scientific defining theme of behavior therapy
- a commitment to a scientific approach that involves precision and empirical evaluation
- treatment protocols have been developed for many behavior therapies
- clients’ progress is monitored before, during, and after therapy using quantitative measurements of behaviors to be changed
- conclusions about effectiveness of behavior therapies are based on results of empirical research
active defining theme of behavior therapy
- clients engage in specific actions to alleviate problems
- action therapy instead of verbal therapy
- homework assignments for clients
- in vivo therapy
- self-control approach
in vivo therapy
- therapist can work directly with client in their natural environment
- therapist can train people in client’s life to assist in treatment
- clients can do therapy procedures on their own with therapist instructions and monitoring
change agents
people responsible for implementing treatment
present focus defining theme of behavior therapy
- focus on current rather than past circumstances
learning focus defining theme of behavior therapy
- many problem behaviors develop, are maintained, and change through learning
- provides learning experiences where new behaviors replace old behaviors
- influenced by basic learning principles
individualized therapy
standard therapy and assessment procedures are tailored to each client’s unique problem, circumstance that the problem occurs, and client’s personal characteristics
stepwise progression
- moving from simple to complex, easier to harder, less threatening to more threatening
treatment packages
two or more therapy procedures are often combined to increase effectiveness of the therapy
brevity
- duration of behavior therapy is relatively brief
overt behaviors
actions that people can directly observe
covert behaviors
- things we do that other cannot directly observe:
- cognitions: thinking, expecting, believing, etc.
- emotions: feelings
- physiological responses: muscle tension, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate
traits
concepts, not covert behaviors
cause of human behavior according to the behavioral model
a person’s behaviors are caused by present events that occur before and after the behaviors have been performed
antecedents
events that occur or are present before the person performs the behavior
consequences
events that occur after and as a result of the behavior
ABC model
- describes the temporal sequence of Antecedents, Behavior, and Consequences
maintaining conditions
specific antecedents and consequences that cause and individual to perform a behavior
functional analysis
the process of assessing the maintaining conditions of a behavior
categories of maintaining antecedents
prerequisites and stimulus control
prerequisites
motivation, knowledge, skills, resources
stimulus control
- cues or conditions that set the stage for behaviors to occur
- prompts: cues to perform a specific behavior
- setting events: environmental conditions that elicit a behavior (who is present, time of day, physical arrangement of environment)
maintaining consequences
- determine whether the behavior will occur again
- includes what happens directly to the person, to other people, and to the physical environment as a result of the behavior
- can be immediate or delayed, short term or long term
- maintaining consequences for today’s actions are the maintaining antecedents of tomorrow’s actions
hobart and willie mowrer
bell and pad technique
