• He introduced systematic desensitization - deconditions anxiety through reciprocal inhibition by pairing  responses incompatible  with anxiety to previously anxiety-arousing stimuli
• ex. if clt is afraid of spiders, he would teach her deep muscle relaxation and then have her imagine approaching  a spider in gradual steps. Each time clt became anxious, she would be told to relax-this way her anxiety about spiders would decreasedue to state of relaxation replaced the anxiety
• His operant conditioning - he taught that all behavior is regulated by its consequences.
• responses positively reinforced will be repeated more frequently those that are punished or ignored will be extinguished 

• The operant conditioner carefully observes target behavior and quantifies its frequency and rate
• then complete a functional analysis of behavior - the consequences of the behavior are noted to determine the contingencies of reinforcement.
• ex. clr is interested in the child's temper tantrums would begin by observing when they occurred and what the consequences were
• finding: the child throws a tantrum when his parents deny his requests
• and parents give in to the tantrums if prolonged
• thus parents would be reinforcing the very behavior they didnt want

• pioneer in bahavioral parenting
• his tx was based on the premise - if parents change their contingencies of reinforcement, then their children's behavior will change
• clr teaches a mother to develop a family mgt program to encourage her unruly child w/prosocial behavior and discourage his misbehavior
• thru shaping (technique) - the mother learns to do gradually with skills taught in sequence
• she was 1st taught to define her child positive and problematic behavior by observable actions
• after 1wk of keeping track, she was taught to reinforce the prosocial behavior thru contingent encouragement with incentive charts
• finding: it promoted positive relationships between parents and children
• children earned rewards while they learn prosocial skills and in the process their self-esteem grew with each success with more positive attention from their parents

• He taught shaping (technique)  to parent - the mother learns  skills taught in sequence
• he introduced disciplinary  techniques  such as time-out to address the problematic behavior especially in aggressive children
• time-out is behavioral technique for decreasing problematic behavior by removing the reinforcing consequences of that behavior; typically making the child sit in a corner or go to his/her room
• include problem-solving techniques, communication training, negotiation, and contracting
• he also taught parents to monitor the child's behavior outside the home:
• by keeping in touch with other parents, teachers, and activity leaders

• leading figure in development of family behavioral therapy
• he teaches contingency mgt of mutual reinforcers
• he introduced the use of role rehearsal and modeling
• role rehearsal - role-playing desired ways of behaving;
• role-playing - is acting out the parts of important characters to dramatize feelings and practice new ways of relating (To assume or act out a particular role)
• modeling - observational learning:
• Modeling, which is also called observational learning or imitation, is a behaviorally based procedure that involves the use of live or symbolic models to demonstrate a particular behavior, thought, or attitude that a client may want to acquire or change.

• he introduced contingency contracting - behavioral technique whereby agreements are made between family members to exchange rewards for desired behavior
• his focus was on how positive behavior could be maximized using reinforcement reciprocity - exchanging rewarding behavior  between family members

• emotions and exchanges are mediated by specific cognitions (beliefs, attributes, expectations)
• understanding these cognitions makes it possible to identify factors that trigger and maintain dysfunctional emotional  and behavioral patterns
• rational emotive clrs: help family members to see how illogical  their beliefs causes their distress
• ABC theory:
• family members blame thier problem on certain event (A)
• and are taught to look for irrational beliefs (B)
• which are then challenged (C)
• the clrs role is to teach the family how their emotional problems are caused by unrealistic beliefs
• and by revising  these self-defeating  ideas/beliefs, they may improve the family quality of life.

• basic premise: behavior is maintained by its consequences: consequencs that accelerate behavior are reinforcers, consequences that decelerate behavior are punishers
• central tenet is that our interpretation of other people's behavior affects the way we respond to them
• arbituary inference - distorted conclusions shaped by a person's schemas, or core beliefs

• Cognitive-behaviorists theorize that these are cognitive distortions learned/developed overtime while growing up.
• These dysfunctional beliefs are biased assumptions about family roles or family in general that interfere with relationships (family or couple)
• they are exaggerated and irrational

cognitive distortions:

• Conclusions drawn in absence of supporting evidence. ex. man comes home late. wife thinks he is having an affair.
• Certain details are highlighted while other important information is ignored. ex. wife greets her husband in the morning, but he does not respond-she assumes he must be mad with her again.

•  Isolated incidents are taken as general patterns. ex.  1 girl turns down a date with a young man-he now believes women do not like him and he'll never get a date.
• The significant events are magnified or diminished. ex. Husband shops 2x per mth - he feels he is fulfilling his share of the responsibilities but his wife thinks he never does anything

• incorrectly thinking that everything people say or do is a reaction to you. It is an egocentric viewpoint where you attribute personal meaning to everything that happens. e. son wants to spend more time with his friends -father assumes he does not love
• thinking that things are either black or white, good or bad, all or nothing. This fallacy can lead to rigid and harmful rules ex when people only remember the good times or the bad times not both. 

• You conclude, incorrectly and without considering other alternatives or testing your assumptions, that you understand how another person is thinking and what their reasons and motives are for taking a particular action

• We generalize one or two qualities into a negative global judgment. These are extreme forms of generalizing, and are also referred to as “labeling” and “mislabeling.” Instead of describing an error in context of a specific situation, a person will attach an unhealthy label to themselves.

  For example, they may say, “I’m a loser” in a situation where they failed at a specific task. When someone else’s behavior rubs a person the wrong way, they may attach an unhealthy label to him, such as “He’s a real jerk.” Mislabeling involves describing an event with language that is highly colored and emotionally loaded. For example, instead of saying someone drops her children off at daycare every day, a person who is mislabeling might say that “she abandons her children to strangers.”

• is a type of behavioral therapy bases a the principle of classical conditioning.
• This therapy aims to remove the fear response of a phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually using counter conditioning.
• This is done by forming a hierarchy of fear, involving the conditioned stimulus (e.g. a spider), that are ranked from least fearful to most fearful.
• The patient works their way up starting at the least unpleasant and practicing their relaxation technique as they go.
• When they feel comfortable with this (they are no longer afraid) they move on to the next stage in the hierarchy.

In operant behavior therapy, a study of a particular behavior, what elicits it, and what reinforces it.