1. Behavior Therapy
MEC 6400

2. Behavior Therapy
No single person is responsible for the development of behavioral theory of personality. Behavior therapy has it’s roots in experimental psychology and the study of the learning process in humans and animals :
Classical Conditioning (respondent conditioning) – Ivan Pavlov
Operant Conditioning– B.F. Skinner
Observational Learning

3. Behavior Therapy: Early Research
Classical Conditioning:
Focus on antecedents of behavior (the presentation of the CS before the UCS)
UCS (food) UCR (dog’s salivation)
CS (sound or light) CR (learned response - salivation- to the presentation of the CS)
A neutral conditioned stimulus is presented just prior to the unconditioned stimulus. Similar responses then are given (unconditioned response, conditioned response) to the conditioned stimulus.
Originator: Ivan Pavlov
Classical conditioning– type of learning in which a neutral stimulus is presented repeatedly with one that reflexively elicits a particular response so the neutral stimulus will eventually elicit the response itself.
Dogs salivated before food was put into their mouths….Pavlov observed that dogs had learned from environmental events that they were about to be fed….he was able to present a neutral stimulus (sound) before presenting food (unconditioned stimulus) and the dog’s salivation at the sight of the food was the unconditional response…the learned behavior was the conditional response…..the next few slides give the example in picture form

8. Behavior Therapy: Early Research
Operant Conditioning:
Focus on antecedents and consequences of overt behavior
Reinforce correct responses
Ignore incorrect responses
Shape behavior by controlling amount, frequency, and conditions under which reinforcement occurs
Originators: E.L. Thorndike and B.F. Skinner
Thorndike saw classical and operant conditioning as similar
Skinner saw differences:
He believed that operant conditioning is a type of learning in which behavior is altered by systemically changing consequences. Ex: A pigeon can learn to peck at a green light instead of a red light if the amount of food it receives after the pecking is controlled (reinforcement). His attempt to apply operant conditioning to human behavior drew much attention.
Example on next slide

9. Operant Conditioning

11. Behavior Therapy: Contemporary Research
Social cognitive theory (formerly known as social learning theory: Covert behavior, includes role of thoughts and behavior
Triadic Reciprocal Interaction System
Classical and operant conditioning focus on overt behavior…..social cognitive theories focus on behaviors that take place within the individual and cannot be observed.
Physiological= blood pressure and muscle tension
Thinking = observing, imagining, remembering
Feeling = emotions such as sadness and anger
Alfred Bandura proposed triadic reciprocal interaction system where the three factors (behavior, personal -including memories, beliefs, preferences, predictions, anticipations, and self-perceptions- and environment) operate interactively. These three factors operate interactively- one impacting the other two at all times.
At the center of the system is the self, a set of cognitive structures and perceptions that regulate behavior.
cognitive structures: self awareness, self-inducements and self-reinforcements that influence thoughts, behaviors and feelings.
Self-efficacy (how well people perceive they are able to deal with difficult tasks in life). A strong sense of self-efficacy is the ability to accomplish significant tasks, learn from observation, believe that one can succeed, and have a low level of anxiety.
Originator: Albert Bandura

12. Behavior Therapy: Concepts Derived From Observational Learning: Bandura
Attending to a model
Retaining information about the model
Motor reproduction - Reproducing the behavior of the model
Motivational processes - Repeat reinforced behavior
Another key concept of learning is that of learning through observation. Bandura, believes that reinforcement is not sufficient to explain learning and personality development—that kids learn through observing and modeling.
Four basic functions:
1. Attention: attending to a model
2. Retention: remembering the model
3. Motor reproduction: translating what is observed into behavior
4. Motivational process: repeating reinforced behavior
vicarious (observing someone getting reinforced)
self-reinforcement (intrinsic-athletes)

13. Goals of Behavior Therapy
Changing target behaviors - ones that can be defined clearly and accurately
Goals preferably arrived at in collaboration with clients by evaluating goals and possible outcomes
Goals for clients who can not choose raise ethical questions
Functional analysis– specifying goals and treatment by assessing antecedents and consequences of behavior. Analyze what is maintaining the behavior and propose a hypothesis about contributions to the behavior.
Therapist will use this information to guide treatment of the behavior and further specify goals.

