The ABCs of Human Behavior: Behavioral Principles for the Practicing Clinician

230 Pages·2008·6.43 MB·English

by  Jonas Ramnerö

US $49.95 Psychology
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The
Behavior Principles for Practicing Clinicians
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When behavior and cognitive therapy mixed into cognitive behavior therapies,
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largely during the 1980s, cognitive models became dominant and basic behavior
principles were largely sidelined in clinical psychology curricula. Issues in cognition be- C
came the focus of case conceptualization and intervention planning for most therapists.
s
In recent years there has been a renewed interest in learning theory, and basic behavior

principles are once again becoming central in clinical practice. This is especially true o H
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in the new “third-wave” behavior therapies which begin to address areas of concern H of uman
in the cognitive models. If you’ve been practicing for a while, classical behaviorism
may not have been a major part of your clinical education. In order to broaden your
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understanding of learning theory and make the best use of the newer psychotherapies,
you need to revisit basic behavioral principles from a practical angle. m
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ehavior
The ABCs of Human Behavior offers you, the practicing clinician, a solid and practi- a
cal introduction to the basics of modern behavioral psychology. The book focuses both n
on the classical principles of learning as well as more recent developments that explain

language and cognition in behavioral and contextual terms. These principles are not
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just discussed in the abstract—rather, the book shows how the principles of learning
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apply in a clinical context. Practical and easy to read, the book walks you through both
commonsense and clinical examples that will help you use behavioral principles to ob- h
serve, explain, and influence behavior in a therapeutic setting. Behavioral Principles for
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v
“…a must read for clinicians and students from all the Practicing Clinician
i
theoretical backgrounds.” o
—CHRISTOPHER R. MARTELL, PHD, ABPP, r
clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and psychology
at the University of Washington, and author of Depression in Context A practical introduction to:
Foreword by
• Observing & understanding human
JONAS RAMNERÖ, PHD, is assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at KELLY G. WILSON, PHD, behavior
Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden.
TR • Utilizing respondent, operant &
ÖA Associate Professor of Psychology,
M relational conditioning
NIKLAS TÖRNEKE, MD, is a psychiatrist in private practice and has worked as a senior R
NN University of Mississippi
psychiatrist in the department of general psychiatry in his hometown of Kalmar, Sweden. • Influencing client behavior using basic
EE
KR
principles from behavior psychology
EÖ
ISBN: 978-1-60882-434-2
5 4 9 9 5
JONAS RAMNERÖ, PH.D.
newharbingerpublications, inc.
NIKLAS TÖRNEKE, MD
www.newharbinger.com
9 781608 824342
It is rare to find a book on behavioral analysis that successfully incorporates theory and clini-
cal utility. The ABCS of Human Behavior does, indeed, succeed. Ramnerö and Törneke
provide the reader with a concise description of ideas dating back to Skinner as well as more
recent treatments of such complex issues as understanding cognition. This engaging book will
provide scholarly and practical information that is a must read for clinicians and students
from all theoretical backgrounds.
— Christopher R. Martell, Ph.D., ABPP, clinical associate professor of
psychiatry and behavioral sciences and psychology at the University of
Washington and author of Depression in Context
Along with the explosion of interest in newer psychotherapies such as ACT, behavioral acti-
vation, DBT, FAP, and mindfulness/acceptance/meditation based interventions, many clini-
cians who were not extensively trained in behaviorism want a deeper understanding of the
fundamental behavioral processes and theory that that underlie these treatments. Up to now,
this basic information was buried and dispersed in an array of textbooks, philosophical and
theoretical treatises, and an extensive laboratory-based experimental literature. Ramnerö and
Törneke have distilled the essentials of this (often) esoteric literature in a clearly written,
comprehensive, up-to-date book that frequently illustrates the abstract principles with clini-
cal applications. Operant conditioning, respondent conditioning, exteroceptive conditioning,
stimulus control, establishing operation, functional analysis, relational framing, negative versus
positive reinforcement, are a just a few examples of the concepts that are demystified, made
understandable, and clinically relevant. The book is an ideal basic text for graduate students
learning about behavioral psychotherapy (the author’s name for the new treatments mentioned
above) and will fulfill the needs the experienced clinician who wants a deeper understanding
of these therapies.
— Robert J. Kohlenberg, professor of psychology at the University
of Washington
The authors combine advanced discussions about learning theory and behavioral analysis with
straightforward and informative examples. The book also discusses the more recent theoretical
developments within the fields of human language and cognition. Both beginners and experi-
enced therapists will find much to learn from reading this book.
— Lennart Melin, Ph.D., professor of clinical psychology at Uppsala
University in Uppsala, Sweden

