User:Jeouellette/sandbox

Article evaluation
I chose to evaluate the Whale Shark article on Wikipedia. All of the information in the article appears to be relevant. The article mentions 3 ridges on whale sharks’ sides, but did not mention the purpose of these ridges, which distracted me slightly. In one section, the article states that whale sharks are active feeders unlike other kinds of sharks that use passive feeding. It then goes on to say that whale sharks also use passive feeding. It is possible it does both, but the way it is worded in the first sentence suggests that it only uses active feeding, so it needs some clarification. The article did not seem biased. It especially did a good job remaining neutral on captivity of whale sharks, presenting both the successes and failures of keeping whale sharks in captivity. The reproduction section is underrepresented, but only because there is very little information about whale shark reproduction. Most links from citations worked and supported claims made in the articles. I did find one link from a citation that worked, but the page said I was unauthorized to view the page. The only things that I found that were definitely not from reliable sources were the pictures and videos used, but they seemed okay to me as they are not taking actual information from these pages, just the media. There are also a few facts that come from different newspapers, which I questioned to be reliable and appropriate references. The information in this article appears to be up to date. When going through the references and looking back at the information, it all seemed to be recent enough or to be rightfully dated. There are a lot of conversations confirming/falsifying facts and asking for additions. There is also a lot about reorganizing the content into the correct categories and clarifications of facts. This article is a ‘Natural sciences good article’, according to the Talk page. It is rated as a good article and is part of the WikiProject Sharks as GA-class, top-importance and WikiProject Fishes as GA-class, high importance. As we have not discussed this topic in class, I am unable to compare Wikipedia’s discussion of the topic to our own. I added a sentence in the Description section of this article about the location of whale sharks' mouths compared to that of many other species of sharks, and added a citation.

Idea for Project 2
I am thinking of editing the article on Ole Ivar Lovaas, the Aversion therapy article, or the Low-functioning autism article.

Ole Ivar Lovaas Lead
Ole Ivar Lovaas is a psychologist, most commonly known for his work in developing Applied Behavior Analysis as a treatment for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). He was raised in Norway and then educated at Luther College and the University of Washington. He spent his career working with individuals with autism and working to develop a more effective treatment for the disorder. He passed away in August of 2010 at the age of 83.

Lovaas Edits Draft
NOTE: The things in bold are what I have added thus far. Things not bolded are from the current article.

Ole Ivar Løvaas PhD (8 May 1927 – 2 August 2010)[1][2] was a Norwegian-American clinical psychologist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is considered to be a pioneer within the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) through his development of discrete trial training (DTT), and was the first to provide evidence that the behavior of children with autism could be modified through teaching.[3][medical citation needed] In 1999, the U.S. Office of the Surgeon General described Lovaas's techniques as having been shown to be efficacious at "reducing inappropriate behavior and in increasing communication, learning, and appropriate social behavior" which is based on "thirty years of research."[4]

Education

'''Lovaas attended Hegg Elementary School in Lier from 1934 to 1941. He attended junior high school at Drammen Realskole until 1944, and then moved on to Drammen Latin School for high school, graduating in 1947.'''

'''Lovaas attended Luthor College in Decorah, Iowa, graduating in 1951 after just one year with his BA in sociology. He received his Masters of Science in clinical psychology from the University of Washington in 1955, and his Ph.D. in learning and clinical psychology from the same school 3 years later.'''

Career

Early in his career, Lovaas worked at the Pinel foundation, which focused on Freudian psychoanalysis. '''After earning his PhD, Lovaas worked at the University of Washington’s Child Development Institute, where he first learned of behavior analysis. He began teaching at UCLA in 1961 in the Department of Psychology. Here he worked with children with autism spectrum disorder at the school’s Neuropsychiatric Institute. He started an early intervention clinic at UCLA called the UCLA Young Autism Project, which focused on intervention in the home setting. He was a well-known professor at UCLA, and was named Professor Emeritus in 1994. Lovaas also established the Lovaas Institute for Early Intervention (LIFE), which provided services to children with autism.'''

Lovaas method[edit]

Ole Ivar Lovaas received his undergraduate degree in psychology in 1951 from Luther College. He then obtained a doctoral degree in clinical psychology in 1958 from the University of Washington where his work was influenced by pioneers in the field of applied behavior analysis, such as Sidney W. Bijou, Donald Baer, Montrose Wolf, Todd Risley and James Sherman. Lovaas's research on the application of Charles Ferster's errorless learning for forty hours per week has become the treatment of choice for young children with autism.

