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The behavioral perspective, as the name implies, has focused on the level of actions and behaviors. Most histories of behaviorism begin with a discussion of Ivan Pavlov, the Russian physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work on the physiology of digestion. Pavlov noted in his Nobel Prize speech that the sight of tasty food makes the mouth of a hungry man water. However, what became of interest to behavioral psychologists was not the salivary reflex itself but the fact that other objects associated with the presentation of food could also produce salivation. For example, in Pavlov’s work with dogs, it was shown that any sensory process, such as sound, that was paired with the food would produce salivation. After a number of pairings, the sound alone without the food could produce this reflex. This came to be known as classical conditioning.

In Pavlov’s work with dogs, it was shown that any sensory process, such as sound, that was paired with the food would produce salivation.

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Classical conditioning occurs when an unconditioned stimulus, such as food, will result in an unconditioned response, such as salivation. If this unconditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus a number of times, then the neutral stimulus will produce the response. After a period of time, the “conditioned stimulus” such as sound, when presented alone, will no longer produce the response. This process is referred to as extinction. Behaviorists saw classical conditioning as one mechanism underlying the development of mental illness.

classical conditioning: the pairing of the unconditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus eventually causing the neutral stimulus to produce the same response

extinction: the process by which, after a period of time, the conditioned stimulus, when presented alone, will no longer produce the response

John Watson is often described as America’s first behaviorist. His work set psychology on the course of emphasizing environmental explanations for behavior and rejecting the theoretical value of internal concepts. This called into question the value of studying such topics as consciousness and other internal processes. Watson set the course of only studying observable behavior with his 1913 paper Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It. Watson suggested that the proper study of psychology was to focus on behavior and not the mind. Further, Watson saw the goal of psychology as identifying environmental conditions that direct behavior. Under no circumstances should the theory make reference to consciousness, mind, or other internal unobservable events. Watson created a psychology based on observable behaviors alone, which helped promote the development of a strong stimulus–response psychology. Watson’s statement emphasizing the role of the environment in development is well known.

Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. (Watson, 1924, p. 82)

As the quote implies, Watson assumed that there existed “talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities” that were part of an individual but that these could be overridden by environmental factors. In fact, Watson demonstrated that an 11-month-old infant named Little Albert could be conditioned to fear an animal such as a lab rat that the infant had previously enjoyed playing with (Watson & Rayner, 1920). The procedure (which would be considered unacceptable and unethical today) was to create a loud noise when the infant was observing the animal. A loud noise will produce a startle response. In a classical conditioning manner, the pairing of the aversive noise and the animal led to conditioned fear. Behaviorists used classical conditioning as a mechanism for understanding phobias and other processes seen in mental illness.

John Watson

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B. F. Skinner became the twentieth century’s most vocal proponent of behaviorism. Beginning with his 1938 book, The Behavior of Organisms, Skinner played a significant role in experimental psychology until his death in 1990. His exemplar experimental procedure was to demonstrate that an animal, generally a laboratory rat or pigeon, could be taught to make specific responses if, after the occurrence of the desired response, the animal was given a reward, generally food. This procedure came to be known as operant conditioning. The basic idea was that behavior could be elicited or shaped if reinforcement followed its occurrence. Consequently, if these behaviors ceased to be rewarded, the occurrence would decrease. Thus, the emphasis was on behaviors and the rewards that follow them as opposed to the environmental stimuli evoking them.

operant conditioning: the concept that behavior can be elicited or shaped if reinforcement follows its occurrence

reinforcement: in operant conditioning, rewards that follow behaviors and increase their occurrence

Skinner suggested that freedom, will, dignity, and other concepts referring to the mind or internal states have no explanatory value. Psychologists should only be interested in the relationship between behavior and consequences, according to Skinner. Even processes such as language learning were seen as the result of words being reinforced and learned one at a time. In this manner, any type of complex behavior was seen as the result of learning simple behaviors, which were then chained together. The larger implication was that humans came into the world ready to be influenced by the reinforcement contingencies of the environment to determine their development and actions in the world. Watson and Skinner ushered in an era in psychology that strongly emphasized the environment and largely ignored any discussion of internal processes or mechanisms for understanding life.

B. F. Skinner was the twentieth century’s most vocal proponent of behaviorism.

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In the middle of the last century, a number of psychologists began to see the limitation of strict behaviorism in that it ignored internal processes. Simple demonstrations such as offering a 6-year-old a candy bar if he would do a particular task showed that the idea of a reward was enough to motivate behavior. Also, behaviorally oriented psychologists such as Albert Bandura showed that humans would imitate the behaviors of others even without reinforcement. This type of learning was called observational learning, or modeling. One classic set of studies involved children hitting a Bobo doll after seeing cartoon characters being aggressive. In another study, children watched an adult interact with the Bobo doll in an aggressive or nonaggressive manner. Those children who watched the aggressive adult later showed more aggression than those who watched a nonaggressive adult.

