What is Behaviorism?

Psychology is a science studying the way of thinking and behavior of human beings.
It emphasizes external behaviors
Behavior is objective and observable, where as what goes on in one’s mind cannot be totally known or measured
Behavior is the response of an organism to stimuli
Stimulus >>>> Response

View of Human Nature

A person uses the environment to produce him/herself as the final product
So long as we can increase one’s individual freedom, one’s skills are increased
Action-oriented approach
One is responsibility for one’s behavior

History of Behaviorism

Ivan Pavlov (1948-2008)

a Russian physiologist discovered Classical Condition Dogs were primary study objects – thank you

Behaviorist Theories of Learning

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov, Watson)
- A natural stimulus (NS) that produces a response (reflex action) is coupled with a conditioned stimulus (CS) so that an association is formed.
- NS —Response
- NS + CS— Response
- CS—-Response
- Learning is developing a new stimuli-response association – A conditioned stimuli comes to produce the same response as the original, natural stimuli

Pavlov, Watson – Respondent behavior: elicited by specific observable stimulus

…and more History

John B. Watson (1916, 1926)
An American psychologist
Credited as the founder of behaviorism
- Watson strove to make the new field of psychology more scientific
- He believed that all behavior, even what appeared instinctive, is the result of conditioning that occurs in response to a stimulus

Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to be any type of specialist I might select – a doctor, a lawyer, artist…”
– Watson 1924

… and even more History

B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990), an American psychologist who was also very interested in education
- Behavior is sustained by reinforcements or rewards, not by free will
- The Skinner box and teaching machines
- Dealt only with observable behavior
- To establish functional relationships between experimenter-controlled stimulus and organism’s response
- No presumptions about internal entities: The “empty organism” approach

Behaviorist Theories of Learning: Operant Conditioning

Simply reinforcing a behavior or rewarding the desired response can condition a response to a stimulus
Associations are developed as a result of the consequences of a behavior rather than its stimuli

Law of Effect (Thorndike):
- Behaviors that are rewarded are more likely to occur again; behaviors that are not rewarded are less likely to occur again

Law of Exercise (Thorndike):
- Behavior is more strongly established through frequent connections of stimulus and response (habit, no reward necessary)

Shaping behavior (Skinner):
- teachers using carefully directed, contingent rewards can create almost any behavior in students. Shape the behavior by starting simple and build up

Schedules for reward (Skinner):
- rewards not only create behavior, but also maintain it. If you reinforce on an irregular schedule, the behavior is more likely to be maintained

Operant Conditioning Techniques

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT = increasing a behavior by administering a reward
- giving out candies
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT = increasing a behavior by removing an aversive stimulus when a behavior occurs
- ointment on rash
POSITIVE PUNISHMENT = decreasing a behavior by administering an aversive stimulus
- electric shock
NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT = decreasing a behavior by removing a positive stimulus
- Time-out, fines for speeding
EXTINCTION = decreasing a behavior by not rewarding it
- Not giving out candies

Schedules of Reinforcement:

Interval schedules: reinforcement occurs after a certain amount of time has passed
- Fixed Interval = reinforcement is presented after a fixed amount of time
- Variable Interval = reinforcement is delivered on a random/variable time schedule

Ratio schedules: reinforcement occurs after a certain number of responses
- Fixed Ratio = reinforcement presented after a fixed# of responses
- Variable Ratio = reinforcement delivery is variable but based on an overall average # of responses

**Schedules of Reinforcement**: **Cumulative Responses**

Behavior Therapy

A set of clinical procedures relying on experimental findings of psychological research
- Based on principles of learning
  - Treatment goals are specific and measurable
- Focusing on the client’s current problems
  - From maladaptive to adaptive behaviors
- Largely educational: teaching clients skills of self-management

Therapeutic Goals

General goals: Increase personal choice and create new conditions for learning
To eliminate maladaptive behaviors and learn more adaptive behaviors
Client and therapist collaboratively decide the concrete, measurable, and objective treatment goals

Four Aspects of Behavior Therapy

1. Classical Conditioning

A neutral stimulus is repeated paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits a particular response

Eventually the neutral stimulus alone elicits the response

2. Operant Conditioning

Focuses on actions that operate on the environment to produce consequences
- 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 recur

3. Social Learning Approach

Gives prominence to the reciprocal interactions between an individual’s behavior and the environment

4. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Emphasizes cognitive processes and private events (such as client’s self-talk) as mediators of behavior change

Therapist’s function and Role

Be active and directive
As an consultant and problem solvers – bearing in mind that the client is the “expert” of his/her life
Conduct a thorough functional assessment, formulate initial treatment goals, use strategies for behavior change, evaluate the success of the change, and conduct a follow-up assessment
Role modeling (observing others’ behavior)

Client’s Experience in Therapy

To be taught concrete skills
To be motivated to change
To enlarge the options for adaptive behaviors
To continue implementing new behaviors

Relationship Between Therapist and Client

Therapeutic relationship can still contribute significantly to the process of behavior change
The client’s positive expectations and hope for change contribute to successful outcomes
Common factors (warm, empathy, acceptance et al.) are necessary but not sufficient for behavior change to occur.
Belief of the cause of therapeutic change is specific behavioral techniques instead of therapeutic relationship

Therapeutic techniques and procedures

Operant conditioning techniques
- positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, extinction, positive punishment, and negative punishment
Functional assessment model
Relaxation training
- to cope with stress
Modeling
- observational learning
Systematic Desensitization
- type of counter-conditioning
- associates a pleasant, relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli
- commonly used to treat phobias
Flooding
- Prolonged & intensive in vivo or imaginal exposure to highly anxiety-evoking stimuli without the opportunity to avoid them
Aversive Conditioning
- type of counter-conditioning that associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior
- nausea —> alcohol
Token Economy
- an operant conditioning procedure that rewards desired behavior
- patient exchanges a token of some sort, earned for exhibiting the desired behavior, for various privileges or treats
Assertion Training
- social-skills training
Self-management strategies
- Self-monitoring, self-reward

Summary and Evaluation

Limitations
- Change behavior, not feelings
- Ignore relational factors
- Not provide insight
- Treat symptom rather than causes
- Control and manipulation by the therapist

See You At The Top

Couseling Service – Behavior Therapy