Social and Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology

Crosbie-Burnett, M., & Lewis, E. A. (1993). Theoretical contributions from social and cognitive-behavioral psychology. In P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 531-558). New York: Plenum Press.

Historical Development

   Behaviorism (emphasis on the work of John B. Watson)  Modeled his work on principles of classical conditioning (Pavlov) and operant conditioning (Thorndike).

 Mental processes were considered habits that were not connected to the brain.

 Major contribution: theoretical.

 Suggested that conditioned responses were forms of learning.

 Suggested that all behavior was learned; children were not active agents in their own development.

Social Psychology: influenced by William James and Gorddon Allport.

The Second Wave of European Influence  Psychoanalytic: Alfred Adler, and other’s fleeing Nazi oppression, settled in the U.S. In contrast to behaviorism, Adler argued that internal processes were important.

 Gestalt (e.g., Lewin): attacked behaviorism for it’s molecular approach and denial of consciousness

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Historical Development: Social Learning Theory (Social Cognitive Theory)

 Albert Bandura integrated social psychology, cognitive psychology, and behaviorism.

 Reciprocal determinism: environment, intrapersonal factors, and behavior are interacting determinants of each other (see Figure 21-1).

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Social-Cognitive Theory: Emphasizes Unique Human Capabilities:

 Ability to use symbols  allows humans to form guides for future reference,  generate innovate course of action.

 permits solutions symbolically by estimating outcomes.

 Forethought regulates most behavior which allows humans to  anticipate consequences,  set goals,  plan.

  Vicarious learning allows efficient learning.

Self-regulation provides humans with the capacity to compare their behavior to internal standards.

 Self-reflection permits analysis of experience and analysis of thought processes which is used to judge our own abilities, forming self-efficacy.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Assumptions About Human Nature

 Behavior is learned: human behavior is plastic and malleable.

 Humans actively seek, select, and use information in order to  construct a view of reality,  meet their basic needs.

 Cognitive activity can be consciously assessed, monitored, and altered.

 Therapeutic goal: overt manipulation of behavior is ethical.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Assumptions About Couples and Families

 Their model is descriptive, not prescriptive: it focuses on  how families interact,   the consequences of these interactions.

The model is value free, but researcher’s and clinicians are not so their descriptions are influenced by  culture,  gender,  socioeconomic class.

 The model does not presume family structure.

 The values of individuals in a family influence family process.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Concepts from Social Psychology

 Attributions:  Causal attribution: explanations for locus, stability, and globality of a person’s behavior.

 Responsibility attribution: assessment of blame.

 Coercion: the process of controlling someone’s behavior by acting aversively to force compliance.

 Dominance and Equity: a dominant person has more control of resources; an asymmetrical distribution of power.

 Environment: physical and social surroundings.

 Model: a person who provides examples for behavior.

 Reciprocity: tendency for people to reinforce or punish each other at approximately equitable rates.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Concepts from Cognitive Psychology

 Cognitions include  selective attention,  perception,  memories,  self-talk,  imagery,  attitudes,  beliefs,  expectations,  and attributions.

 Social Cognitions: cognitions about person’s in one’s environment.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Concepts from Cognitive Psychology (cont.)

 Cognitive Mediation: attribution of meaning to a stimulus.

 Schemata:  A mental structure that is used to acquire and organize knowledge.

 Long-standing, relatively stable basic assumptions about the world and personal agency.

 Behavior: any observable action or series of actions, including spoken and nonverbal communication.

 Behavioral Deficit or Skills Deficit: behavioral skills that a person does not have.

 Behavioral Excesses: behaviors which are engaged in frequently enough to be problematic (e.g., conversation dominance, interruptions).

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

The Model: How the Major Concepts Link

 Environments  Family members share social and physical environments, to some degree.

 There is variability in time spent between family members.

 Space also varies between family members.

 Influence on intrapersonal and behavioral factors:  Physical environment affects behavior and intrapersonal factors.

 Family members serve as models, reinforcers, punishers.

 Unlike other social environments, there are financial and legal entanglements.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

The Model: How the Major Concepts Link (cont.)

 Intrapersonal Factors: some are permanent, some change developmentally, and some change from moment-to-moment.

 Characteristics of individual family members such as genetic factors which influence  physical appearance,  mental and physical health,  temperament,  and predispositions.

 Personality characteristics.

 Intelligence.

 Abilities.

 Physiological factors.

 Cognitions.

 Emotions.

 Behavior  Influences sense of competence.

 Can change the physical environment.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Research with Couples

 Behavior in marriage (based on Gottman, et al.). Unhappy couples in conflict showed  higher rates of negative behavior,  more reciprocity of negative behaviors,  and less variability in their behavior patterns.

 Cognition in marriage  Studies of beliefs about marriage such as Fitzpatrick’s (1988) marital typology.

 Studies of attributions use to explain a partner’s behavior: the message sent by a partner is not the same as the one received.

 Affect in marriage: coercive sequences and reciprocity of negative behaviors is associated with marital distress, not anger per se (again based on the work of Gottman and his colleagues).

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Research with Families

 Behavior in families:  Gerald Patterson and his colleagues have demonstrated that antisocial behavior is often unintentionally reinforced through repeated interactional sequences.

 This research has only recently simultaneously considered contextual risk factors (e.g., poverty, stress, substance abuse, difficult temperament in an infant, high-crime neighborhood, and marital conflict).

 Cognition in families: although there has been research on family-related cognitions of children, the study of cognitions within families is just beginning.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Strengths

 Provides tools to study families at the microscopic level, focusing on family processes.

 Research has been self-correcting and clearly operationalized.

 Therapeutic interventions are based on empirical research.

 Characteristics (e.g., depression) can be conceptualized at the individual and systemic levels.

 Diversity issues can be addressed if there is attention to schemata.

 Provides a basis for public policy.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Limitations

 May underestimate biological factors.

 It does not address critical periods and stages of development.

 It has difficulty measuring and explaining subtle behavior which may be subjectively interpreted.

 Poor application to triadic or group relationships.

 Development and application of theory has occurred in Western culture. Generalization of research to diverse populations is problematic.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Figure 21-1: Bandura’s Model of Reciprocal Determinism

Intrapersonal Domain Social & Physical Environmental Domain Behavioral Domain

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Figure 21-2: Social, Cognitve, Behavioral View of Family Interaction

CULTURE/ COMMUNITY

Intrapersonal Behavior Behavior Family Member C Social & Physical Environment Family Member A Intrapersonal Intrapersonal Family Member B Behavior

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson