Chapter 29

Briefly state a contribution each of the following made to the behavioral approach: a. Descartes b. the British empiricists c. the Russian reflexologists d. the functionalists

(a) Descartes was the first to articulate a clear distinction between the body and the soul. He described the body as a machine operating on the basis of reflexes and guidance from a soul comprised of an immaterial, non-spatially extended substance. (b) The British Associationists replaced the word "soul" with the more scientific word "mind," which came from an Old English word pertaining to memory or thought. (c) The Russian Reflexologists performed experiments on establishing new reflexes ("association reflexes" [Bechterev] or "conditional reflexes" [Pavlov]). They based their ideas on Descartes' concept of reflexes. Their basic ideas were later incorporated into the behavioral approach. (d) The Functionalists (William James) based their theory on Darwin's theory of evolution and advocated studying the mind's role in the adaptation of the individual to its environment. They studied both animal and human learning.

The publications of the early 1960s within the operant orientation seem to have been characterized by two features. What were they?

(a) Much of it was done with very resistant populations (such as severely developmentally disabled persons) that had not received a great deal of successful input from traditional psychology. (b) Many of the applications took place in institutional or highly controlled settings.

Cite three of Skinner's contributions other than his basic research and theoretical writings.

(a) Wrote a Utopian novel; (b) Worked on a project to teach pigeons to guide missiles during the Second World War; and (c) Developed the concept of programmed instruction and teaching machines.

What is another name for the operant orientation?

Applied behavior analysis.

In what Latin American country did Keller accept an academic position in 1961, and what contribution did he make to behavior modification while there?

Brazil. While there, Keller established the first operant conditioning course, worked with Brazilian colleagues to develop PSI, and contributed to the development of behavior modification.

In a sentence for each, distinguish between the terms cognitive behavior therapy, applied behavior analysis, and behavior modification as they tend to be used today.

Cognitive behavior therapy is behavior modification carried out on dysfunctional behavior, generally in a clinical setting. Applied behavior analysis emphasizes the application of operant conditioning principles in which there is often an attempt to analyze or clearly demonstrate controlling variables of the behavior of concern. Behavior modification is a broader term that includes both cognitive behavior therapy and applied behavior analysis.

What does the term cognitive processes mean?

Cognitive processes refer to things that we say to ourselves or imagine, which are frequently called, "believing," "thinking," and "expecting."

Many of the early reports in the operant tradition in the 1950s were straightforward experiments that demonstrated that consequences influence human behavior. Briefly, describe two such experiments.

Fuller demonstrated that a bed-ridden, profoundly developmentally disabled adult could be taught to raise his right arm to a vertical position when arm movements were appropriately shaped, using a sugar-milk solution as the reinforcer. Greenspoon demonstrated that simple verbal consequences could influence college students to say certain types of words. Other appropriate examples are also acceptable.

What role did Hans Eysenck play in the development of behavior therapy in the 1950s?

He criticized traditional Freudian psychoanalytic treatment procedures, and advocated behavior therapy procedures as an alternative. In addition, he helped popularize Wolpe's work in a book of readings entitled Behavior Therapy and Neuroses.

To which of the two major orientations did Hull and his followers Dollard and Miller mainly contribute, and briefly what were their contributions?

Hull developed a learning theory that meshed together operant and respondent conditioning into a theory that did not distinguish between the two types of conditioning. Dollard and Miller translated Freudian psychodynamic concepts into the language of Hull's learning theory. Their book had an influence in the early days of behavior modification, but mostly in the respondent and Wolpean orientation.

Who first used the term behavior therapy and in what context?

Lindsley, Skinner, and Soloman were the first to use the term behavior therapy, and they did so in a report describing some research in which psychotic patients in a mental hospital were reinforced with candy or cigarettes for pulling a plunger.

Was the influential book Case Studies in Behavior Modification strictly within the operant orientation? Why or why not?

