Read the following scenario.
Marla is a 24-year-old woman who recently graduated from college and began a new job at an
advertising firm. She has come to see you, a behavior analyst, for what she reports as extreme
fear of social situations. When she is in a group of 3 or more people, she says her heart starts
racing, she gets sweaty, she stutters, and she shakes. In college, she avoided parties and large
gatherings and tended to keep to herself. Now that she is working, it is becoming increasingly
difficult for her to avoid social situations. Her boss and co-workers expect her to attend office functions and client parties, as networking is a large part of the job. Marla is very artistic and
creative and has already designed several successful ads for clients, but she is afraid that she
will lose her job because of the difficulties she is experiencing socially.
Your response should be written as if you are explaining your plan to Marla.
1. Identify a possible unconditioned stimulus and an unconditioned response in Marla’s case.
Identify the neutral stimulus, conditioned stimulus, and conditioned response from her case. Use
the diagram below.
USUR-NS-CSCR Diagram
2. Explain to Marla how you could help her modify her behavior utilizing either systematic
desensitization or in vivo desensitization. Provide a rationale for your selection.
Include the following in your behavior modification procedure:
A sample behavior hierarchy with at least 10 situations
At least one relaxation procedure
A description of how relaxation procedures and the behavior hierarchy are used together
