Chapter 9
Behaviour therapy (BT):
- BT practitioners focus on:
o directly observable behaviour
o current determinant of bahaviour
o learning experiences that promote change
o tailoring treatment strategies to individual clients
o thorough assessment & evaluation
- BT = application of diverse techniques & procedures, which
are supported by empirical evidence
- behavioural procedures = used in fields of developmental
disabilities, clinical psychology, mental illness,
education, special needs education, community psych.,
sports psych., health-related behaviours, medicine &
gerontology
- BT origins = 1950s & 1960s = dramatic departure from the
dominant psychoanalytic perspective
- this field has diverse views = difficult to find agreement
- overlaps with other theoretical approaches
- 1960s
o Albert Bandura developed social learning theory –
combined operant & classical conditioning with
observational learning
o he made cognition a legitimate focus for behavioural
therapy
o number of cognitive behavioural approaches developed
– focus on cog. representations of the environment
rather than on characteristics of the objective envi.
- 1980s
o search for new concepts & methods that went beyond
traditional learning theory
- 2 of the most significant developments:
1
, 1. continued emergence of cognitive behaviour therapy as
a major force
2. the application of behavioural techniques to the
prevention & treatment of health-related disorders
- 1990s = Association of Behavioural & Cognitive Therapies
(ABCT)
- The newest development is sometimes known as the “third
generation/wave” of behaviour therapy and includes: (these
will be discussed later on)
o Mindfulness-based stress reduction
o Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
Functional assessment of behave. – ABC model
o Antecedent – something that happens
o Behaviour – follows the situation that occurred
o Consequences – of behaviour - increases of decreases
behave
Areas of development
- Classical conditioning: a neutral stimulus is repeatedly
paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits a particular
response
o result = neutral stimulus alone elicits the response
o Ivan Pavlov – experiment with dogs
▪ when food is paired with bell – dogs will
salivate at the sound of bell alone because they
know that it means food is coming
▪ this response will eventually diminish if the
food isn’t continuously paired with the bell
o Joseph Wolpe: systematic disensitisation is an eg. of
procedure that is based off of classical conditioning
▪ can be applied to people who through classical
conditioning, developed an intense fear of flying
after having a frightening experience while
2
, flying (flying & frightening experience were
paired)
- Operant conditioning
o type of learning in which behaviours are influenced
mainly by the consequences that follow them
o reinforcement = works like a reward strengthening the
tendency for a response to be repeated
o pos and neg reinforcement: goal = increase target
behave.
o positive reinforcement = adding desirable stimulus to
increase the likelihood of a behave. eg. offering a
bonus to an employee who meets sales target =
increases hard work & sales performance – so it needs
to be of value to the person
o negative reinforcement = increase bahav. By removing
an aversive stimulus eg. a student studies diligently
to avoid the stress of failing the exam (removing
aversive stimulus of potential failure)
o extinction = goal is to decrease or eliminate a
behave. by withholding reinforcement from a previously
reinforced response eg. ignoring child’s tantrums –
no pos. or neg. reinforcement for the child
o negative & positive punishment – want to decrease
behave.
▪ pos. – adding aversive stimulus to decrease an
undesirable behave. eg. giving a fine for
speeding (add aversive financial conseq.) to
reduce speeding or eg. . a child gets a time out
because they were misbehaving
▪ neg. – remove a pleasant stimulus eg. taking away
child’s phone bec they broke curfew
- Social cognitive theory – Alber Bandura
3
Behaviour therapy (BT):
- BT practitioners focus on:
o directly observable behaviour
o current determinant of bahaviour
o learning experiences that promote change
o tailoring treatment strategies to individual clients
o thorough assessment & evaluation
- BT = application of diverse techniques & procedures, which
are supported by empirical evidence
- behavioural procedures = used in fields of developmental
disabilities, clinical psychology, mental illness,
education, special needs education, community psych.,
sports psych., health-related behaviours, medicine &
gerontology
- BT origins = 1950s & 1960s = dramatic departure from the
dominant psychoanalytic perspective
- this field has diverse views = difficult to find agreement
- overlaps with other theoretical approaches
- 1960s
o Albert Bandura developed social learning theory –
combined operant & classical conditioning with
observational learning
o he made cognition a legitimate focus for behavioural
therapy
o number of cognitive behavioural approaches developed
– focus on cog. representations of the environment
rather than on characteristics of the objective envi.
- 1980s
o search for new concepts & methods that went beyond
traditional learning theory
- 2 of the most significant developments:
1
, 1. continued emergence of cognitive behaviour therapy as
a major force
2. the application of behavioural techniques to the
prevention & treatment of health-related disorders
- 1990s = Association of Behavioural & Cognitive Therapies
(ABCT)
- The newest development is sometimes known as the “third
generation/wave” of behaviour therapy and includes: (these
will be discussed later on)
o Mindfulness-based stress reduction
o Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
Functional assessment of behave. – ABC model
o Antecedent – something that happens
o Behaviour – follows the situation that occurred
o Consequences – of behaviour - increases of decreases
behave
Areas of development
- Classical conditioning: a neutral stimulus is repeatedly
paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits a particular
response
o result = neutral stimulus alone elicits the response
o Ivan Pavlov – experiment with dogs
▪ when food is paired with bell – dogs will
salivate at the sound of bell alone because they
know that it means food is coming
▪ this response will eventually diminish if the
food isn’t continuously paired with the bell
o Joseph Wolpe: systematic disensitisation is an eg. of
procedure that is based off of classical conditioning
▪ can be applied to people who through classical
conditioning, developed an intense fear of flying
after having a frightening experience while
2
, flying (flying & frightening experience were
paired)
- Operant conditioning
o type of learning in which behaviours are influenced
mainly by the consequences that follow them
o reinforcement = works like a reward strengthening the
tendency for a response to be repeated
o pos and neg reinforcement: goal = increase target
behave.
o positive reinforcement = adding desirable stimulus to
increase the likelihood of a behave. eg. offering a
bonus to an employee who meets sales target =
increases hard work & sales performance – so it needs
to be of value to the person
o negative reinforcement = increase bahav. By removing
an aversive stimulus eg. a student studies diligently
to avoid the stress of failing the exam (removing
aversive stimulus of potential failure)
o extinction = goal is to decrease or eliminate a
behave. by withholding reinforcement from a previously
reinforced response eg. ignoring child’s tantrums –
no pos. or neg. reinforcement for the child
o negative & positive punishment – want to decrease
behave.
▪ pos. – adding aversive stimulus to decrease an
undesirable behave. eg. giving a fine for
speeding (add aversive financial conseq.) to
reduce speeding or eg. . a child gets a time out
because they were misbehaving
▪ neg. – remove a pleasant stimulus eg. taking away
child’s phone bec they broke curfew
- Social cognitive theory – Alber Bandura
3
