Indiana Social Studies P.6.3
The Standard
Identify and describe the theories of maladaptive behaviors.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify biological, cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, and sociocultural explanations for behavior that causes distress or disrupts daily life. They describe how each theory might explain the same behavior.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a case of someone avoiding class presentations, a student can explain how anxious thoughts, learned avoidance, and social pressure might each play a part. They label each explanation correctly without treating it as a diagnosis.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume maladaptive means unusual, or that it always means someone has a diagnosed disorder. They may confuse thoughts with learned behavior, or assume a genetic link means behavior cannot change.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A student stops giving presentations after classmates laugh at them. Write one behavioral explanation and one cognitive explanation for the student's avoidance.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs theory cards and clue slips such as 'afraid of judgment' and 'relief after skipping'; have them sort the clues.
Ask, 'Why might two psychologists explain the same student's presentation avoidance differently?' Require a cognitive and a behavioral explanation.
Play theory bingo: read clues such as 'avoidance brings relief,' and students mark the matching theory on labeled bingo cards.
Post a mock headline, 'Study links genes to anxiety'; ask students which theory it fits and what other influence it leaves out.
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Printable P.6.3 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- S.8.7
Discuss theories that attempt to explain collective behavior.
- P.6.4
Discuss major categories of maladaptive behavior and distinguish which disorders (mood, anxiety, obsessive compulsive, schizophrenia, depressive, sleep) classif...
- P.6.1
Describe the characteristics defining maladaptive behavior and its diagnostic criteria (deviant, distressful, dysfunctional).
- P.6.2
Explain how both cultural and historical influences have affected the definition of maladaptive behavior, including the harmful effects of diagnostic labeling a...
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