited professional resources (such as a textbook and peer–reviewed
scholarly journal article).
Instructions
Organize your paper, using the following headings to ensure that you address
each element of the assessment.
• Activity Summary
o Describe the activity you are focusing on for this assessment.
o Summarize and explain your personal reflections and insights to demonstrate what
you learned from this experiential learning activity. What did you learn about
yourself or others?
• Relationship to Positive Psychology
o Explain how this experiential activity or the character strength it represents is
related to optimal human functioning. How does this activity demonstrate the
principles and concepts of positive psychology?
• Application to Personal or Professional Issues
o Summarize how what you learned from this activity and the study of character
strengths for this assessment may be applied to personal issues in your life or
professional issues as in an educational or work setting.
o Analyze the strengths and limitations (advantages and disadvantages, pros and
cons) of applying what you learned or the character strengths studied to the
personal or professional issues.
o Include supportive research findings related to these topics (at least one scholarly
peer–reviewed article in addition to supporting information from a textbook or a
professional source). Be sure to cite and reference all scholarly sources.
Additional Requirements
Your paper should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that
detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: Your paper should be formatted according to current Evidence and
APA guidelines.
• Number of References: Your paper should include at least two properly cited
professional resources (such as a textbook and at least one peer–reviewed scholarly
journal article from the Capella library).
• Length: 3–4 double–spaced pages of content in addition to the title page and
reference page.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12–point.
Review the Wisdom, Courage, and Humanity Reflection Paper Scoring Guide for
details on how your paper will be graded.
Portfolio Prompt: You may choose to save this learning activity to your ePortfolio.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your
proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
• Competency 1: Explain the relationship among positive experiences, positive traits,
and optimal human functioning.
o Explain how a particular activity demonstrates the relationship between
experiential activities or character strengths and optimal human functioning.
• Competency 2: Apply concepts of positive psychology to real world situations.
o Explain reflections and insights related to experiential learning activities.
o Apply concepts of positive psychology to personal or professional situations.
• Competency 3: Apply research findings to topics in positive psychology.
o Support analysis with research findings related to topics or issues.
• Competency 4: Analyze the strengths and limitations of applied positive psychology.
o Analyze the strengths and limitations of applying character strengths to personal or
professional issues.
• Competency 5: Write using a clear purpose, organization, tone, and sentence
structure.
o Address assessment purpose in a well–organized text with appropriate tone and
grammatically sound sentences.
o Use APA style formatting in citations and references.

Assessment 3 Instructions:

Meet the Washingtons: Case
Study
Write a 2–3 page paper that summarizes a member of the Washington family and
applies at least one cognitive or psychosocial theory, using scholarly research
and your textbook to support your claims.
Introduction
When working with clients representing different age groups, you will need to be
able to analyze their cognitive or psychological development to know how to
most effectively help them deal with an identified problem. You will need to be
able to identify why the client is displaying attitudes and behaviors and identify
ethical issues to consider when working with clients.
Preparation
Complete the Riverbend City: Meet the Washingtons interactive media piece.
Make sure you have done the following before starting the assessment:
• Choose a character from the case study media piece to study.
• Select at least one cognitive or psychosocial theory to apply to your chosen family
member and review your textbook for information on the theory.
• Choose a theoretical concept for the age group of your member and find at least one
scholarly research article that supports this concept.
• Review the brain activity for the character.
• Review the APA code of ethics to identify ethical issues to consider when working
the character.
Instructions
For this assessment, write a 2–3–page paper using the information you found
related to your chosen family member’s development. Analyze your chosen
family member’s cognitive or psychological development and their physical brain
development. Based on the theory you choose, the research article that supports
the theory, and the brain development of the family member you select, describe
why the character is displaying the attitudes and behaviors depicted in the case
study media piece. Describe ethical issues to consider when working with your
family member.

