Chrysalis module four behaviourism Essay

behaviorists apologize nonadaptive doings in price of the training regulations that sustain and substantiate it. talk ab show up this statement and show how a behavioristics memory access to therapy is in spartan ph mavin line to a psychoanalyticalal integrity In this essay I depart off eagerness of e genuinely explain the main principles and theories that netherpin the behavioristic approach to psychology. I volition subsequently outline how doingsist possibleness drop provide therapists with rough penetration into twain the causes of nonadaptive behavior and how that deportment might be carry on and maintain. Having discussed the main behaviorist principles and how they relate to maladaptive demeanour, I will then equation and contrast the deportmental approach with the psychoanalytic (Freudian) approach. I will too gloss on ethical issues especi aloney as they relate to behaviourism and rough of the look intos on which the theory is founde d. Behaviourism is a civilize of psychology that emphasises the scientific study of notice equal behaviours especially as they relate to the carry by means of of teaching. It was highly influential and dominated psychological theory for nformer(a) thirty age amid the archaeozoic 1920s and 1950s.The early carcassulation of behaviourist theory was in the work of an Ameri poop psychologist John B Watson. In most respects, his research was a resolution to the prevailing psychoanalytic approaches to therapy at the era. In his work Psychology from the stand relieve of a Behaviourist publi regurgitate in 1929, Watson thinkd that behaviourism, Attempted to make a fresh, sightly start in psychology, breaking with online theories and with traditional concepts and terminology (www.britannica.com). His vision was single of psychology becoming a purely objective branch of natural science, where the patently admissible conclusions were those that could be beated by unaffili ated observers of the akin object or event, as would be the case in scientific experimentations. Behaviourism is concerned with explaining how behaviour arises and is maintained. besides to identify and characterise influences on behaviour and to explain how, under certain conditions, behaviour can change. The roots of behaviourist theory can be found in the work of Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist.He researched what is known as reflex, an automatic chemical reply to a occurrence fore draw. Specifically, his research looked at the reflex that stimulates the production of saliva in dogs when given meat. The meat is the stimulus for the reflex, b atomic number 18ly what Pavlov noticed was that the dogs in his experiments would start to act reflexively even atthe sight of the just aboutone who regularly fed them. In his notable and now healthful- known experiment, Pavlov then introduced the large(p) of a bell e precise time the food was presented. He found that hardly the sound of the bell would produce the alike(p) re legal action in the dogs even if at that countersink was no food. He concluded that the dogs had wise to(p) that the bell signalled food. Watson brought Pavlovs findings to the attention of swain psychologists and then conducted his own experiment involving a young boy, Albert. This came to be known as the Little Albert experiment. Watson initially presented Albert with a regene vomite can and observed his retort at that stage the boy had no disquietude of the betrayer. Watson subsequently observed Alberts reaction to a loud noise when it was make behind his head.Not surprisingly, the peasant cried at the sound and tried to move outdoor(a) from it. Watson then presented the rat to Albert just earlier making the loud sound. This time the child reacted by moving a elbow room from the rat on that pointby demonstrating to Watson a change in behaviour as a issue and linking the rat to the loud noise. Watsons experiment showed that Albert had learned to show a protective reflex reaction. This came to be known as classical conditioning and this approach to discretion behaviour was described as stimulus response psychology. These days the ethics of this experiment would be highly questionable nonetheless, subjecting a child to affright in this way and conditioning his response as a result would not acceptable. Several genesis of Watson were to a fault working in this domain of behavioural research. The work of Edward Thorndike and B.F. mule sk home(a) do a huge contribution to behaviourist psychology. Thorndike pioneered the study of wight behaviour with his cross recess into which he placed a hungry barf. Food was placed out-of-door the street corner and he found that the pat learned to manipulate the door meet to frustrate out of the box to obtain the food.Un cargon Pavlovs dogs, the cat in his study had some element of lock given that macrocosm able to get the food was conditional on t he cat distributeing the door. The consequences of the cats behaviour ( getting the food), Thorndike argued, altered the cat because it learned to open the door. As the cat was slavish in opening the door he called this instrumental conditioning. Skinner, who was influenced by Thorndikes work, argued that tuition with with(predicate) advantage is common to all species not just animals. Much of his work intricate studying the behaviour of rats and pigeons. He conducted some(prenominal) experiments using a special finesse he designed called the Skinnerbox. This provided a controlled environment in which animal behaviour could be observed in a systematic way. His experiments were designed to shed light on how behaviour is initiated, maintained and how under certain conditions it can be changed as a result of consequences of the behaviour. He argued that behaviour takes a particular form because it has consequences that some(prenominal) give rise to it and maintain it. When t he consequences change, so does the behaviour he said.Skinner placed a hungry rat in the box where it had to negotiate a snarl to find the food. At first the rat would run up finesse alleys in the maze but with image it gradually learned how to negotiate the maze to find the food much(prenominal) than quickly. Behaviourists like Skinner believed that the principles involved in these learning processes were applicable to raft and underpin compound mankind behaviour. Skinner proposed that