14. Behavioral Assessment
Assessing discrete behaviors and their antecedents and consequences through the use of
Behavioral interviews - specific questions
Behavioral reports and ratings - e.g., BDI
Behavioral observations - natural or simulated
Physiological measurements - blood pressure, heart rate, respiration
The focus of behavioral assessment is current behavior. Past behavior is useful to the extent that it helps in specifying current behavior. Common methods used:
Interviews: ask about antecedents and consequences
Reports & ratings: brief ratings, either yes or no or on a scale
Observations: naturalistic or simulated
Physiological: blood pressure, heart rate, respiration
Need to be careful of:
inter-rater reliability (degree of agreement among raters)
reactivity (when clients change their behavior knowing they are being observed)

15. Systematic Desensitization
Step 1: Relaxation Relax body by learning a variety of relaxation methods
Step 2: Anxiety hierarchies a ladder of graded degrees of anxiety using a subjective units of discomfort scale (SUDs).
Example: Fear of exams
1. Five minutes before the psychology mid-term (80)
2. Walking to the psychology mid-term (70)
3. Midnight before the psychology mid-term (65)
10. Thinking about last year's math final (20)
Step 3: Desensitization
Relax the client
Present a neutral scene
Present scenes of increasing anxiety
Relax the client if the client becomes anxious
Return to a less anxious scene
Continue to move slowly up the hierarchy
Developed by Joseph Wolpe (1958).
Systematic desensitization– a specific procedure for replacing anxiety with relaxation while gradually increasing the imagined exposure to an anxiety-producing situation.
3 steps:
1. Relaxation: progressive, gradual relaxation. This involves tensing and relaxing muscle groups to achieve deeper levels of relaxation. Wolpe would ask patients to devote 10 to 15 minutes a day to relaxation.
2. Anxiety hierarchies: gathering detailed info about anxiety provoking events is the essence of constructing an anxiety hierarchy. Often times several hierarchies are constructed for several different fears. After describing the anxiety evoking events, clients assign a number from 0 to 100 (0 is total relaxation and 100 is extremely high anxiety) to each event. This is called a SUD’s scale (subjective units of discomfort scale)
3. Desensitization: start the desensitization process….relax the client…present a neutral picture (flower), have client rate it on the SUD scale, etc…

16. Behavior Therapy: Imaginal Flooding Therapy
Develop scenes that are anxiety producing to the client
Repeat the scenes again and again in the therapy hour
Rationale: Fear will be extinguished
In imaginal flooding the client is exposed to the mental image of a frightening or anxiety producing object or event and continues to experience the image until the anxiety begins to diminish. Clients are not in the “real” situation but rather an image of the situation (riding an elevator, spiders, flying in a plane)
Implosive therapy- a type of prolonged intense exposure to therapy in which the client imagines exaggerated (not realistic) scenes that include hypothesized stimuli.

17. Behavioral Therapy: Modeling Techniques (Bandura)
Types of Modeling Techniques:
1.Live modeling
2. Symbolic modeling
3. Self-modeling
4. Participant modeling
5. Covert modeling
Based in Bandura, modeling techniques provide an opportunity for clients to observe the behavior of another person ( a model) and then use the results of their own observations. Five basic functions of modeling are teaching, prompting, motivating (making a task enjoyable like cleaning a child’s room), reducing anxiety (watching another child go in the pool may reduce the anxiety of the child watching) and discouraging (discouraging a behavior like smoking)
Live= watch a model (can be the therapist)
Symbolic= films, videotapes, photographs or pictures
Role Playing= acting the part of someone, something else or as oneself under different conditions
Participant Modeling = therapist modeling a behavior and guide the client in the use of the behavior
Covert modeling= the client imagines a model as the therapist describes the activities of the model

18. Meichenbaum's Self-Instructional Training
Therapist models appropriate behavior
Client practices behavior
Client repeat's instructions to self
Instructions may be taped
Records of practicing the instructions may be made
Donald Meichenbaum developed two approaches that combine cognitive and behavioral methods.
Self-Instructional Training is a cognitive-behavioral therapy that teaches patients to instruct themselves verbally so that they may cope with difficult situations. This is a method of self management.

19. Meichenbaum's Stress Inoculation Approach: Self Management Skills
Conceptual phase - Gather information; teach client how to think about problem
Skills acquisition - Teach skill such as relaxation, cognitive restructuring, or self- reinforcement
Application - Rehearse statements, visualize scenes, practice behavior
Another self-management method, Meichenbaum’s Stress Inoculation Approach, clients use coping skills for dealing with stressful situations and then practicing the skills. Just like getting inoculated for measles, exposing the body to small amounts of the disease allow for a person to be vaccinated, this approach exposes clients to small amount of anxiety.
Conceptual phase: Gather information; teach client how to think about problem---- therapist points out that emotions and cognitions, not the events themselves, create, maintain and increase stress. Attention is paid to the client’s self-statements—fear of walking to work is actually more because of the clients self statements such as “I’m going to be mugged” or “I know there is someone out there waiting to get me”. The therapist works on the inner dialogue of the client and then works on ways of coping with fears
Skills acquisition phase: Teach skills such as relaxation, cognitive restructuring, or self-reinforcement
Application: rehearse statements, visualize scenes and practice behavior

20. One last word on Behavior therapies:
CBT - The Big Bang Theory