Behavior Therapy:Counter Conditioning

& Inhibitory Conditioning

Lecture 17

The Process of Behavior Therapy

1. Clarifying the clients problem

2. Formulating initial goals for therapy

3. Designing a target behavior

4. Identifying the maintaining conditions

5. Designing a treatment plan

6. Implementing the treatment plan

7. Evaluating the success of treatment

8. Conducting follow-up assessment ~

Acceleration Target Behaviors

Increase behavioral deficits inattention, hygeine, lack of

assertiveness, etc. Primarily positive reinforcement

Relatively simple & straight forward

Example: Social interaction in depressed client Reward interactions with people ~

Deceleration Target Behaviors

Decrease behavioral excessesses Biting fingernails, staying up too

late, criticizing others, etc. Simple solutions usually incomplete

Punishment behavior Leaves void Behavior occuring fo a reason ~

Deceleration Target Behaviors

Use competing responses Deceleration for

undesirable/maladaptive behavior Acceleration of desirable/adaptive

behavior Provide way to obtain goal

Example: Decelerate criticizing Accelerate praising ~

The Dead Person Rule

“Never ask someone to do something a dead person can do” Don’t ask them not to behave Deceleration only

Client is asked to do something active Include acceleration behavior Fills behavioral void ~

Deceleration Techniques Differential RFT (DRO & DRI) Direct Deceleration Therapy

Consequential deceleration Aversion therapy

Token Economies Pos RFT & response cost

Exposure therapies Brief / graduated Prolonged / intense ~

Counter Conditioning Joseph Wolpe (1944)

Reciprocal inhibition Buzzer sounded when cat was eating

Buzzer (CS) eating Buzzer sounded when shocked Buzzer fear

Substitution of competing responses Worked both ways Can also replace fear ~

Counter Conditioning Pavlovian Conditioning

CERs Substitution of response

Competing or incompatible Similar to DRO/DRI (operant)

Example: young woman’s anxiety about attending banquet Ex-boyfriend & new girlfriend Imagine banquet with absurd

scenes ~

Mary Cover Jones & “Peter”

Treatment of phobias Peter fearful of white rabbit

Counterconditioning Pairing favorite food & rabbit

Exposure therapy Gradually moved rabbit closer Peter watched another child play

with rabbit ~

Inhibitory Conditioning

Learning Regulates Behavior

Controls organism’s interactions with environment

Requires 2 opposing processes e.g., positive & negative feedback excitatory & inhibitory conditioning

Excitatory learning CR will likely occur CS+ signals occurrence of US ~

Inhibitory learning

Conditioned Inhibition Learning to withhold conditional

response CS-: US will not occur

no US for period of time US must be a significant event

Occurs only if there is an excitatory context ~

Standard Procedure

Some trials: CS+ --- US Other trials: CS+ / CS- --- No US

Example: traffic light CS+ (red) CR? CS- (police officer) / CS+ CR?

Respond differently under different circumstances ~

Negative CS-US Contingency

Similar to standard procedure Some trials: CS+ & US Other trials: CS- & no US

CS- no response Example: Traffic light

Red (CS+) – Danger (US) Green (CS-) – no Danger (no US) ~

Inhibitory Conditioning & Stress

Panic attacks extreme stress Carter, Hollon, Carson, & Shelton (1995)

triggered by CS+ for aversive stimuli Panic attack experimentally induced

accompanied by trusted friend or alone ~

Inhibitory Conditioning & Stress

Friend acted as CS- for stress stress compared the alone group trusted friend was a safety signal ~