Skinner: Radical Behaviorism

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Behavior and Cognitive Behavior Therapy

• Skinner Radical Behaviorism
• Bandura, Ellis, Beck Meicheanbaum

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Compare -- Contrast Humanistic Theories Person
Centered-Existential-Gestalt

• Common Themes
• List ways in which the three approaches are
  similar
• Distinct aspects each approach emphasizes
• Central focus of each approach
• Unique ideas, constructs, and/or techniques each
  brought to counseling practice

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Areas of Major Emphasis

• Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic
• Basic drives and the contribution of early
  emotional experiences to the persons presenting
  concern
• Humanistic
• The therapeutic process -- the relationship--
  and emotional states in the here and now
• Behavioral
• observable behaviors learning principles
  congnitions

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Skinner Radical Behaviorism

• Placed primary emphasis on the role of the
  environment in producing behavior
• Applied learning principles to psychology
• Experimental psychologist examined learning
  principles with rats in the laboratory
• Books
• 1948 Walden Two
• 1953 Science and Human Behavior
• 1971 Beyond Freedom and Dignity

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Behavior/Cognitive Behavior Theory

• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning
• Social Learning Approach
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy

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Classical Conditioning

• If you pair a conditioned stimulus to a natural
  stimulus, after time, the conditioned stimulus
  produces the same response as the natural one
  Learning by association
• Pavlov discovery (1900)
• Meat (us) gtgt Salivation (ur)
• Bell (cs)gtgtMeat (us) gtgtSalivation (ur)
• Bell (cs) gtgt Salivation (cr)
• Bell (cs) gtgt Extinguished
  response

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Wolpe 1950

• Applied classical conditioning to treat anxiety
  by pairing stimuli that cause anxiety (taking an
  exam) with a state of relaxation, to break the
  connection between the stimulus and the anxious
  response
• Exam (us)gtgtgtAnxiety (ur)
• Relaxationgt Images ExamgtAnxietygtRelaxation
• (cs) (us) (ur) (cr)
• Images Exam (us) gtgtgt Relaxation (cr)
• Exam (us) gtgtgt Relaxation (cr)

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Behavior Therapy Learning by Association
Exposure Techniques

• Systematic Desensitization - anxiety
• Relaxation training/ Anxiety hierarchy
• Pairing () stimulus with () stimulus
  (shot-lollipop)
• Aversive Counter Conditioning
• Exposure Techniques
• In vivo desensitization
• Flooding (in vivo, imaginary)

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Anxiety Facilitating and Debilitating
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Aversive Counter-Conditioning
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Exposure Techniques
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Operant Conditioning

• Behavior is controlled by its consequences
• Desired Consequences Increase Behavior
• Reinforcement
• No consequences - Decrease Beh.
• Not-desired consequences - Decrease Beh.
• Punishment

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Environmental Consequences

• Reinforcement Increase a behavior
• Positive R Adds a pleasant consequence
• Negative R Takes away an aversive stimulus
• Punishment Extinguish a behavior
• Positive P Add an aversive consequence
• Negative P Takes away a desired stimulus
• Lack of consequence - Extinguish behavior

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Applied Behavioral Analysis Functional
Assessment Model

• Examine the antecedents and consequences of
  problem behaviors
• Conduct a functional assessment using interviews
  and direct observations (e.g. keeping a diary) to
  identify
• Antecedents conditions that contribute to the
  behavior of interest
• Consequences what happens after specific
  behavior occurs
• Behavioral treatments are devised to replace
  problem behaviors with more adaptive behaviors
  using reinforcement and extinction strategies

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Behavior Modification Program

• Reinforcement Token economy
• Extinction Time out, loose privileges,
• punishment
• Stimulus control Change environmental
  antecedents of problem
  behaviors

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Cognitive Behavior Therapy

• Emphasizes cognitive processes and self-talk as
  mediators of behavior change
• Reciprocal Determinism Bandura
• Rational Emotive Therapy Ellis
• Cognitive Therapy Beck
• Cognitive Behavior Modification Meichenbaum

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Bandura Social Learning Approach

