Comprehensive Study Guide: Behavior Therapy

A set of flashcards covering key terms and definitions related to behavior therapy.

Aversive Stimulus

A stimulus (punisher) that follows a behavioral response and decreases the probability that the behavior will recur.

Behavior Therapy

A form of psychotherapy aiming to modify maladaptive behavior patterns by reinforcing more adaptive behaviors.

Classical Conditioning

A learning process introduced by Pavlov where an organism learns to respond to a neutral stimulus after it is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Contingency Contracting

A written agreement between parties that explicitly states desired behavior changes, reinforcers, and the consequences for non-fulfillment.

Covert Sensitization

An aversion therapy that uses an individual’s imagined unpleasant symptoms or negative consequences to extinguish undesirable behavior.

Discriminative Stimuli

Stimuli that precede a behavior and predict that a particular reinforcement will occur; these are under the individual's control.

Extinction

The gradual disappearance of a conditioned response when the positive reinforcement for that response is withheld.

Flooding

A desensitization technique involving continuous presentation (often via imagery) of a phobic stimulus until it no longer elicits anxiety; also called implosive therapy.

Maladaptive Behavior

Behavior considered age-inappropriate, culturally inappropriate, or that interferes with an individual's adaptive functioning.

Modeling

The process of learning new behaviors by observing and imitating others, such as parents, teachers, or role models.

Negative Reinforcement

Increasing the probability of a behavior recurring by the removal of an undesirable or aversive reinforcing stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

A learning process introduced by Skinner where the connection between a stimulus and a response is influenced by the consequences of the response.

Overt Sensitization

A type of aversion therapy that produces actual, unpleasant physical consequences (e.g., nausea from Antabuse) for an undesirable behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

Increasing the probability of a behavior recurring by providing a desirable reinforcing stimulus following the behavior.

Premack Principle

The concept that a frequently occurring response can serve as a positive reinforcement for a response that occurs less frequently.

Reciprocal Inhibition

A technique (counterconditioning) that eliminates a behavior by introducing a more adaptive behavior that is incompatible with the unacceptable one.

Shaping

A behavior modification technique where reinforcements are given for increasingly closer approximations of a desired response.

Stimulus

An environmental event that interacts with and influences an individual’s behavior.

Stimulus Generalization

The process where a response is elicited by stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus.

Systematic Desensitization

A technique for overcoming phobias involving a hierarchy of anxiety-producing events paired with relaxation exercises.

Time-Out

An aversive stimulus involving the removal of the client from the environment where unacceptable behavior is occurring to eliminate reinforcement from others.

Token Economy

A type of contingency contracting where tokens are awarded for desired behaviors and later exchanged for designated privileges or items.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

A natural, reflexive response to an unconditioned stimulus (e.g., salivating when eating).

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a reflexive response.