Family Therapy Chapter 12 terms and definitions
Terms
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- baseline
- A stable, reliable performance level, against which changes, particularly of a behavioral nature, can be compared.
- behavioral
- The viewpoint that objective and experimentally verified procedures should be the basis for modifying maladaptive, undesired, or problematic behaviors.
- behavioral analysis
- An assessment procedure in which a therapist identifies the targeted behavior to be changed, determines the factors currently maintaining the behavior, and formulates a treatment plan that includes specific criteria for measuring the success of the change effort.
- behavioral couples therapy
- Training couples in communication skills, the exchange of positive reinforcements, cognitive restructuring, and problem-solving skills in order to facilitate marital satisfaction.
- behavioral parent training
- Training parents in behavioral principles and the use of contingency management procedures in altering or modifying undesirable behavior in their children.
- classical conditioning
- A form of learning in which a previously neutral stimulus, through repeated pairing with a stimulus that ordinarily elicits a response, eventually elicits the response by itself.
- cognitive
- Pertaining to mental processes, such as thinking, remembering, perceiving, expecting, and planning.
- cognitive behavior therapy
- A set of therapeutic procedures, derived from behavior therapy, that attempts to change behavior by modifying or altering faulty thought patterns or destructive self-verbalizations.
- cognitive restructuring
- An intervention procedure whereby the therapist attempts to modify client thoughts, perceptions, and attributions about an event.
- contingency contract
- An agreement, usually in written form, made by two or more family members specifying the circumstances under which each is to do something for the other, so that they may exchange rewarding behavior.
- functional analysis
- A behavioral assessment of a problem in order to determine what interpersonal or environmental contingencies elicit the problematic behavior and how to extinguish or reduce its occurrence.
- functional family therapy
- A therapeutic approach based on systems theory, cognitive theory, and behavioral principles in which clients are helped to understand the function or interpersonal payoff of certain of their behaviors as a prelude to substituting more effective ways to achieve the same results.
- integrative couples therapy
- A behaviorally based technique emphasizing the emotional acceptance of behavior in a partner not open to change.
- operant conditioning
- A form of learning in which correct or desired responses are rewarded or reinforced, thus increasing the probability that these responses will recur.
- operant interpersonal therapy
- A marital therapy approach based on operant conditioning theory, particularly the exchange between partners of positive rewards.
- problem analysis
- An investigation of a presenting problem, typically carried out by behaviorists, in order to determine as precisely as possible what behavioral deficiencies require targeting.
- radical behaviorism
- The outlook offered by B. F. Skinner that overt or observable behavior is the only acceptable subject of scientific investigation.
- reinforcement
- A response, in the form of a reward or punishment, intended to change the probability of the occurrence of a previous response.
- schemas
- Relatively stable cognitive structures involving underlying core beliefs a person develops about the world.
- shaping
- A form of behavioral therapy, based on operant conditioning principles, in which successive approximations of desired behavior are reinforced until the desired behavior is achieved.
- social learning theory
- The theory that a person’s behavior is best understood when the conditions under which the behavior is learned are taken into account.
- therapeutic contracts
- As used by behavioral family therapists, written negotiated agreements between family members to make specific behavior changes in the future.
- time out
- A behavioral technique for extinguishing undesirable or inappropriate behavior by removing the reinforcing consequences of that behavior; the procedure is used primarily with children.
- token economy
- A program in which tokens (points, gold stars) are dispensed contingent upon the successful completion of previously designated desired behaviors; the accumulated tokens can be redeemed later for money or special privileges.