No. It also included many studies and discussions of Pavlovian-Hullian orientation.

How did Skinner's Science and Human Behavior influence the initial development of behavior modification?

In 1953, Skinner published Science and Human Behavior. Although there was very little supporting data for Skinner's generalizations to humans, his interpretation influenced others to begin examining the effects of reinforcement variables on human behavior in a number of experimental and applied settings. The results of these efforts led to the development of the operant approach to behavior modification.

What are the names of two major behavior modification/behavior therapy journals first published in the 1960s (see Table 29.1)?

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Research and Therapy.

Briefly describe one of the first published reports (a very influential one) that concerned practical applications within the operant tradition.

One such report was that by Ayllon and Michael, which demonstrated that staff in a mental institution could utilize reinforcement procedures to modify such patient behaviors as delusional talk, refusals to eat, and various disruptive behaviors.

What is operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which behavior is modified by its consequences.

Describe how Pavlov demonstrated Pavlovian conditioning with dogs.

Pavlov paired a bell with food presented to a dog several times, and each time the food caused the dog to salivate. After several pairings, the presentation of the bell by itself caused the dog to salivate.

How did Aristotle's view of the soul differ from that of Plato's?

Plato viewed the soul as the source of behavior; he called it the "psyche," and he believed it was separate from the body and continues after we die. His student, Aristotle, differed in that he thought the soul was simply a "form" of functioning of the body (including behavior). Plato's view had a greater influence on Western European theologians and philosophers.

What are two other names for Pavlovian conditioning?

Respondent conditioning, classical conditioning.

Describe four differences in the usage of the terms behavior therapy/cognitive behavior modification versus behavior modification during the 1960s and 1970s (Table 29.2).

See Table 29-2.

What is a major emphasis of social learning theory, and who was its most influential proponent?

Social learning theory placed great emphasis on the social contexts in which behavior is acquired and maintained. Its most influential proponent was Albert Bandura (although he has renamed it social cognitive theory).

Name three countries that were important in the development of behavior modification in the 1950s and the person most associated with this development in each of these countries.

South Africa; Joseph Wolpe; England: Hans Eysenck; United States: B. F. Skinner.

What did Wolpe call his procedure for using relaxation to inhibit a learned fear?

Systematic desensitization.

Distinguish between the behavioral model and the medical model of abnormal behavior.

The behavioral model of abnormal behavior suggests that abnormal behavior is a function of specifiable environmental causes, and that it is possible to rearrange the environment so that the behavior can be changed or improved. The medical model of abnormal behavior considers abnormal behavior as a symptom of an underlying disturbance in a personality mechanism, with the implication that one must treat the underlying personality disturbance through Freudian psychoanalysis, rather than treating the observed symptoms by rearranging the environment.

In what way was the Keller and Schoenfeld book Principles of Psychology unlike other introductory psychology texts of its day?

Their text differed from other introductory psychology texts in that it discussed traditional topics in psychology, such as motivation and emotion, in terms of operant and respondent conditioning principles.

Briefly, how did cognitive therapists Ellis and Beck explain emotional problems, and how did they propose to treat them?

They believed that faulty cognitive processes (i.e. faulty thinking) causes emotional and behavioral problems. Their approaches to therapy focused on helping clients recognize and change faulty thinking.

Describe how Watson and Rayner demonstrated Pavlovian conditioning of a fear response in an 11-month-old infant.

Watson and Rayner first demonstrated that the presentation of a white rat to the child did not cause fear. Then after several pairings of the white rat with a loud noise which caused the infant to shown signs of fear, the child then exhibited fear to the rat when presented by itself.

How did Joseph Wolpe extend the principle of reciprocal inhibition?

Wolpe extended the principle of reciprocal inhibition by postulating that if a response that is incompatible with a learned fear or anxiety can be made to occur to a stimulus that had been conditioned to produce that fear, then that stimulus would cease to elicit the fear reaction.