behaviour changes as a result of its consequences and that behaviour is in like manner fortify by reward. Behaviour that is reinforced will withal increase in frequency Skinner suggested. Similarly, he argued, proscribe reinforcement works in the same way as decreed re inforcement. For example, if a loud noise is make every time a rat pokes its nose through its cage, the rat would transgress doing it.He promoted the judgment that as bounteous male ar just another species, big(a) pr aise for desirable behaviour in a child would reinforce that behaviour in the same way that getting food by pressing a lever in a box would reinforce behaviour in a rat. Skinner went further by suggesting that there is no much(prenominal) thing as free will he called it the principle of determinism, the assertion that all human behaviour is set(p) by what went before. Skinners hypotheses created widespread debate amongst psychologists and not surprisingly, his critics pointed out that humans are very polar to animals and that results from experiments conducted on rats in a research laboratory couldnt just be utilize to human behaviour. Behaviourist critics reasoned that human behaviour is immeasurably more civilize than animal behaviour, rooted in talking to and operating inwardly complex cultures. serviceman demand acumen into their behaviour and pee certain awareness, they contended and therefore are able to make conscious choices.Skinner swing out of favour in the 1970s following the publication of his book beyond Freedom and Dignity where he urged lodge to reject the impudence that free will is the main determinant of behaviour. In contrast to the psychoanalytic school of psychology, behaviourists regardall behaviour as a response to stimuli, with the underlying assumption that what we do is determined by the environment we are in that provides stimuli to which we respond. Also that the environments we grow been in in the past, cause us to learn to respond to stimuli in particular slipway. Behaviourists are unique amongst psychologists in believing that it is un infallible to speculate to the highest degree internal mental processes when explaining behaviour (psychlotron.org.uk). Behaviourists believe that population are born with some innate reflexes such as fear and rage which do not need to be learned, but that all of a somebodys complex behaviours are as a result of learning through interaction with the environment.It is therefor e assume that the individual plays no part in choosing their own actions and behaviour. Today only a few psychologists would label themselves as behaviourists and the arguments astir(predicate)(predicate) free will and conscious choices still continue. However, studies since the 1950s have in fact brought an increasing fruition that conditioning credibly occurs more widely than was previously dumb. It is accepted for example that drug or intoxicant use can be triggered by environmental cues places and situations where drug taking or alcohol consumption is present. Contemporary therapy for some utilisations of psychological di strain owes much to perspicacity derived from behaviourism. Children who self -harm can be interact with techniques of re inforcement for non- harming behaviours for example.Apparently one of the techniques used for treating people with obsessional and phobic disorders involves identifying and removing reinforcement for behaviour that is excessive and reinforcing the more haughty behaviour with praise. The behaviourist approach is alike relevant in sympathiseing dependance and habitual behaviour whether it be smoking, drugs, alcohol, drugs, maneuver or sex etc. With this type of maladaptive behaviour there is a strong and fairly immediate positive reinforcing consequence of the behaviour. Whereas the unpleasant consequences of the behaviour are delayed i.e. potential serious unwellness in terms of smoking for instance. It is also recognised that someone who regularly exhibits red or aggressive tendencies may well have grown up in a red household where violent behaviour was putled and reinforced. The psychoanalytic approach to instruction and psychotherapy has its roots in Freudian theory which essentially espouses that it is reduce memories and familiar wishes that are the root of psychological problems.In thepsychoanalytic approach there is an assumption that lymph nodes difficulties have their supreme origin i n childhood experiences and that the invitee is not usually aware of the motives or impulses behind their actions. Prior to Watson and Skinners experiments, psychology had almost entirely been ground on a psychoanalytic approach the study of what happens in peoples minds. In therapy, people would report what was on their mind and this was documented and analysed by psychologists such as Freud. This approach to understanding peoples behaviour was considered highly unverifiable and unscientific by behaviourists. Freud espoused a order of theories to account for maladaptive behaviour he argued that in early childhood tercet phases of psycho sexual development set the stage for a series of conflicts amidst the child and its environment, its family and most importantly its parent. He proposed that that the way in which parents responded to the child would have a powerful influence on the later temper of the child and a significant pertain on adult relationships.Psychological problems according to Freud arise because a someones impulses and drives are driven underground and continue to influence the person subconsciously. There is significant emphasis in psychoanalytic theory on the property of the relationship amidst child and parents. The thorough perspectivepoint shared by all psychoanalytic counselors and therapists is that in order to understand the personality of an adult node it is necessary to understand the development of their personality through childhood. Freud did not suggest however that that childhood experiences directly influence adult personality he stated that the influence occurred in a particular way through the operation of the unconscious mind. This is perhaps where there is the most stark contrast between the behaviourist and psychoanalytic approaches. Behaviourists concern themselves with actual, unmistakable behaviour rather than internal thoughts processes.Freud however not only advanced the idea of the unconscious min d, he also true a complex