The
AB Cs
H
of uman
B
ehavior
Behavioral Principles for
the Practicing Clinician
JONAS RAMNERÖ, PH.D.
NIKLAS TÖRNEKE, MD
New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
Publisher’s Note
Care has been taken to confirm the accuracy of the information presented and to describe generally accepted prac-
tices. However, the author, editors, and publisher are not responsible for errors or omissions or for any consequences
from application of the information in this book and make no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the
contents of the publication.
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books
Copyright © 2008 by Jonas Ramnerö and Niklas Törneke
New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
www.newharbinger.com
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Acquired by Catharine Sutker; Cover design by Amy Shoup;
Edited by Jean Blomquist; Text design by Tracy Carlson
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ramnerö, Jonas.
The ABCs of human behavior : an introduction to behavioral psychology / Jonas Ramnerö and Niklas
Törneke.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-57224-538-9 (hardback : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-57224-538-7 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Clinical psychology. 2. Medicine and psychology. 3. Operant conditioning. I. Törneke, Niklas. II.
Title.
[DNLM: 1. Psychology, Clinical--methods. 2. Behavior Therapy--methods. 3. Conditioning, Operant. 4.
Learning. WM 105 R174a 2008]
RC467.R35 2008
616.89--dc22
2007047459
09 08 07
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First printing
Contents
Foreword v
Our Thanks ix
Introduction
Building on Behaviorism: 1
PART 1
Describing Behavior
CHAPTER 1
Topographical Aspects of Behavior 15
CHAPTER 2
Observing Behavior: When, Where, and How Much? 31
CHAPTER 3
Knowing Your ABCs 47
PART 2
Explaining Behavior
CHAPTER 4
Learning by Association:
Respondent Conditioning 63
CHAPTER 5
Learning by Consequences:
Operant Conditioning 79
CHAPTER 6
Operant Conditioning: Stimulus Control 99
CHAPTER 7
Learning by Relational Framing: Language and Cognition 109
CHAPTER 8
Applying Your ABCs 127
PART 3
Changing Behavior
CHAPTER 9
Functional Knowledge 145
CHAPTER 10
Dialogue Toward Change 151
CHAPTER 11
Principles and Practices 167
CHAPTER 12
Principles of Treatment: One 171
CHAPTER 13
Principles of Treatment: Two 185
Afterword 199
Suggested Reading 201
References 203
Index 209
iv The ABCs of Human Behavior
Foreword
Behaviorism has a bad name in many circles When people are asked why, they cite
a number of dogmas that have achieved “truth” status even though they don’t look
quite so “true” when one looks carefully at original scholarly sources Two of the most
popular misconceptions are, first, that behaviorism denies thinking and feeling The
second is the notion that behaviorism seeks to break behavior into its most fundamental
atoms and in doing so threatens to turn humans into machine-like automatons If these
caricatures are true anywhere in behaviorism, they are not true in the behaviorism of
B F Skinner, and certainly not in the contemporary contextual behavioral account
described in this book
All of us have a fraction of the world to which only we have direct access Others
may see what we do with our hands and feet quite directly They do not have such
direct access to what we think, feel, imagine, and desire Any psychology that does not
address these matters is likely to be, and probably ought to be, rejected out of hand In
the middle of the last century, empirical psychology was running away from questions
about this world inside the skin—in search of a so-called objective psychology In strik-
ing contrast, B F Skinner quipped to the famous historian of experimental psychology
E G Boring that “While Boring must confine himself to an account of my external
behavior, I am still interested in what might be called Boring-from-within” (Skinner,
1945, p 277) But, Skinner’s was only one voice in behaviorism And, many within the
broader behavioral movement did call out for an analysis that was uninterested in our
inner life
During the nineteen sixties and early seventies, behavioral approaches domi-
