Chapter 14 Flashcards
anxiety hierarchy
a list the therapist and client create together in which anxiety-producing experiences are listed in ranked order from least to most anxiety-provoking
assertiveness training
a specific application of classical conditioning that targets clients’ social anxieties
aversion therapy
a type of behavioral therapy that involves repeat pairing an unwanted behavior with discomfort.
Albert Bandura
suggests that observation and modeling play a primary role in how and why people learn.
baselines
the pre-treatment durations of behaviors
behavior therapy
the clinical application of behavioral principles.
*goal is observable change
behavioral activation
a form of behavioral therapy originally designed to treat depression, based on the simple yet profound notion that in the day-to-day lives of depressed people, there is a shortage of positive reinforcement
behavioral consultation
an indirect, flexible method of therapy involving the client, the consultee (usually a parent, teacher, or caretaker), and the therapist/consultant, that generally progresses through five stages
classical conditioning
a passive style of learning exemplified by Pavlov’s dog studies, with four distinct components
conditioned stimulus
a stimulus associated with a response through experience and learning (e.g., the sound of the bell)
contingencies
“if… then…” statements about our actions and their outcomes
contingency management
changing the consequences of behavior in order to shape the behavior itself
counterconditioning
re-pairing a feared object with a new response that replaces and blocks the fear response
discrimination
when the conditioned response is not evoked by such a stimulus
empirical data
Scientific collection of data at a starting baseline, mid-points, and as a final assessment of change
exposure and response prevention
involves guiding the client through gradual exposure to the obsessive thoughts or situations that elicit obsessive-compulsive thoughts, while simultaneously preventing the problematic response that the client typically uses to bring temporary relief
exposure therapy
the clinical psychologist’s version of “facing your fears”, where repeated exposure to the problematic stimulus without the aversive outcome weakens or eliminates the negative association
extinction
the removal of an expected reinforcement that results in a decrease in the frequency of a behavior
extinction burst
immediately after the reinforcement is removed, the client’s undesirable behavior increases temporarily
flooding
a behavioral therapy technique that involves exposing a person to their greatest fear without warning, so they can’t avoid it
generalization
when the conditioned response is evoked by stimuli that are similar to, but not an exact match for, the conditioned stimulus
graded exposure
a type of exposure therapy that involves gradually exposing yourself to feared situations in a way that allows you to control your fear at each step
imaginal exposure
an exposure where the client imagines an anxiety-provoking object or situation (without real exposure)
imitation
the client simply observes and mimics the modeled behavior, without any observation of the effect the modeled behavior may have
in vivo exposure
an exposure where the client experiences the anxiety-provoking object or situation in real life, and may be interoceptive (focusing exclusively on the sensations within the client’s own body rather than anything outside the client
introspection
speculative mental processes, not directly observable and so unable to be empirically supported or refuted
law of effect
a theory that states all organisms pay attention to the consequences (or effects) of their actions; pleasurable consequences mean they are more likely to repeat the action, while unpleasant actions mean they are less likely to repeat the action
negative punishment
“losing something good”
negative reinforcement
“losing something bad”
observable change
objective, outward demonstrations of change
observational learning
noticing contingencies that apply to others’ lives and assuming the same contingencies will apply to our lives, too
operant conditioning
an active style of learning when an organism “operates” on the environment, notices the consequences of the behavior, and incorporates those consequences into decisions regarding future behavior
Ivan Pavlov
a Russian medical researcher who studied the digestive systems of dogs
-Discovered “classical conditioning”
positive punishment
“getting something bad”
positive reinforcement
“getting something good”
punishment
any consequence that makes a behavior less likely to recur in the future.
reinforcement
any consequence that makes a behavior more likely to recur in the future
shaping
a technique in which the behavior therapist reinforces “baby steps” toward the desired behavior
B.F. Skinner
argued that operant conditioning (the mechanism by which the law of effect influenced behavior) was just as great an influence on human behavior as classical conditioning
systematic desensitization
similar to exposure therapy, involves exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli along with re-pairing or counterconditioning the feared object with a new response incompatible with anxiety
teacher training
similar to parent training, but the emphasis is on behaviors that take place at school, and the consultees are teachers rather than parents
testable hypothesis
theories that can be supported, refuted, modified, and retested
token economy
a setting in which clients earn tokens for completing predetermined target behaviors
unconditioned response
an inborn response that requires no experience or learning to associate with the stimulus (e.g., the dog salivating)
unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that requires no experience or learning to evoke a response (e.g., the dog’s food)
vicarious learning
the client observes not only the modeled behavior but also the model receiving consequences for that modeled behavior
John Watson
an American psychologist who argued that psychology should study only overt, observable responses and the stimuli that precede them
