PSYC36H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Orval Hobart Mowrer, Systematic Desensitization, Exposure Therapy
Document Summary
Central feature of behavior therapy is that it involves the application of the laws of learning theory to the modification of problematic behavior. Another key feature was distinguishing etiological factors from maintain ones. Key concepts are classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning, generalization, extinction, and functional assessment. Also gave rise to a key methodological concept: the single case design. Functional assessment - the attempt to determine the contingencies that maintain problematic behavior and the discriminate stimuli that signal when those contingencies are in effect and thus serve to elicit the problem behaviours. Single case designs - involve the systematic assessment of problem behaviours or treatment targets across both baseline conditions,and conditions in which an intervention or therapeutic contingency is actively implement: most common is a/b, or aba. History of behaviour therapy closely linked to learning theory. Ivan pavlov the discovery with the most profound impact was extinction. Operationalism posits that concepts should be defined in terms of objective measurements.
