Behavior Theories Flashcards
Classical Conditioning
- Pavlov
- Definition: A learning process where a natural reflex responds to a stimulus. Over time, a new stimulus can trigger the same reflex response through association.
- Example: Pavlov’s dogs began to salivate (unconditioned response) at the sound of a bell (conditioned stimulus) when it was repeatedly paired with food (unconditioned stimulus), eventually salivating even without the food present (salvation begins to become a conditioned response to the bell even without food).
- Practical Application: In social work, clients may form associations between certain stimuli and emotional responses. For example, a client who had a traumatic experience in a particular environment may start feeling anxious in similar settings due to the association.
Operant Conditioning (Skinner)
Definition: A learning method in which behaviors are influenced by the consequences that follow them.
antecedent ->behavior/response -> consequence
Components:
- Positive Reinforcement: Strengthening a behavior by adding a pleasant stimulus after the behavior (e.g., giving praise for completing a task).
- Negative Reinforcement: Strengthening a behavior by removing an unpleasant stimulus (e.g., taking away nagging when the desired action is performed).
- Positive Punishment: Weakening a behavior by introducing an unpleasant consequence (e.g., a child is grounded for misbehavior).
-Negative punishment: removal of a desired stimulus (i.e. removing desert)
- Extinction: Reducing behavior by withholding reinforcement (e.g., ignoring a child’s tantrum to reduce the likelihood of future outbursts).
Application in Social Work: Operant conditioning is often used in behavioral modification programs, such as reinforcing positive behaviors in substance use recovery or penalizing behaviors that lead to negative outcomes (like in drug courts).
Flooding
client’s anxiety is extinguished by prolonged real or imagined exposure to high intensity feared stimuli
Systematic Desensitization
anxiety-producing stimulus is paired with relaxation-producing response (i.e. coping skill).
-at each step, a client’s reaction of fear or dread is overcome by pleasant feelings as the new coping behavior is reinforced by receiving a reward (compliment, gift, etc.)
Aversive Therapy
any treatment that pairs undesirable behaviors with unpleasant consequences (e.g., using Antabuse in alcohol cessation to create a negative physical reaction to alcohol consumption)
Social Learning Theory (Bandura)
Definition: This theory posits that people learn behaviors by observing and imitating others, especially those they see as role models.
Key Concepts:
- Modeling: Demonstrating a behavior for the client to imitate (e.g., a therapist modeling communication skills for a client to practice).
- Role Play: A technique allowing clients to practice behaviors in a safe, controlled environment. For example, a social worker might role-play a conflict-resolution scenario with a client.
Application in Social Work: Social learning is particularly relevant when working with families or communities. Clients learn behaviors by observing those around them, so social workers often encourage positive role models and environments.
Modeling
Demonstrating a behavior for the client to imitate (e.g., a therapist modeling communication skills for a client to practice).
Biofeedback
behavior training program that teaches a person how to control certain functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and muscular tension
often used for
-ADHD
-anxiety
extinction
withholding a reinforcer that normally follows a behavior - a behavior that fails to be reinforced with eventually cease
in vivo desensitization
pairing and movement through a hierarchy of anxiety, from least to most anxiety provoking situation
-takes place in real setting
rational emotive therapy (RET)
cognitively oriented therapy in which a social worker seeks to change a client’s irrational beliefs by argument, persuasion, and rational reevaluation and by teaching a client to counter self-defeating thinking with new, non-distressing self-statements
shaping
method used to train a new behavior by prompting and reinforcing successive approximations of the desired behavior
time out
removal of something desirable - negative punishment
token economy
a client receives tokens as reinforcement for performing specified behaviors. the tokens function as currency within the environment and can be exchanged for desired goods, services, or privilages
individual psychology
-main motivation for human behavior are not sexual or aggressive urges, but striving for perfection
-“compensation” - the attempt to shed normal feelings of inferiority
-some people suffer from an exaggerated sense of inferiority - rather than trying to master challenges, try to cover them up by focusing on outward signs of superiority such as status wealth, and power
