Behaviourists Explain Maladaptive Bbevaviour in Terms

ESSAY TITLE: â€Å" BEHAVIOURISTS EXPLAIN MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOUR IN TERMS OF THE LEARNING PRINCIPLES THAT SUSTAIN AND MAINTAIN IT. DISCUSS THIS STATEMENT AND SHOW HOW A BEHAVIOURIST’S APPROACCH TO THERAPY IS IN STARK CONTRAST TO A PSYCHOANALYTIC ONE† Behaviourism is a movement within psychology that works on the principle that all behaviour is â€Å"learned† , that we were all born with a â€Å"blank slate†.Behavioural approaches use strict experimental measures to study observable behaviour ( or responses ) in relation to the environment, thus resulting in the maladaptive behavioural approaches that we employ to deal with our learning. Behaviourism was first developed in the early 20th century by an American psychologist John B Watson, who at the time was working in the field of animal psychology. He believed that all behaviour was observable and therefore scientific, and worked on the principle and study of the association between a stimulus and response. Watson did not deny the existence of inner experiences, but insisted that they could not be studied because they were not observable ) Watson’s stimulus and response theory of psychology claimed that all complex forms of behaviour – emotions, habits etc – are seen as composed of simple muscular and glandular elements that can be observed and measured, and that emotional reactions are learned in much the same way. Watson aimed to prove his beliefs with laboratory experiments, and one of these experiments was known as â€Å" The Little Albert Experiment†.Little Albert was a small young boy of about 18 months of age , Young Albert would sit happily on the floor and play with a white rat. Young Albert did not like loud noises, and on the presentation of the rat, scientists would clang two metal rods together behind Young Albert’s head, which resulted in screaming from young Albert. The result of this â€Å" conditioning† experiment was that Alb ert came to associate the rat with fear, and on following presentations of the rat, young Albert displayed considerable fear.Around the turn of the 20th century, another American psychologist Edward Lee Thorndike, investigated how animals learn, in one experiment he placed a cat in a â€Å"puzzle box† and measured the time it took to escape. Over a number of trials, the time taken to escape decreased, and from this observation he developed the â€Å"law of (positive) effect†, which states that any behaviour leading to a positive outcome will tend to be repeated in similar circumstances. If we like the consequences of our actions then the actions are likely to be repeated, this ype of learning was known as operant conditioning . Thorndike’s work was developed by such behaviourist’s such as B. F. Skinner. Skinner approach to psychology was scientific, his views came from Darwin’s theories of evolution. Skinner focused on the environment as a cause fo r human behaviour, he did not think that people acted for moral reasons, believing they reacted in response to their environment. For example: a person might do a good thing not for moral reasons, but for the rewards received for the act.Skinner believed that the mental process was irrelevant. To prove his theories skinner invented what is now referred to as the â€Å" skinner box†. This was a small box with a lever mechanism inside that dispensed a food pellet when pressed. Many experiments were done using this box system, and in one of these experiments a rat was rewarded with a food pellet on every press of a lever ( condition A). In another condition ( condition B ) the rat was only rewarded with a food pellet only sometimes when pressing the lever.They found that rat B pressed the lever much more! Why was this? Because the lever pressing was only occasionally rewarded, it took longer to figure out that in no longer worked. Skinner believed that reinforcement is a key con cept in behaviourism, that it increases the likelihood that an action will be repeated in the future, however, punishment on the other hand, will reduce the likelihood that an action will be repeated. For example: shouting at a child who is behaving in an irritating way, might in fact lead to the behaviour appearing more frequently.The shouting therefore, is seen as reinforcing( providing attention) rather that punishing. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who studied the digestion of dogs, he found that laboratory dogs would salivate at the sight of a food dish, from this he reasoned that the dogs learned an association between the dog bowl and the food it usually contained. In behavioural terms the food ( the unconditioned stimulus or UCS) had been associated with the bowl ( the conditioned stimulus or CS) giving rise to the conditioned response or CR of the dog salivating at the sight of the bowl.In these terms the unconditioned response or UCR would be the dog salivating at the sight of food. In further experiments a bell was continually rung immediately before feeding, Pavlov was able to condition a dog to salivate whenever a bell was rung. After a period of conditioning, Pavlov discovered the dog would salivate at the sound of a bell even if no food was forthcoming, and by pairing the conditioned stimulus of the bell with a light, he could get the dog to salivate at the presentation of the light only, even though the light and the food had never been presented together.This type of conditioning demonstrates how readily behaviour will form predictive associations. This learnt behaviour was called classical conditioning. In terms of human behaviour classical conditioning involves involuntary behaviour such as a fear response, they can be elicited, meaning you can do something that produces an involuntary response. Operant conditioning involves voluntary behaviours. Voluntary behaviours are those that cannot be made to happen, meaning that