behavioral approach

behavioral approach

posits that human behavior is shaped by the environmental conditioning and reinforcement. While traditional behavioral approaches are grounded in empiricism and focus primarily on tangible behaviors, goals, and techniques, there are contemporary variations that also attend to emotions and the counseling relationship

Behavioral therapy

is a compilation of approaches and techniques used to reduce maladaptive behaviors and increase adaptive behaviors; Behavioral therapy emphasizes current behavior rather than past behavior and relies on scientific methods to assess the effectiveness of the techniques through objective, measurable goals

behavioral approaches:

There are two major theoretical underpinnings classical conditioning and operant conditioning

Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)

is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. Pavlov showed that a stimulus that should not cause an automatic reaction could be made to cause an automatic reaction (classical extinction)

Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike)

Thorndike developed the law of effect, posits that behaviors leading to satisfaction will be reinforced, whereas behaviors leading to dissatisfaction will not be reinforced.

Operant conditioning ( B. F. Skinner)

Skinner believed that complex behaviors resulted from how an organism interacted with or operated on the environment because of the consequences

Operant conditioning key components (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

key components of operant are reinforcement and punishment.

Reinforcement Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

is anything that increases the frequency of a behavior; Reinforcement and punishment involve the provision of a positive reward for adaptive behavior and negative reinforcement occurs when the frequency of behavior increases through the elimination of a negative stimulus

punishment Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

punishment is anything that reduces the frequency of a behavior; Punishers may also be positive or negative; positive punishment occurs when an undesired behavior decreases following the provision of a particular stimulus and negative punishment occurs when a positive stimulus is removed following an undesired behavior

reinforcers (Operant conditioning E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

There are two types of reinforcers: (1) primary reinforcers, which are inherently reinforcing (2) secondary reinforcers, which are reinforcing through learning and experience (e.g., tokens earned in a token economy).

reinforcement schedules (Operant conditioning E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

For operant conditioning to be effective, however, reinforcers must be meaningful for the client In addition, reinforcers can be delivered through a variety of reinforcement schedules including:

extinction (Operant conditioning E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

when reinforcement is withheld from a previously reinforced behavior to decrease the undesired behavior

continuous schedule (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

client is reinforced after each occurrence of the desired behavior

variable interval schedule (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

provides reinforcement after an unpredictable period of time

fixed interval schedule (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

provides reinforcement to the client after a consistent time interval regardless of how many times the desired behavior occurred within the time interval

fixed ratio schedule (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

when the client is reinforced after he or she makes a specified number of the desired responses

variable ratio schedule (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

the provision of reinforcement after a client demonstrates a variable number of desired responses

techniques (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

used to increase the frequency of adaptive behavior including shaping, differential reinforcement, behavioral contracts, token economies, and social skills training

goals of behavioral therapy

include helping clients change their environment and reinforce more adaptive behaviors.

focus of behavior therapy

is corrective learning, which involves the development of new coping skills, the improvement of communication, and overcoming maladaptive emotional issues

Shaping (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

involves reinforcing closer approximations of the desired target behavior until the target behavior is shown.

Differential reinforcement (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

occurs when all behaviors except the target behavior are positively reinforced

Behavioral contracts (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

are agreements between the counselor and the client. The contract includes behaviors that need to be changed and the reinforcers and punishers needed for behavior change.

Token economies (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

are typically implemented in structured environments where desirable behaviors (taking medication, participating in activities) are reinforced with tokens, which can then be used to "buy"more desired reinforcers

social skills training (Operant conditioning (E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner)

is used to enhance communication, assertiveness, problem solving, and other desired social skills