Rick Parker
February 24, 2010
Psy 201
Reality Therapy/Operant Conditioning Activity
Scenario: A 15 year old adolescent is taught to abstain from drinking alcohol. He and his
friends go out to local theatre parking lot. All of his classmates are standing around with
a case of Coors Light. The adolescent decides to drink a few beers. When he comes
home, his parents smell the beer on his breath. They scold and ground him for a month.
The adolescent knew that he would get punished. Why did he choose to drink the beer?
What needs were being met? What was the reinforcement? What was his cognitive
rationale?
Scenario: One of my close friends ran around judging people his whole life during
adolescence. His father left them when my friend was 15 years old. He was having
affairs, and he also was living with another girlfriend. My friend used to say that his
father was an idiot. Seventeen years later, my friend’s wife left him. My friend was
manipulating his wife, and she lost respect for him. When the couple got a divorce, my
friend got angry and blamed God. He was mad at God for allowing his wife to leave. He
begins to drink heavily and carouse. He eventually brings in a woman to live with him.
Why? Explain in terms of Reality Therapy/operant conditioning.