• Psychological functions involve a reciprocal
  interaction between
• Environment ltgtltgtltgt Behavior
• ltgt ltgt
• ltgt ltgt
• ltgt Cognitive Process ltgt

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Modeling Vicarious
Learning
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Cognitive-Behavior Techniques

• Assertiveness Training
• Provide Information
• Examine beliefs and self-talk
• Role play assertive behaviors
• Modeling therapist demonstrates behavior
• Behavioral rehearsal client demonstrates
  behavior

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Cognitive-Behavior Techniques
2. Steps Self-Management Program
1. Identify goal in behavioral terms
2. Behavioral assessment environmental and cognitive contingencies
3. Plan for change
4. Self-Monitoring and Self-Reinforcement Behaviors, thoughts, self-talk
5. Evaluation of action plan - results
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Cognitive Behavior Theory

• Mental disorder- problem with thinking in which
  a client distorts reality, including
• Specific misconceptions
• Unrealistic expectations
• Maladaptive attributions
• Therapy aim is to identify and change
• Faulty patterns of thinking
• Faulty premises and attitudes
• Distressing emotions result from
• 
  maladaptive thinking

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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
Albert Ellis

• Stresses thinking, judging, deciding, analyzing,
  and doing
• Assumes that cognitions, emotions, and behaviors
  affect ach other
• Is highly didactic, directive,
• Emotions stem mainly from our beliefs,
  evaluations and interpretations

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RET The ABC Theory
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RET Therapy Process

• Therapy is seen as an educational process
• Clients learn
• To identify and dispute irrational beliefs
• To replace ineffective ways of thinking with
  effective and rational cognitions
• To stop absolutistic thinking, blaming, and
  repeating false beliefs

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RET Therapy Process

• Rational Emotive Imagery
• Imagine being in the worst situation- train to
  change irrational thoughts/feelings for retional
  ones
• Homework
• REBT Self-Help Form
• Act as if to challenge self-limiting
• Biblio-therapy Psycho-education

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Aaron Becks CT Human Nature

• Cognitive structures or schemas
• We all have implicit assumptions or premises that
  influence what we attend to and how we interpret
  events
• Confirmatory bias
• We tend to electively attend to events that
  confirm our beliefs
• Schemas and Disorders
• Anxiety Threat and Danger
• Depression Social rejection and failure

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Cognitive Therapy (CT)

• Insight-focused therapy
• Emphasizes changing negative thoughts and
  maladaptive beliefs
• Theoretical Assumptions
• Peoples internal communication is accessible to
  introspection
• Clients beliefs have highly personal meanings
• These meanings can be discovered by the client
  rather than taught by the therapist

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CTs Cognitive Distortions

• Arbitrary inferences
• Selective abstraction
• Overgeneralization
• Magnification and minimization
• Personalization
• Labeling and mislabeling
• Polarized thinking

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CTs Cognitive Distortions

Arbitrary inferences Gloria relationships with the eligible men do not work out because she feels anxious and acts flippantly
Selective abstraction Focuses on only on one aspect of a situation typically a negative aspect-
Overgeneralization This relationship did not work, no relationship will ever work
Magnification and minimization Emphasize negatives and minimize positives
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CTs Cognitive Distortions

Presonalization A mother blames herself for childs problems A man blames himself for partner's lack of interest in the relationship
Labeling and mislabeling Type of generalization I made a mistake vs. I am a looser
Polarized thinking Either co-workers praise me or they hate me Gloria Men are either eligible or icky
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Therapy Process

• Teach clients to recognize, observe and monitor
  negative "automatic" thoughts
• Subject their automatic thoughts to reality
  testing examine evidence for and against them
• Clients learn to substitute realistic and
  accurate interpretations for biased cognitions
• Process is collaborative an interactive Socratic
  dialogue

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Becks Approach to Depression Cognitive Triad

• Have a negative view of themselves attribute
  setbacks to themselves w/o looking at the
  environment
• Tend to interpret experiences in a negative
  manner.
• Screen out positive experiences not consistent
  with negative view of themselves (selective
  abstraction)
• Gloomy vision and projections about the future

