Behavioral Therapy: A Brief Review

Behavioral therapy has its roots in experimental psychology (Sharf, 2004). Prior to the work of Pavlov, there was no systematic approach to behavior therapy. Pavlov observed that dogs would salivate before they received food. He concluded the dogs learned to associate being fed with environmental cues. Thus, learning is a result of environmental conditioning.

Classical conditioning focuses on the effects of the antecedents of behaviors while operant conditioning focuses on the antecedent and consequences of behaviors. Edward L. Thorndike posed the Law of Effect, which in essence meant that consequences that follow behavior help learning. B. F. Skinner is most famous for his work and experiments with operant conditioning. With operate conditioning; the behavior is systematically changed by altering consequences. Most of the of Skinner's work was done in the laboratory; however he extended his principles to human behavior as well. Skinner wrote to show how operant conditioning could provide the basis for any ideal community.

Albert Bandura initiated the social cognitive theory, formerly called social learning theory. He emphasized the role of psychological functioning, thoughts and images. Bandura's theory pose that individuals learn by observing others. The cognitive structures include self-awareness, self-inducements, and self-reinforcements that can influence thoughts, behaviors, and feelings (Sharf, 2004).