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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page paper that comments on the basic beliefs in this therapeutic model. The paper also discusses setting goals in this approach. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: ME12_PGbhvth.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
not do the behaviors for which we are punished. In terms of behaviorism, a punishment may simply be the withholding of the reward. Behaviorism began with Ivan Pavlov in
the early 1900s. Pavlov showed that an automatic response could be associated with a new stimulus and eventually cause the same automatic response. His subject was a dog and he
associated the ringing of a bell with food which caused the dog to salivate. Subsequently, B.F. Skinner introduced operant conditioning. Skinner promoted the argument that every action has a consequence
that will occur naturally in a given environment. The consequence will either reinforce that behavior or it will punish that behavior. Reinforcement will sustain or strengthen the behavior while punishment
will eliminate or weaken the behavior. Skinners theory is about the associations between events. This concept is found in the earlier works from John Locke and David Hume who
believed that intelligent behavior is always based on associative learning. Behaviorism is based on these kinds of associations. One very important aspect of Skinners theory is the reinforcement schedule. A
fixed-ration schedule gives reinforcement when the behavior is performed an specific number of times; a variable-ration schedule is as it sounds, reinforcement is given based on an average of the
frequency of the behavior; the fixed-interval schedule provides reinforcement after a certain amount of time as long as the person has done the behavior at least once in that time
span; and a variable-interval schedule where the reward is given on an intermittent basis (Benson, 2005). Some believe this last schedule is the most powerful for sustaining target behaviors
because it is unpredictable. The behaviorist relies on the association that is made between the stimulus and the consequence (Graham, 2005). This continues to the premise that if the environment
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