Submission Requirements
Use the APA Paper Template [DOC] to complete the following:
• Write a 2–3–page paper.
• Use in–text citations in the paper and create title and reference pages.
Additional Requirements
Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:
• Written communication: Writing should be free of errors that detract from the
overall message.
• APA formatting: References and citations should be formatted according to current
APA style and formatting.
• Paper length: 2–3 typed, double–spaced pages, not including the title page and
references page.
• Resources: One peer–reviewed source, your textbook, and the APA code of ethics.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your
proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring
guide criteria:
• Competency 1: Apply information literacy skills to topics in human lifespan
development.
o Evaluate research from scholarly articles.
• Competency 2: Interpret human behaviors using theories of human lifespan
development across developmental domains.
o Apply a psychological theory to a case study.
o Provide examples of contributions of biological, cognitive, or sociocultural domains.
• Competency 3: Explain research found in scholarly articles related to human
lifespan development.
o Apply research findings to a case study.
• Competency 4: Apply ethics to problems in human lifespan development.
o Apply ethics to problem presented in assessment.
• Competency 5: Communicate with clear purpose, organization, evidence, tone, and
sentence structure.
o Include APA–style citations when including references.
o Write an organized presentation with clear purpose, proper grammar, and with a
scholarly tone.

Assessment 4 Instructions: Applying

the DSM Create a 10–15 slide presentation in which you present information to an
interested audience about a particular psychological disorder in the DSM–5 and
describe how the diagnosis and the treatment have changed over time.
Introduction
Diagnoses change and evolve over time. Ensuring accuracy of diagnosis yields
the implementation of the best treatment and results. A common controversy in
psychology research and literature involves how to best study psychotherapy.
One argument is represented by a perspective that sees much of clinical practice
as unscientific and hopes to demonstrate that types of therapy are clinically
effective. This is usually done with randomized clinical trials, where the technique
in question is implemented with one group of clients and compared to a Control
condition, in which either no treatment, or some alternate technique is provided.
Critics disagree with this approach. They note that this research approach
emphasizes small and relatively meaningless distinctions between techniques,
focuses on brands of therapy rather than examining the common processes that
occur in counseling sessions, and does not allow us to study what actually leads
to change in psychotherapy.
Various scholars and practitioners have unique views on diagnosis and
treatments. Ensuring that literature and studies support your views with result in
effective implementation of the DSM–5.
Overview
For this assessment you will present information to an interested audience about
a particular psychological disorder in the DSM–5. You will be discussing how the
diagnosis and the treatment have changed over time so take this into
consideration as you choose the disorder you will address.
The following resource is required to complete the assessment.
• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of
mental disorders (5th ed.).
Instructions
To complete this assessment:
• Select one psychological disorder in the DSM–5 to use for this assessment. ​
• Consider your current workplace or community and select a target audience to
present your information to.

• Design a PowerPoint presentation in which you:
o Select a theory from the text or elsewhere and discuss how the theory would view
the causes of the specific disorder.
o Discuss the current diagnostic criteria for the disorder from the DSM–5. Provide a
brief case example which would meet the diagnostic criteria.
o Describe how the DSM–5 version of the diagnosis reconsiders the DSM–4 diagnosis.
o Describe the changes in treatment.
o Assess what lead to the changes of the diagnosis and treatment approaches. Use
current research to support your analysis.
o Support your analysis of the changes with evidence from scholarly research, at least
three of which should be from peer–reviewed journal articles.
Additional Requirements
• Title slide: Include your name, course, date, and faculty.
• References: DSM–5 and three or more peer–reviewed journal articles.
• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from
the overall message.
• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA style and
formatting.
• Length of presentation: 10–15 slides.
• Speaker notes: Included on each slide.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your
proficiency in the following course competencies:
• Competency 1: Apply relevant theories to issues in mental health.
o Apply theory to identify possible causes of an abnormal behavior.
• Competency 3: Apply the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM) to psychological disorders.
o Apply the DSM to identify client’s behaviors that correspond with diagnostic
criteria.
o Compare and contrast the DSM–4 and DSM–5 diagnostic criteria of a selected
disorder.
• Competency 5: Analyze treatment of psychological disorders.
o Describe the current and past treatment of a selected disorder. Describe the current
and past treatment of a selected disorder.
o Analyze what lead to the changes of the diagnosis and treatment approaches.
• Competency 6: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and
consistent with expectations for professionals in the field of psychology.
o Presentation is appropriate for the target audience, well–developed, concise,
logically organized, and utilizes correct punctuation, spelling, grammar, and
mechanics.
o Apply scholarly writing skills and use proper APA formatting and style in all papers
and reference lists.