theoretical model explaining the human mind as comprising trine regions which he labelled the id the ego and the superego. The id creation a reservoir of primitive instincts and impulses that are the ultimate motives for the behaviour the ego which is the conscious rational part of the mind that makes decisions and deals with immaterial reality and the superego a sort of terminus house of rules and taboos, mainly an internalisation of enate attitudes. Conflicts betweenthese elements can lead to emphasize in Freudian theory. An individuals behaviour can be understood according to Freud, as being under the control of forces such as repressed memories, childhood fantasies which a person cannot ac noesis. The role of the psychoanalytic therapist is to look for ways of getting beneath the sur tone of what the client is saying and what is immediately observable. One could of agate line explain the forces mentioned above in behaviourist terms that a person has simply been conditioned to do, act, say things in a certain way.A child repeatedly subject to military group or witnessing violence may well be more prone to aggressive behaviour in adulthood for example. But in Freud, I feel there is a impressiveness not found in behaviourism. mess and relationships are complex and therefore some stirred up problems equally complex. In my view a psychoanalytic approach attempts at least to reflect this complexity where therapy rails to enable clients to become more aware of their inner emotional life and therefore be more able to control feelings in an appropriate manner and gain the license to behave antitheticly. A key aim of psychoanalysis is to achieve client discernment into the true nature of their issues/ problems. Genuine insight usually being attained as result of the quality of the relationship between client and therapist.There is little rootage to the quality relationship between client and therapist in the behaviourist a pproach. In the psychoanalytic approach there is as much emphasis on what the client doesnt say as on what he or she does say about his or her problem Freud wrote about what he termed defence mechanisms, which seek to protect an individual from emotionally disturbing or heavy(a) unconscious impulses. These defence mechanisms might imply such things as repression , denial, projecting ones unacceptable thoughts and feelings to another person or displacement, where an individual might transplant impulses to a different target or regression where an individual responding to internal feelings triggered by an external threat, might revert to childish behaviour from an earlier stage of development. This feel of Freuds theory provides powerful insight I feel into certain maladaptive behaviours. Of vogue the work of the proponents of behaviourism such as Watson and Skinner and Freuds psychoanalytic theories have been developed and redefined over the years.In my opinion both approaches can have a valuable role to play in understanding maladaptive behaviour in spite oftheir very different emphases, depending on the type of behaviour being treated. Behaviourism was the precursor to hearty learning theory developed by Albert Banduras and this emphasises both the social and physical context people find themselves in and how children in particular learn by observing and then imitating others who tellingly act as models. This is more complex than simple stimulus response theory and it can be very important and enlightening for a therapist to understand the current and past social contexts of a client and its potential impact on their behaviour. Equally important, in my view, is the recognition that people have a complex inner mental life and an emotional inner world and responses that sometimes cant be explained by environmental factors alone. In the same way that behaviour theory has developed, psychoanalytic theory has also advanced.The work of psychologist Melanie Klein for example, who researched the early relationship between mother and child, concluded that human beings are motivated by the need to take a shit and maintain relationships. This suggests to me that the quality of relationship between client and therapist is of significant importance. This view has little or no place in behaviourist approaches to therapy. Even modern cognitive behaviour therapy, which has its roots in behaviourism, places less emphasis on the relationship between client and therapist. Whereas the psychoanalytic counsellor would emphasise exploration and understanding, the CBT approach would be more orientated towards demonstrable action to produce change. It would seem sensible, in treating stress and misgiving to try to combine both approaches.A client suffering from anxiety is more likely to respond positively to a therapist with whom they have a trusting relationship without that it would be very difficult for a client to face fears that may be buried in their subconscious. And for the therapist, it would be necessary to be able to establish/ understand the potential environmental and social triggers or stimuli (both current and historic) for the clients anxiety. This could involve exploring the clients past in terms of their relationship with their parents perhaps and also searching for other relevant education about the situations that provide the cues for the clients anxiety.In conclusion, although the assumptions made by early behaviourist psychologists seem overly simplistic nowadays , this work laid the foundations for more extensive research that has advanced our knowledgeabout social learning and how this can affect behaviour. Although behaviour modification therapy doesnt necessarily sit easily within a collaborative counselling relationship, some of the principles of behaviourism can be employ and adapted to understanding maladaptive behaviour. Behaviour modification therapy has been shown to be very effective with ce rtain types of disorder such as obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, addiction, anxiety disorders, fears and phobias.SourcesMcleod J. (2008) Introduction to Counselling, third ed, Open University Furnham A. 50 Psychology Ideas You Really Need to Know, genus Quercus Publishing Hayes N. (2010) Understand Psychology, Hodder schooling Ltd Chrysalis Year Two, Module Four course notes.www.britannica.com 17/11/2014www.wikipedia.org/behaviourism 17/11/2014www.psychlotron.or.uk 17/11/2014