An Insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling

Shaiffadzillah OmaraliAn insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling

INTRODUCTION

The mind of a child is engineered to learn. However, learning is a

tumultuous process at times immersed in conflicts of concepts and behaviors

that leads the child to a problem-plagued existence unless proper guidance is

given. For purely academic problems, teachers play a major role. For

problems that trigger abnormal behaviors such as truancy or low self-esteem,

the guiding task befits counselors. Counselors have in their arsenal an array

of approaches to cope with clients. One such approach is the Behaviorist

Approach and is acknowledged as quite popular among counselors as is

evidently elaborated under its implications in Bruneian secondary schools.

The Behaviorist Approach is the theory of John B. Watson, who was ‘a

strong proponent of the importance of learning in human development and

the father of behaviorism’ (Horowitz, 1992 as cited in Shaffer, p. 45, 2001).

The theory advanced with B.F. Skinners’ involvement and he did more than

anyone else to contribute to behaviorism (Shaffer, 2001). Gradually, the

approach was usurped into the counseling field in the late 1970s with ample

and diverse contributions from theorists such as Bandura, Pavlov and Wolpe.

Each theorist came up with concepts that are now used as guidelines in

understanding and using the Behaviorist Approach.

BASIC CONCEPTS

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The behaviorist approach obviously emphasizes on behavior. It can be

defined as ‘the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their

environmental determinants’ (cited in Suppiah, 2002). This is a rephrase off

of Watson’s (1913, cited in Shaffer, 2001) statement that

“..conclusions about human development should be based on

observations of overt behavior rather than on speculations about

unconscious motives or cognitive processes that are unobservable

[and] associations between external stimuli and observable

responses are the building blocks of human development”.

From the statement it implies that ‘the environment is the most important

force in shaping development’ (cited in Suppiah, 2002), and how children

turn out ‘depends entirely on their rearing environments and the ways

significant people treat them’ (Watson, cited in Shaffer, 2001).

The approach perceives learning as a continuous process of behavioral

changes instead of a series of distinct stages. Since learning is defined as “a

more or less permanent change of behavior resulting from experience”

(quoted from Boorer), the best observable element in identifying progress or

deviations in the learning process are the changes in a child’s behavior,

which is what behavioral counselors focus on.

VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

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John Watson claimed that ‘he could take a dozen healthy infants and

train them to be whatever he chose—a doctor, lawyer, beggar, and son on—

regardless of their backgrounds or ancestry’. This statement of his implies

that human nature plays little role in behaviorism as opposed to nurture.

Although the role of human nature in behaviorism is yet to be unraveled,

assumptions proposed by Dustin and George (George & Cristiani, 1995)

regarding the nature of humanity may well be adequate in explaining the

behavioral counselors’ view of human nature.

Dustin and George’s first assumption is that “people are viewed as

being neither intrinsically good nor bad, but as experiencing organisms who

have potential for all kinds of behavior”. This is a well-known theory in the

child development field and is referred to as the term ‘tabula rasa’, which

refers to the idea that the mind of an infant is a ‘blank slate’ and that all

knowledge and behaviors are acquired through experience. John Watson’s

statement on having the ability to manipulate infants like malleable clay

perfectly portrays this idea.

The second assumption is that ‘people are able to conceptualize and

control their own behavior’. It explains the notion that all behavior are

governed by first exposures to a stimulant and in turn the response (i.e.

behavior) that results from the first exposure produces a concept of

association (a schema) with the reaction for further similar exposures. This

process is called conditioning and will be elaborated as the paper progresses.

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The third assumption is that “people are able to acquire new

behaviors”. Humans coined this acquiring of new behaviors as ‘learning’,

such as through imitation or drilling. Behaviorists believe that learning can

only be acquired from interaction with the environment.

The fourth assumption is that “people are able to influence others’

behavior as well as to be influenced by others in their own behavior”. Watson

perceives this as very important for parents, in that the ‘parents were largely

responsible for what their children would become’.

As mentioned earlier, conditioning is the linchpin of human behavior.

Since ‘behavior can be reduced to responses or actions that can be observed,

measured and analysed’ (Suppiah, 2002) a diagrammatic portrayal of this

conceptualization has been used by all therapists. The stimulus-response

paradigm shows how behaviors are learnt and unlearnt and how some

behaviors can be predictable. The knowledge being able to reverse

misbehavior into a desired behavior is of particular interest to counselors.

The two major conditionings are Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning and Skinner’s

Operant Conditioning.

‘Classical conditioning is also called learning through stimulus

substitution because it involves the repeated pairing of two stimuli so that a

previously neutral (conditioned) stimulus eventually comes to elicit the same

response (conditioned response) that was previously evoked by the first

stimulus (unconditioned stimulus)’ (Suppiah, 2002). This conditioning focuses

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on the antecedent, or the cause of the behavior (the stimulus). (See

Appendix, diagram A2)

Skinner’s Operant conditioning, which is more extensively used in

schools, is ‘a form of learning in which the consequences of behavior produce

changes in the probability of the behavior’s occurrence’ (Suppiah, 2002). The

consequence of the behavior leads to changes of the behavior’s occurrence.

Consequence, which in this case is also called reinforcers, can be in the form

of rewards, punishments, motivation or advice. However if these reinforcers

were withdrawn and it results in the cessation of a behavior, this process is

then called extinction (See Appendix, diagram A3). Operant conditioning is

very powerful and is frequently used by teachers, parents, psychologists,

therapists and counselors in order to modify or change behavior. Hence one

of the goals of behavioral therapists is to modify or change undesired

behavior.

GOALS OF THE APPROACH

Behavior is the main focus of behavioral counselors and from this

notion dawns the question of why is it put under such intense scrutiny.

George and Cristiani (1995) states five general goals that can be achieved

from behavioral therapy. The first is to ‘alter the maladaptive behavior in the

client under therapy’. An example of a situation is when a student commits

truancy because the lessons are not challenging. The counselor can suggest

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that instead of rebelling in such scenario, the student can actually excel

easier.

The second goal is to ‘help the client learn a more efficient decision-

making process’. For example, if a student always disrupts class to get the

teacher’s attention, the counselor can provide options to achieve the

student’s goal such as impressing the teacher with good behavior instead.

The third goal is to ‘prevent future problems’. Counselors can provide

advice on the possible dire consequences if a student continues to misbehave

- for example, the use of law enforcers (i.e. police) if the student harasses

others.

The fourth goal is to ‘solve specific behavioral problems requested by

the client’. For example, if a student cannot stop being bossy because it has

become a habit, the counselor may innovate a reinforcement device, such as

assigning the student as a temporary class monitor.

The fifth goal is to ‘achieve behavioral changes that translate to action

in life’. It implies that counselors are to give options to clients on how to

behave acceptably through eliminating undesired behaviors.

REFERENCES

George, R. L., & Cristiani, T. S. (1995) Counselling: Theory and Practice.

(4th edition) Massachusetts: Allan and Bacon, 87-91.

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Shaffer, D. R., (2001) Developmental Psychology (6th edition)

Wadsworth,USA 44-45.

Suppiah, C. (ed.) (2002) Developmental Psychology Reader for PP2203.

Dept. Educational Psychology SHBIE, UBD

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