Nonclinical areas of research in psychology such as the study of cognitive processes and social processes were demonstrating that humans often make quick decisions based on information that is outside of normal awareness. Humans make these decisions without actually realizing there are alternative ways of thinking. Further, evolutionary thinking was showing how humans come into the world with an evolutionary history such that they develop fears of some objects such as snakes or spiders more readily than fears of a toy truck or a flower. Arne Öhman at the Karolinska Institute sought to determine the basis of fear learning and how it relates to psychopathology (see, e.g., Öhman, 1986). Others emphasized the fact that humans talk to themselves and pay attention to their own thoughts, which can influence behavior. All of these developments moved many in the psychology discipline away from Skinner’s more rigid behaviorism.

observational learning: also known as modeling; when humans imitate the behaviors of others even without reinforcement

cognitive behavioral perspective: a treatment perspective that suggests that dysfunctional thinking is common to all psychological disturbances; by learning in therapy how to understand one’s thinking, it is possible to change the way one thinks as well as one’s emotional state and behaviors

The cognitive behavioral perspective suggests that dysfunctional thinking is common to all psychological disturbances. By learning in therapy how to understand one’s thinking, it is possible to change the way one thinks as well as one’s emotional state and behaviors. One basic feature of our thinking is that it is automatic. Ideas just pop into our mind such as “I can’t solve this” or “It is all my fault.” A number of therapies based on cognitive principles along with behavioral interventions have been shown to be effective (Hollon & Beck, 2013).

Aaron Beck (1967; see also J. Beck, 2011, for an overview and update) developed a cognitive therapy for depression in the early 1960s. The model is described in terms of a cognitive triad related to depression (see Figure 1.13).

Aaron Beck

Courtesy of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy: www.beckinstitute.org

The first component of the triad is the individual’s negative view of self. This is when the individual attributes unpleasant experiences to his own mental, physical, and moral defects. When something negative happens, the person says it is his fault. In therapy, the client can become aware of the content of his thinking. The second component is the individual’s tendency to interpret experiences in a negative manner. That is, the person tailors the facts to fit negative conclusions. The basic idea is that thinking influences emotion and behavior. The third component is that the person regards the future in a negative way. He envisions a life of only hardships and anticipates failure in all tasks. In therapy, the basic idea is that the individual can modify his cognitive and behavioral responses. Overall, the therapy is directed at the automatic thoughts in relation to catastrophizing—believing that nothing will work out; personalization—believing that everything relates to you; overgeneralization—believing that one event is how it always is; and dichotomous thinking—believing that things are either good or bad.

Figure 1.13 How Do Individuals With Depression See the World?

The cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) movement sought to understand how cognitions were disordered or disrupted in mental disorders. Whereas humanistic therapies emphasized emotional processing, cognitive behavioral approaches emphasized thoughts and the manner in which a person thought about her life and experiences. The basic idea is that psychological disturbances often involve errors in thinking. One real value of many cognitive behavioral approaches is that they have been tested empirically and are presented in books and manuals that describe the steps involved in therapy.

How does a person with mental illness see the world, the future, and herself?

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As with other perspectives, cognitive behavioral approaches have been expanded to include a number of other techniques. Some of these approaches are mindfulness approaches and dialectical behavior therapy, as discussed previously, as well as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and acceptance-based behavioral therapy (ABBT). ACT and ABBT combine mindfulness with an emphasis on accepting inner experiences without judgement, along with awareness and resilience.

These approaches have been referred to as the new way or third wave of CBT (Hofmann, Sawyer, & Fang, 2010). One common theme in these approaches is the role of acceptance. In each approach, clients are encouraged to not react to negative thoughts and feelings. Throughout this book, I will introduce you to the way in which these and other therapies have been used to treat specific disorders.

cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): a therapy based on the cognitive behavioral perspective, directed at changing the individual’s faulty logic and maladaptive behaviors

Concept Check

 What does empirically based treatments mean? Why is it important, and what impacts has the concept had on treatment for psychopathology?

 Describe the basic principles underlying each of these perspectives on psychological treatment, identify the scientists associated with them, and give an example of an empirically based treatment from each: psychodynamic perspective, existential-humanistic perspective, behavioral perspective, and cognitive behavioral perspective.