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Ellis Vs. Beck

• Ellis is more directional and confrontational in
  pointing out and refuting irrational thoughts
• Beck helps clients discover their distorted
  patterns of thinking
• Collaborative empiricism
• Guided discovery
• client and therapist examine and evaluate beliefs
  and modify and correct clients misconceptions

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Contributions Beh- Cog Beh

• Focus on short-term behavioral goals
• Emphasis on evaluation of therapy outcome
• Empirical evidence of positive results

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Limitations

• May lead to symptom substitution
• Too much therapist power and control
• Lack of attention to relationship issues
• No processing of emotions and feelings
• Focus only on cognitive issues

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Meichenbaum Cognitive Behavior Modification

• Is primarily a self-instructional therapy that
• Focuses on helping clients become aware of their
  self-talk, - cognitive restructuring - and
• acquire practical coping skills to deal with
  problems and behaviors
• Process of Change
• Self observation
• Start a new internal dialogue
• Learn new behaviors

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Phase 1 Self-Observation

• Observe thoughts, feelings, actions,
• Realize how client contributes to own problems
• Leads to new cognitive structures see problems
  in a new light

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Phase 2 Start New Internal Dialogue

• Identify maladaptive behaviors
• Recognize more adaptive options
• Develop adaptive internal dialogue to guide
  behaviors
• New behaviors impact cognitive structures

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Phase 3 New Skills

• Teaches more effective coping skills
• Practice in real- life situations
• Continue monitoring/changing internal dialogue
• Observe behaviors
• Assess outcomes

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Coping Skills ProgramStress Inoculation

• Stress management techniques for present and
  future problems
• Three phases
• Conceptual phase
• Skills acquisition and rehearsal
• Application and follow-through

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Conceptual Phase

• Collaborative relationship (Rogers)
• Didactic presentation of the role cognitions and
  emotions play in stress (Ellis)
• Guided discovery to identify own self-talk and
  how it creates stress (Beck)
• Systematic observation and monitoring of
  maladaptive behaviors and their related self-talk
  (Behavioral)
• New cognitive structures see problems in a new
  light (Beck)

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Skills Acquisition and Rehearsal

• Give clients behavioral and cognitive coping
  techniques to apply to stressful situations
• Rehearse new self-statements
• Relaxation training
• Social skills training
• Time management instruction
• Making changes in everyday life

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Application and Follow-Through

• Arrange for transfer and maintenance of change
  from therapy to the real world
• Homework assignments of increasing complexity
• Results of assignments are carefully evaluated
• Follow-up and booster sessions are scheduled in
  3-, 6-, and 12 months intervals

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Contributions

• Focus on short-term behavioral goals
• Emphasis on evaluation of therapy outcome
• Empirical evidence of positive results

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Limitations

• May lead to symptom substitution
• Too much therapist power and control
• Lack of attention to relationship issues
• No processing of emotions and feelings
• Focus only on cognitive issues

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Multimodal Therapy Lazarus

• Holistic approach to behavior modification
• Technical eclecticism
• Human experience
• interplay of genetics, environment and social
  learning
• can be accounted by examining the BASIC ID

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BASIC ID

• Framework for assessment and therapy
• B behavior
• A affective processes
• S sensation- five senses
• I imagery
• C cognition
• I interpersonal relations
• D physiological aspects - health

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Therapy Process

• Therapy is guided by what is best for the client
• Starts with a thorough assessment of the BASIC ID
  profile
• BASIC ID determines the tone or quality of the
  persons functioning
• Therapist functions as trainer, educators,
  consultant, role model
• Emphasize skill learning

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New Applications and Integrations (end of
Behavior Chapter 9)

• Mindfulness and Acceptance- Based Cognitive
  Therapies Emotional Regulation
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
• Combines CBT and Psychodynamic
• Highly structured- requires training -
  Borderline PD
• Minimum 1-year of frequent outpatient treatment
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

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Mindfulness and Acceptance

• Mindfulness
• How to live more fully in the present (Ext)
• Interventions yoga, meditation
• Experiential learning and self-discovery (Ext-
  Gestalt -Rogers)
• Practice In session and home-work
• Acceptance (rather than challenge cognitions)
• change awareness of and relation to negative
  thoughts (Ext)
• acceptance (nonjudgmental awareness) of
  cognitions (Rogers)