Discuss three different ways that the success of therapy can be assessed. What factors complicate the determination of
whether or not treatment is successful?
What will be an ideal response?
In order to determine whether or not treatment has been effective, some change needs to have occurred. Thus,
some measure to effectiveness is needed, as well as a source of the necessary information. It should be noted,
however, that sometimes people get well just with the passage of time. This must be considered when
considering the effectiveness of treatment did the treatment work, or would the person have improved without
any care? Establishing whether or not improvements have occurred can be assessed with information obtained
from the therapist, the client, family or friends of the client, test scores, and/or the measurement of over behavior.
Clearly, a number of these information sources are likely to be biased, either for treatment success or against it.
Ideally, an independent source would assess treatment success and the measures employed would be objective.
Obviously, this may or may not be possible.
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Nadine has been depressed for several months. She is considering cognitive-behavioral therapy. What advice would you give her?
A. "Cognitive-behavioral therapy is much less effective than interpersonal therapy and takes much longer, too." B. "Many studies have shown the usefulness of cognitive-behaviorial therapy, and it seems to prevent relapse and recurrence." C. "Drug treatment is much more effective than cognitive-behavioral therapy and has less likelihood of relapse." D. "The only way that cognitive-behavioral therapy is of any value is if it is coupled with family therapy."
If a child is not intrinsically motivated by learning, a teacher or parent should
a. initially use small extrinsic rewards, then phase them out. b. wait for the necessary skills to develop on their own as the child matures. c. increase the size of the extrinsic incentives gradually. d. ask the child which extrinsic rewards they would prefer to help them learn.