BEHAVIOR Theory
(B.F. Skinner)
• Basic Philosophy
a. Behavior is the product of learning; all behavior is learned whether the behavior
is maladaptive or adaptive
b. Applies principles of classical and operant conditioning
c. Roots in experimental psychology
d. Study of the learning process
• Key Concept
a. Person is the producer and the product of his environment
b. Action-oriented
c. 10 key characteristics of behavior therapy (Kazdin, 2001; Miltenberger 2004; Spiegler
and Geuvremont 2003):
Based on scientific method
Deals with current problems
Learning is the core of therapy
Teach clients skills of self-management
Assessing overt and covert behavior directly, identifying the problem and
evaluating change
Self – control approach
Treatment interventions are individually tailored
Collaborative partnership between therapist and client
Practical applications
Develop culture-specific procedures
d. Normal behavior is learned through reinforcement and imitation. Abnormal behavior is
the result of faulty learning.
Four Aspect of Behavior Therapy
1. Classical conditioning (Pavlov)
- In classical conditioning certain respondent behaviors such as knee
jerks and salivation are elicited from a passive organism
2. Operant Conditioning (Thorndike)
- Focuses on actions that operate on the environment to produce
consequence
- If the environmental change brought about by the behavior is
reinforcing, the chances are strengthened that the behavior will occur
again
- If the environmental changes produce no reinforcement, the chances
are lessened that the behavior will occur
3. Social Learning Approach (Bandura)
- Concept of self-efficacy
- Gives prominence to the reciprocal interactions between an
individual’s behavior and environment
4. Cognitive-behavior therapy
- Emphasizes cognitive processes and private events (such as client’s
self-talk) as mediators of behavior change
FOCUS:
- On overt behavior – action that people can directly observe
- Covert Behavior – those that tales place within the individual and cannot be observe
or at least not easily observe
- Self-efficacy
– deals with how well people perceive that they are able to deal with efficient tasks in
life one can succeed and have a low level of anxiety
- Ability to accomplish tasks, learn from observation, believe that one can succeed and
have a low level of anxiety
Goals
a. To increase personal choice and create new conditions for learning
b. To eliminate maladaptive behaviors and learn more effective behaviors
c. To focus on factors influencing behavior and find what can be done about problematic
behavior
d. Clients actively set goals and evaluate how the goals are met
Therapeutic Relationship
a. Therapist is active and directive
b. Functions of therapist: teacher or trainer; consultant; problem solvers; model
c. Clients must be active
d. A quality client-therapist relationship is essential for implementing behavioral
procedures, it is now viewed as sufficient
Techniques
a. Behavioral assessment – record of client’s complaint, frequency and intensity of
occurrences
b. Operant conditioning techniques
• Positive reinforcements – adding of something of value to the individual
• Negative reinforcements – escape from aversive stimuli
• Extinction – withholding reinforcement from a previously reinforced response
• Positive punishment – aversive stimulus is added after aversive behavior to
decrease the frequency of behavior
• Negative punishment – reinforcing stimulus is removed following the behavior
to decrease the frequency of behavior
c. Functional Assessment Model (Miltenberger, 2004)
d. Systematic desensitization (Wolpe, 1990) – imagine successively more anxiety-arousing
situations at the same time engage in a behavior that competes with anxiety
e. Relaxation methods (Jacobson, 1938) – muscle and mental relaxation
f. Exposure therapies
• In vivo desensitization – clients are exposed to actual feared situations in the
hierarchy; brief and graduated exposure to an actual fear situation or event.
• Flooding – exposure to anxiety-evoking stimuli for a prolonged period of time;
prolonged and intensive in vivo or imaginal exposure to highly anxiety-
provoking stimuli without the opportunity to avoid them
g. Eye movement and desensitization reprocessing (Shapiro, 2001) - EMDR – an exposure
–based therapy that involves imaginal flooding, cognitive restructuring, and the use of
rhythmic eye movements and other bilateral stimulation to treat traumatic stress
disorders and fearful memories of client.
h. Assertion and social skills training
i. Self-management programs and self-directed behavior
j. Modelling – observational learning
k. Multimodal Therapy (Lazarus)
• Technical Eclecticism (classical, operant, social cognitive)
• The BASIC ID (7 major areas of functioning
i. Behavior
ii. Affective Responses
iii. Sensations
iv. Images
v. Cognitions
vi. Interpersonal relationships
vii. Drugs, biological functions, nutrition and exercise
APPLICATION
- Phobia disorders
- Depression
- Sexual Disorder
- Children’s disorders
- Alcoholism, drugs
- Anxiety disorder
- Can be applied across level the full age spectrum from infant to elderly
Multicultural Implications
a. Focus on behavior is compatible with many cultures
b. Behavioral changes may not be valued by family
Summary
- Strong scientific base, starting from Pavlov, Skinner and Bandura
(Observational learning)
- Includes both positive and negative reinforcement, extinction of
unwanted behavior, shaping of desired behavior and modeling.
- Self-directed behavior – the therapist would first model the behavior
such as how to confront