you cannot ge t those behaviours until someone carries them out.Behavioural approaches assume that what is learned may be unlearned, and explains why phobias tend to get worse as time goes on. When you meet you fear, your fear level rises (fight)and so does your level of adrenaline. If you avoid the fear ( flight) you will reduce the fear and your level of adrenaline. This is the connection between your fear and your response to it. The result from this is a maladaptive behaviour, often with an avoidance and a rise in anxiety levels, leading to stress and other ways of behaviour and coping strategies.Social learning theory is another approach to behaviourism of Albert Brandura , it emphasizes the importance of observing and modelling behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others, Brandura pointed out that much of what we learn is in the consequence of observation, indirect rewards/punishments and modelling. (www. psychology. org) What are the behavioural approaches to therapy? Behaviou ral therapy concentrates on taking away the old responses or conditioning new ones, there are a number of techniques that can be used: * Systematic desensitisation ( experiences in imagination) * In vivo exposure ( experiences in reality)The way in which these techniques work is that it is difficult to feel two opposing states at the same time ie, relaxation and fear. The client will be coached in relaxation techniques and then encouraged to remain relaxed whilst imagining themselves in a mildly frightening situation, once able to do this, they will be encouraged to imagine themselves in a more slightly distressing situation and so on. * Flooding Flooding is a behavioural technique that relies on the idea that it is not possible to maintain a state of fear indefinitely.Flood therapy will expose the client to the fear / situation until their fear drops to normal, the idea that when released from that fear their fear level will drop to a normal and acceptable tolerance. * Selective re inforcement This is based on operant conditioning, and for example: in schools and at home any good behaviour is reinforced by means of reward. * Modelling This makes use of observational learning, the client will watch the therapist/teacher and copy what they do. This gives the opportunity to view adaptive behaviour on which to base a new response. * Cognitive behaviourThis is another approach to psychology, the origin of the word â€Å" cognitive† comes from Latin, which means to â€Å"know and understand†. This perspective is directly linked with the internal mental processes of thought, such as memory, problem-solving, thinking and language. The cognitive psychological perspective is seen as a response to behaviourism because cognitive psychologists see humans as rational beings and not as programmed animals with no ability to think. The study of the mental processes is not observable, which does contrast with â€Å" traditional behaviourists ideas†, which i s to study only observable ways.The focus of cognitive psychologists is the way the brain processes information ( stimuli) received ( input ) which leads to a certain behaviour ( output ). This process is often compared with the computer function, however this comparison is not too coherent because the human mind/brain, is far more advanced than a computer. Humanistic psychologists see this approach as cold because the cognitive psychologists ignore any emotions any individual may have, and may well prove everything in a way that is too clinical.All mental processes are investigated scientifically, which is good to cognitive behaviour. (I apologize that i slightly went off track with the reference to the humanistic approach, but i felt it very relevant to compare a behavioural approach with the humanistic approaches such as Maslow and Rogers) There is a belief in behavioural therapy that human behaviour does not just happen, but is caused by environmental events that cannot be contr olled, and this has been criticised by other approaches for ignoring learning due to evolution.This can also be said about human behaviour and the relevance to food, diet and nutrition. It is a known fact certain foods have chemicals that do alter one’s behaviour, and in the day’s of food being tampered with and injected with growth hormones, one has to be aware of this. It is now at this point in the essay that i will turn to the view of the psychoanalytic one and their view to the behavioural approach in therapy. Psychoanalytic approach to behaviourism One thing that is certain, and that few textbooks of psychology ignore Freud and many are built around his theories† â€Å"Freud’s approach was as logical and his findings as carefully tested as Pavlovs† â€Å"The foundation of Freud’s method-psychic determination and the relentless logic of free association are scientific† â€Å"Freud’s method was to take everything anybody sa id at any time or place regardless of truth or falsity in terms of external reality to be used as basic data in revealing the dynamics of the personality† â€Å"Freud devised a means of diagnosing man’s troubles, not of suppressing them, and the emotions we suppress are the mental equivalents that all is not well within the body† (Freud and the Post Freudians. J. A. C. Brown) Freud, first published his psychoanalytic theory of personality in which the unconscious mind played a crucial role. Freud combined the then current notions of consciousness, perception and memory with the ideas of biologically based instincts, to make a new theory of psychodynamics. Freud’s theory, which forms the basis of the psychodynamic approach, represented a major challenge to behaviourism. Freud’s theory of personality was based on the assumption that all behaviour stems from the unconscious mind.He divided the personality into three different parts, that of the id, the ego and the super-ego, which Freud believed were often in conflict