Social and Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology

1. Social and Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology Crosbie-Burnett, M., & Lewis, E. A. (1993). Theoretical contributions from social and cognitive-behavioral psychology. In P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 531-558). New York: Plenum Press.

2. Historical Development • Behaviorism (emphasis on the work of John B. Watson) • Modeled his work on principles of classical conditioning (Pavlov) and operant conditioning (Thorndike). • Mental processes were considered habits that were not connected to the brain. • Major contribution: theoretical. • Suggested that conditioned responses were forms of learning. • Suggested that all behavior was learned; children were not active agents in their own development. • Social Psychology: influenced by William James and Gorddon Allport. • The Second Wave of European Influence • Psychoanalytic: Alfred Adler, and other’s fleeing Nazi oppression, settled in the U.S. In contrast to behaviorism, Adler argued that internal processes were important. • Gestalt (e.g., Lewin): attacked behaviorism for it’s molecular approach and denial of consciousness Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

3. Historical Development: Social Learning Theory (Social Cognitive Theory) • Albert Bandura integrated social psychology, cognitive psychology, and behaviorism. • Reciprocal determinism: environment, intrapersonal factors, and behavior are interacting determinants of each other (see Figure 21-1). Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

4. Social-Cognitive Theory:Emphasizes Unique Human Capabilities: • Ability to use symbols • allows humans to form guides for future reference, • generate innovate course of action. • permits solutions symbolically by estimating outcomes. • Forethought regulates most behavior which allows humans to • anticipate consequences, • set goals, • plan. • Vicarious learning allows efficient learning. • Self-regulation provides humans with the capacity to compare their behavior to internal standards. • Self-reflection permits analysis of experience and analysis of thought processes which is used to judge our own abilities, forming self-efficacy. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

5. Assumptions About Human Nature • Behavior is learned: human behavior is plastic and malleable. • Humans actively seek, select, and use information in order to • construct a view of reality, • meet their basic needs. • Cognitive activity can be consciously assessed, monitored, and altered. • Therapeutic goal: overt manipulation of behavior is ethical. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

6. Assumptions About Couples and Families • Their model is descriptive, not prescriptive: it focuses on • how families interact, • the consequences of these interactions. • The model is value free, but researcher’s and clinicians are not so their descriptions are influenced by • culture, • gender, • socioeconomic class. • The model does not presume family structure. • The values of individuals in a family influence family process. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

7. Concepts from Social Psychology • Attributions: • Causal attribution: explanations for locus, stability, and globality of a person’s behavior. • Responsibility attribution: assessment of blame. • Coercion: the process of controlling someone’s behavior by acting aversively to force compliance. • Dominance and Equity: a dominant person has more control of resources; an asymmetrical distribution of power. • Environment: physical and social surroundings. • Model: a person who provides examples for behavior. • Reciprocity: tendency for people to reinforce or punish each other at approximately equitable rates. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

8. Concepts from Cognitive Psychology • Cognitions include • selective attention, • perception, • memories, • self-talk, • imagery, • attitudes, • beliefs, • expectations, • and attributions. • Social Cognitions: cognitions about person’s in one’s environment. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

9. Concepts from Cognitive Psychology (cont.) • Cognitive Mediation: attribution of meaning to a stimulus. • Schemata: • A mental structure that is used to acquire and organize knowledge. • Long-standing, relatively stable basic assumptions about the world and personal agency. • Behavior: any observable action or series of actions, including spoken and nonverbal communication. • Behavioral Deficit or Skills Deficit: behavioral skills that a person does not have. • Behavioral Excesses: behaviors which are engaged in frequently enough to be problematic (e.g., conversation dominance, interruptions). Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

10. The Model: How the Major Concepts Link • Environments • Family members share social and physical environments, to some degree. • There is variability in time spent between family members. • Space also varies between family members. • Influence on intrapersonal and behavioral factors: • Physical environment affects behavior and intrapersonal factors. • Family members serve as models, reinforcers, punishers. • Unlike other social environments, there are financial and legal entanglements. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

11. The Model: How the Major Concepts Link (cont.) • Intrapersonal Factors: some are permanent, some change developmentally, and some change from moment-to-moment. • Characteristics of individual family members such as genetic factors which influence • physical appearance, • mental and physical health, • temperament, • and predispositions. • Personality characteristics. • Intelligence. • Abilities. • Physiological factors. • Cognitions. • Emotions. • Behavior • Influences sense of competence. • Can change the physical environment. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

12. Research with Couples • Behavior in marriage (based on Gottman, et al.). Unhappy couples in conflict showed • higher rates of negative behavior, • more reciprocity of negative behaviors, • and less variability in their behavior patterns. • Cognition in marriage • Studies of beliefs about marriage such as Fitzpatrick’s (1988) marital typology. • Studies of attributions use to explain a partner’s behavior: the message sent by a partner is not the same as the one received. • Affect in marriage: coercive sequences and reciprocity of negative behaviors is associated with marital distress, not anger per se (again based on the work of Gottman and his colleagues). Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

13. Research with Families • Behavior in families: • Gerald Patterson and his colleagues have demonstrated that antisocial behavior is often unintentionally reinforced through repeated interactional sequences. • This research has only recently simultaneously considered contextual risk factors (e.g., poverty, stress, substance abuse, difficult temperament in an infant, high-crime neighborhood, and marital conflict). • Cognition in families: although there has been research on family-related cognitions of children, the study of cognitions within families is just beginning. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

14. Strengths • Provides tools to study families at the microscopic level, focusing on family processes. • Research has been self-correcting and clearly operationalized. • Therapeutic interventions are based on empirical research. • Characteristics (e.g., depression) can be conceptualized at the individual and systemic levels. • Diversity issues can be addressed if there is attention to schemata. • Provides a basis for public policy. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

15. Limitations • May underestimate biological factors. • It does not address critical periods and stages of development. • It has difficulty measuring and explaining subtle behavior which may be subjectively interpreted. • Poor application to triadic or group relationships. • Development and application of theory has occurred in Western culture. Generalization of research to diverse populations is problematic. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

16. Intrapersonal Domain Figure 21-1: Bandura’s Model of Reciprocal Determinism Social & Physical Environmental Domain Behavioral Domain Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

17. Behavior Intrapersonal Family Member A Family Member C Social & Physical Environment Intrapersonal Behavior Family Member B Figure 21-2: Social, Cognitve, Behavioral View of Family Interaction CULTURE/ COMMUNITY Intrapersonal Behavior Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson