1. Social and Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology Crosbie-Burnett, M., & Lewis, E. A. (1993). Theoretical contributions from social and cognitive-behavioral psychology. In P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 531-558). New York: Plenum Press.

2. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Historical Development  Behaviorism (emphasis on the work of John B. Watson)  Modeled his work on principles of classical conditioning (Pavlov) and operant conditioning (Thorndike).  Mental processes were considered habits that were not connected to the brain.  Major contribution: theoretical. è Suggested that conditioned responses were forms of learning. è Suggested that all behavior was learned; children were not active agents in their own development.  Social Psychology: influenced by William James and Gorddon Allport.  The Second Wave of European Influence  Psychoanalytic: Alfred Adler, and other’s fleeing Nazi oppression, settled in the U.S. In contrast to behaviorism, Adler argued that internal processes were important.  Gestalt (e.g., Lewin): attacked behaviorism for it’s molecular approach and denial of consciousness

3. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Historical Development: Social Learning Theory (Social Cognitive Theory)  Albert Bandura integrated social psychology, cognitive psychology, and behaviorism.  Reciprocal determinism: environment, intrapersonal factors, and behavior are interacting determinants of each other (see Figure 21-1).

4. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Social-Cognitive Theory: Emphasizes Unique Human Capabilities:  Ability to use symbols  allows humans to form guides for future reference,  generate innovate course of action.  permits solutions symbolically by estimating outcomes.  Forethought regulates most behavior which allows humans to  anticipate consequences,  set goals,  plan.  Vicarious learning allows efficient learning.  Self-regulation provides humans with the capacity to compare their behavior to internal standards.  Self-reflection permits analysis of experience and analysis of thought processes which is used to judge our own abilities, forming self-efficacy.

5. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Assumptions About Human Nature  Behavior is learned: human behavior is plastic and malleable.  Humans actively seek, select, and use information in order to  construct a view of reality,  meet their basic needs.  Cognitive activity can be consciously assessed, monitored, and altered.  Therapeutic goal: overt manipulation of behavior is ethical.

6. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Assumptions About Couples and Families  Their model is descriptive, not prescriptive: it focuses on  how families interact,  the consequences of these interactions.  The model is value free, but researcher’s and clinicians are not so their descriptions are influenced by  culture,  gender,  socioeconomic class.  The model does not presume family structure.  The values of individuals in a family influence family process.

7. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Concepts from Social Psychology  Attributions:  Causal attribution: explanations for locus, stability, and globality of a person’s behavior.  Responsibility attribution: assessment of blame.  Coercion: the process of controlling someone’s behavior by acting aversively to force compliance.  Dominance and Equity: a dominant person has more control of resources; an asymmetrical distribution of power.  Environment: physical and social surroundings.  Model: a person who provides examples for behavior.  Reciprocity: tendency for people to reinforce or punish each other at approximately equitable rates.

8. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Concepts from Cognitive Psychology  Cognitions include  selective attention,  perception,  memories,  self-talk,  imagery,  attitudes,  beliefs,  expectations,  and attributions.  Social Cognitions: cognitions about person’s in one’s environment.

9. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Concepts from Cognitive Psychology (cont.)  Cognitive Mediation: attribution of meaning to a stimulus.  Schemata:  A mental structure that is used to acquire and organize knowledge.  Long-standing, relatively stable basic assumptions about the world and personal agency.  Behavior: any observable action or series of actions, including spoken and nonverbal communication.  Behavioral Deficit or Skills Deficit: behavioral skills that a person does not have.  Behavioral Excesses: behaviors which are engaged in frequently enough to be problematic (e.g., conversation dominance, interruptions).

10. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson The Model: How the Major Concepts Link  Environments  Family members share social and physical environments, to some degree. è There is variability in time spent between family members. è Space also varies between family members.  Influence on intrapersonal and behavioral factors: è Physical environment affects behavior and intrapersonal factors. è Family members serve as models, reinforcers, punishers. è Unlike other social environments, there are financial and legal entanglements.

11. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson The Model: How the Major Concepts Link (cont.)  Intrapersonal Factors: some are permanent, some change developmentally, and some change from moment-to-moment.  Characteristics of individual family members such as genetic factors which influence è physical appearance, è mental and physical health, è temperament, è and predispositions.  Personality characteristics.  Intelligence.  Abilities.  Physiological factors.  Cognitions.  Emotions.  Behavior  Influences sense of competence.  Can change the physical environment.

12. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Research with Couples  Behavior in marriage (based on Gottman, et al.). Unhappy couples in conflict showed  higher rates of negative behavior,  more reciprocity of negative behaviors,  and less variability in their behavior patterns.  Cognition in marriage  Studies of beliefs about marriage such as Fitzpatrick’s (1988) marital typology.  Studies of attributions use to explain a partner’s behavior: the message sent by a partner is not the same as the one received.  Affect in marriage: coercive sequences and reciprocity of negative behaviors is associated with marital distress, not anger per se (again based on the work of Gottman and his colleagues).

13. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Research with Families  Behavior in families:  Gerald Patterson and his colleagues have demonstrated that antisocial behavior is often unintentionally reinforced through repeated interactional sequences.  This research has only recently simultaneously considered contextual risk factors (e.g., poverty, stress, substance abuse, difficult temperament in an infant, high- crime neighborhood, and marital conflict).  Cognition in families: although there has been research on family-related cognitions of children, the study of cognitions within families is just beginning.

14. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Strengths  Provides tools to study families at the microscopic level, focusing on family processes.  Research has been self-correcting and clearly operationalized.  Therapeutic interventions are based on empirical research.  Characteristics (e.g., depression) can be conceptualized at the individual and systemic levels.  Diversity issues can be addressed if there is attention to schemata.  Provides a basis for public policy.

15. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Limitations  May underestimate biological factors.  It does not address critical periods and stages of development.  It has difficulty measuring and explaining subtle behavior which may be subjectively interpreted.  Poor application to triadic or group relationships.  Development and application of theory has occurred in Western culture. Generalization of research to diverse populations is problematic.

16. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Figure 21-1: Bandura’s Model of Reciprocal Determinism Intrapersonal Domain Social & Physical Environmental Domain Behavioral Domain

17. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson Figure 21-2: Social, Cognitve, Behavioral View of Family Interaction BehaviorIntrapersonal Social & Physical Environment Family Member B Family Member A Family Member C Behavior Intrapersonal CULTURE/ COMMUNITY