with each other. * The id operates on the pleasure principle seeking immediate gratification. * The ego obeys the reality principle and plans for the future * The super-ego is conscious and makes us aware of our moral standards Freud believed that we all have a stream of psychic energy, he called this constant psychic energy the libido, reflecting that the sex drive was a primary life instinct. If this energy was suppressed, the energy would seek out another outlet, such as in dreams and/or neurotic behaviour. Freud believed we go through several personality developmental stages in the early years of life.He called these stages the psychosexual stages. During each of these stages the pleasure seeking impulses of the id focus on a particular part of the body. The first year of life Freud called the oral stage, whereby babies derived pleasure from sucking and/or nursing. The second stage was termed the anal stage, and Freud believed infants derived pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces. The next stage was the phallic stage where the child derived pleasure from his or her genitals. During the phallic stage the child reached a conflict called the oedipal conflict , whereby Freud believed the anxiety caused was the basis of all later anxieties.The oedipal conflict resolved at the latency period, which lasted from the age of seven to twelve, and during this time children became less concerned with their bodies and turned their attention to life skills, and finally adolescence and puberty brought about the genital stage, which is the mature stage of adult sexuality. Freud placed much emphasis on child development believing that if the child at any given time was denied the gratification needed in each stage, then a maladaptive behaviour was to take place, for example: a man might be hostile towards his boss, an older co-worker, and all other â€Å"parent figures† in his life because h e is unconsciously re-enacting childhood conflicts with an overprotective parent.The psychoanalyst would help the client recognise his hidden, pent up anger toward the parent, experience it, and trace how this unconscious source of continuing anger and the defences around it have been creating problems. (Psychology Bernstein) Freud believed that many clues to the unconscious lie in the constant stream of thoughts, feelings, memories and images experienced by all people. These clues can be uncovered and understood if the client relaxes defences that block or distort the stream of consciousness. Thus, one of the most basic techniques of psychoanalysis is free association, in which the client relaxes, often lying on a couch, reporting everything that comes to mind as soon as it occurs, no matter how trivial, bizarre, or embarrassing it may seem.Clues to the unconscious may appear in the way thoughts are linked, rather than in the thoughts themselves. For example: if the client stops ta lking or claim that their minds are blank, the psychoanalyst may suspect that unconscious defence mechanisms are keeping threatening material out of the consciousness. The interpretation of dreams is another one of Freud’s ideas, and psychoanalysts believe that dreams express wishes, impulses and fantasies that the dreamer’s defences keep unconscious during waking hours. The psychoanalyst will look at the client’s thoughts and behaviours, and will help the client to become aware of all the aspects of their personality, including the defences and the unconscious material behind them.The basic strategy is to construct accurate accounts of what has happened to the client ( but has been â€Å" forgotten†) and what is happening to the client ( but is not understood), and in this way help the client to see their maladaptive behaviour towards their life. â€Å"The psychodynamic approach emphasizes internal conflicts, mostly unconscious, which usually pit sexual or aggressive instincts against environmental obstacles to their expression†( Psychology Bernstein) â€Å"The psychodynamic approach holds, that all behaviour and mental processes, reflect constant and mostly unconscious struggles within each person. Usually these struggles involve conflict between the impulse to satisfy instincts or wishes( for food, sex or aggression for example ) and the restrictions imposed by society.From this perspective, a display of violence ( or hostility, or even anxiety)reflects the breakdown of civilizing defences against the expression of primitive urges â€Å"(Psychology Bernstein) â€Å" the psychodynamic approach assumes that if clients gain insight into underlying problems, the symptoms created by those problems will disappear† ( Psychology Bernstein) Conclusion Although there are clear divisions in these two approaches, there is a case that the perspectives and the research, have contributed a great deal to understanding human behav iour. Therefore it is worth remembering that psychology is a dynamic science and new theories and experiments are conducted every day.As technology advances so does the field of psychology, and the study of human behaviour needs to be with the use of all the approaches that are available, whether it be behaviourism, psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, Jungian, humanistic, integrated or whatever the approach that is being used. After all, we are all unique, and one cap certainly does not fit all! However, because the classical psychoanalytic treatment may require as many as three to five sessions per week, usually over several years the cost is of consideration both in private practice and within the national health system, and this may well reflect the reason why the behavioural approach of CBT/REBT is widely used within such quarters. ( Psychology Bernstein) REFERENCES First steps in counselling Sanders 2010 Freud and the Post Freudians J. A. C. Brown 1985 www. psychology. org Psycholog y Third Edition Bernstein, Stewart, Roy, Srull, Wickers 1994