Findings of independent peer reviewed and replicated research studies associated with the Lovaas method[5] have shown that approximately 47% of children can achieve normal functioning and subsequently succeed in regular education without assistance, 43% will make significant progress but continue to demonstrate language delays, 10% will make little progress, though some have disputed these findings.[6]

In his original studies in the late 1950s aversives such as electric shock successfully treated many individuals engaging in extreme self-injury (eye gouging, head banging) whose life expectancy was reduced by secondary infection. Subsequent studies were on extinction methods, in which attention is given only when persons are not engaging in self-injury. Lovaas's use of highly aversive methods, uncommon even in his time, are now very rarely used and controversial in the field.[7]

The "Lovaas method" includes high treatment intensity up to 40-hours per week in a 1:1 teaching setting using discrete trials, treatment is done at home with parents involved in every aspect of treatment, the curriculum is highly individualized with a heavy emphasis on teaching language, and ABA principles are used to motivate learning and reduce non-desired behaviors. The "Lovaas Method" went on the become "Early Intensive Behavior Intervention" or "EIBI." In addition to being one of the founders of ABA, Dr. Lovaas taught now prominent behaviorists such as Robert Koegel, Laura Schreibman, Ted Carr, Ron Leaf, Tristram Smith, Doreen Granpeesheh, Jacquie Wynn, Annette Groen, John McEachin and over 20,000 students at UCLA who took his course during his 50 years of teaching. He co-founded what is today the Autism Society of America (ASA), published hundreds of research articles and books, received state and national awards, and forced school districts to adopt evidenced based teaching programs. His work influenced how autism was treated, and affected the lives of parents and children diagnosed with autism worldwide.[citation needed]

The whole approach is disputed, though, by advocates of neurodiversity,[8] such as Michelle Dawson or Ari Ne'eman, who claim it forces people to repress their true personalities on behalf of a narrow conception of normality. Edward K. Morris of the University of Kansas has argued that this position grossly misrepresents the actual goals of applied behavior analysis interventions and the standard practices of behavior analysts.[9]

Work with George Rekers on gender-variant children[edit]

In addition to his extensive work with autistic children, in the 1970s Lovaas co-authored four papers with George Rekers on children with atypical gender behaviors.[10][11][12][13] The subject of the first of these studies, a 'feminine' young boy who was homosexual of 4 and half years old at the inception of treatment, committed suicide as an adult; his family attribute the suicide to this treatment.[10][14][15][16]

Following his suicide in 2010, the man's sister told the news that she read his journal which described how he feared disclosing his sexual orientation because when receiving the behavior modification treatment as a young boy, his father would give him spankings if he was given a different color "poker chip" as punishment for feminine-like behavior when playing with dolls.

Personal life[edit]

Lovaas was born in Lier, Norway '''on May 8, 1927 to Hildur and Ernst Albert Lovaas(1). He had 2 siblings: an older sister named Nora and a younger brother named Hans Erik. He was a farm worker during the 1940s Nazi occupation of Norway. [17] After graduating high school, he served in the Norwegian Air force for 18 months.''' After the war, Lovaas earned a music scholarship to Luther College in the American state of Iowa. He earned his undergraduate degree at Luther College and his doctorate in psychology from the University of Washington. '''Lovaas married Beryl Scoles in 1955, and together they had four children. After his divorce from Beryl, he married his second wife Nina, with whom he had no children. He is survived by his wife Nina, his children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren'''.[17]

Awards[edit]

Lovaas received many awards for his work in the field of psychology. In 2001, he was awarded the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Distinguished Career Award. [18] '''He received the Edgar Doll Award from the 33rd Division of the American Psychological Association, the Lifetime Research Achievement Award from the 55th Division of the American Psychological Association, and the Award for Effective Presentation of Behavior Analysis in the Mass Media by the Association for Behavior Analysis International. He was also awarded a Guggenheim fellowship and the California Senate Award, which is an honorary doctorate. He was named a Fellow by Division 7 of the American Psychological Association and was given the Champion of Mental Health Award by Psychology Today.'''

Bibliography[edit]

·       Teaching Developmentally Disabled Children: The Me Book, 1981

·       Teaching Individuals With Developmental Delays: Basic Intervention Techniques, 2003