nated empirical clinical psychology Inattention to cognition left an opening, and that
opening was filled by the rapidly rising tide of cognitive psychology The later seventies,
eighties, and nineties saw the strong emergence of cognitive psychology in both basic
and applied realms In organizations such as the Association for the Advancement of
Behavior Therapy (AABT), we saw the inclusion of cognitive interventions in behavioral
treatments as well as the rise of wholly cognitive approaches This transformation was
sufficiently complete that AABT eventually changed its name to the Association for
Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
There was another notable change during the same time period Academic depart-
ments that trained psychologists began hiring an increasing number of cognitive psy-
chologists—both basic and applied Whereas during the sixties and early seventies the
conversations in psychology departments were dominated by behavioral voices, this
became less and less the case during the rise of cognitive psychology This trend in
the academy was so pervasive that some empirically-oriented clinical doctoral programs
stopped teaching behavioral psychology except in the most cursory way
Intellectual generations in the academy move very quickly An individual gets their
Ph D and a job as an assistant professor Perhaps five years later, they produce the first
of their own Ph D ’s In many academic settings, we are hiring people that are three
or four generations away from professors who themselves had very strong training in
basic behavior analysis This is, of course, less true in some domains Mental retardation
and child behavior problems, for example, have often remained bastions of behavioral
training However, mainstream empirical clinical psychology has traveled a good long
distance from its behavioral roots
Some of this may have been a reaction to excesses: positions that were held too
stridently or versions of behavioral psychology that truly did not take human cognition
seriously For whatever reason, the plain fact is that we now find ourselves at a point
in time where many individuals providing mental health care were not well trained
in behavior analysis This might not be a terribly important issue, except that the
emerging third wave behavior therapies, especially functional analytic psychotherapy,
dialectical behavior therapy, behavioral activation, and acceptance and commitment
therapy, all make case conceptualizations from a behavioral perspective If therapists
are interested in these emerging treatments, an understanding of behavior analysis is
a critical asset
There are a few approaches to behavioral training Some are highly technical and
provide extremely refined descriptions that are critical for basic laboratory work Some
distinctions that are important in tightly controlled experimental preparations may be
less so outside the laboratory It is unlikely that the concept of a changeover delay in a
concurrent VI-2’ /VI-2’ schedule of reinforcement will be of much practical importance
to a clinician What clinicians do need is an understanding of the core of behavior anal-
ysis—an understanding of the functional relation between behavior and the contexts in
which it occurs
Ramnerö and Törneke have written a book that will serve several important groups
Individuals whose behavioral training happened a long time ago or was weak or not
well integrated with clinical work, as well as those with no behavioral training at all,
will find a gentle, nontechnical entry point into a functional contextual understanding
of behavior The book is filled with case examples that bring behavioral sensibilities
to life in readily recognizable clinical contexts For students interested in third wave
behavior therapies, this book will make an excellent starting point in cultivating an
vi The ABCs of Human Behavior
understanding of behavior analysis The book will also provide a theoretical basis for
under standing the impact of many of our more traditional cognitive and behavioral
practices In my own capacity as a professor in a clinical doctoral program, I will make
this book required reading for my students
With kind regards,
Kelly G Wilson, Ph D
vii