These Are the Same Important Terms and Ideas That Are Summarized at the End of the Chapter

Chapter 9

These are the same important terms and ideas that are summarized at the end of the chapter. Additional information that I've added to these will be in italicized text. I have also added additional important terms and ideas at the end of the alphabetical list. As you study, pay particular attention to 1. the definitions for which the titles appear in BOLD print, 2. the italicized information I've added, and 3. the additional terms I've added at the bottom of the list. These are the most important ideas and the ones most likely to appear on the exams.

Antecedent Conditions - Stimulus conditions, or conditions that lead up to the behavior of interest. They are stimuli in the environment (perhaps a particular place or person) that precede [elicit] a particular behavior.

Behavioral Assessment - An assessment approach that focuses on the interactions between situations and behaviors for the purpose of effecting behavioral change. Behavioral evaluators focus on the interaction of “behaviors” and “situations” when doing clinical assessments. They do NOT look for “signs” of underlying drives, traits, or motivations as a psychoanalyst would.

Behavioral Interviews - Interviews conducted for the purpose of identifying a problem behavior, the situational factors that maintain the behavior, and the consequences that result from the behavior.

Behavioral Rehearsal - Role-playing. The term behavioral rehearsal is usually used in cases where the patient is trying to develop a new response pattern.

Cognitive-Behavioral Assessment - An assessment approach recognizing that the person's thoughts or cognitions play an important role in behavior.

Cognitive-Functional Approach - An assessment approach that calls for the functional analysis of the client's thinking processes. In this approach, the clinician completes a careful analysis of the person's cognitions, how they are aiding or interfering with performance, and under what situations this is occurring.

Consequent Events - Outcomes, or events that follow from the behavior of interest. Controlled Observation - An observational method in which the clinician exerts a certain amount of purposeful control over the events being observed; also known as analogue behavioral observation. Controlled observation may be preferred in situations where a behavior does not occur very often on its own or where normal events are likely to draw the patient outside the observer's range. Often involves creating a situation to simulate real life. An example from our text involves the US military, During World War II, having personnel attempt a task while confederates did their best to sabotage the results. The focus was response to stress.

Controlled Performance Technique - An assessment procedure in which the clinician places individuals in carefully controlled performance situations and collects data on their performance/behaviors, their emotional reactions (subjectively rated), and/or various psychophysiological indices.

Dysfunctional Thought Record - Completed by the client and provides the client and therapist with a record of the client's automatic thoughts that are related to dysphoria or depression.

Ecological Momentary Assessment - A new method of behavioral assessment in which participants record their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors as they occur in the natural environment. This is typically accomplished through the use of electronic diaries.

Ecological Validity - In the context of behavioral assessment, the extent to which the behaviors analyzed or observed are representative of a person's typical behavior. Asks the question, are the behavioral observations a good sample of the person’s typical behavior.

Electronic Diaries - A technique used in behavior assessment in which individuals carry handheld computers that are programmed to prompt the individuals to complete assessments at that moment in time, in participants' natural environment.

Functional Analysis - A central feature of behavioral assessment. In a functional analysis, careful analyses are made of the stimuli preceding a behavior and the consequences following from it to gain a precise understanding of the causes of the behavior. An analysis of the variables that precede (tend to elicit) a behavior, the behavior itself, and the variables that typically follow and maintain a behavior (consequences).

Home Observation - Observation that is carried out in the patient's home by trained observers using an appropriate observational rating system. Hospital Observation - Observation that is carried out in psychiatric hospitals or institutions using an observational device designed for that purpose.

Observation - A primary technique of behavioral assessment. Observation is often used to gain a better understanding of the frequency, strength, and pervasiveness of the problem behavior as well as the factors that are maintaining it.

Observer Drift - A phenomenon in which observers who work closely together subtly, and without awareness, begin to drift away from other observers in their ratings. Two observers who work together may become “alike” in their recording without being aware of it. While the two observers who have “drifted” together seem to have good reliability [inter-observer agreement] their “true” reliability is shown to be poor when a new observer is paired with one of them.

Organismic Variables - Physical, physiological, or cognitive characteristics of the client that are important for both the conceptualization of the client's problem and the formulation of effective treatments. Radical (extreme) behaviorists like Watson might consider internal variables (physical state, cognitions) not open to analysis, but modern behavioral assessors do consider analysis of organismic variables to be important.

Psychophysiological Measures - Used to assess central nervous system, autonomic nervous system, or skeletomotor activity. The advantage of psychophysiological measures is that they may assess processes (e.g., emotional responsivity) that are not directly assessed by self-report or behavioral measures, and they tend to be more sensitive measures of these processes than alternative measures. Examples include event-related potentials (ERPs), electromyographic (EMG) activity, electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, and electrodermal activity (EDA).

Reactivity - In the context of observation, the phenomenon in which individuals respond to the fact that they are being observed by changing their behavior. Also called reactance, the phenomenon in which just knowing one is being watched changes one’s behavior. A classic example of this involves the “Hawthorne” experiments in which worker productivity increased in response to both increased AND decreased lighting in the work environment.

Role-Playing - A technique in which patients are directed to respond the way they would typically respond if they were in a given situation. The situation may be described to them, or an assistant may actually act the part of another person. Often used for dealing with problems involving interactions with others, esp. deficits in social skills and assertiveness.

Sample - Behavioral assessment uses a "sample" orientation to testing—that is, the goal is to gather examples that are representative of the situations and behaviors of interest.

School Observation - Behavioral observation that is conducted in the school setting. As with home observation, trained observers rate the patient using an appropriate observational system.

Self-Monitoring - An observational technique in which individuals observe and record their own behaviors, thoughts, or emotions (including information on timing, frequency, intensity, and duration). This is very cost-effective and can help clients translate vague complaints into specific behaviors to be changed. Also, simply recording one’s own behaviors can lead to insight and improvement.

Sign - Traditional assessment uses a "sign" approach to testing—that is, the goal is to identify marks of underlying characteristics. This can be confusing. While traditional psychoanalysts consider a symptom a "sign" of an underlying problem, behaviorists consider a "sign" to be an "observable behavior" of the client.

Situational Test - A controlled observation technique in which the clinician places individuals in situations more or less similar to those of real life and then observes their reactions directly.

SORC Model - A model for conceptualizing clinical problems from a behavioral perspective. In this model, S = the stimulus or antecedent conditions that bring on the problematic behavior, O = the organismic variables related to the behavior, R = the response or the behavior itself, and C = the consequences of the behavior.

Unit Of Analysis - In the context of observation, the length of time observations will be made and the type and number of responses that will be rated.

Below are some additional ideas and terms from Chapter 9 you should know Sign vs. Sample – in contrast to a psychoanalyst, behavioral assessors do not see problem behaviors as “signs” of underlying problems. Their interest is in understanding the variables that elicit and maintain such behaviors. To make things more confusing, behaviorists DO use the word "sign." However, as they use it, it refers to "observable" patient behaviors" vs. "symptoms" which are reported by the patient.

When is Behavioral Assessment Used? – before treatment (to understand behaviors and choose treatment), during treatment (to assess effectiveness), and after treatment (to see if improvement is maintained).

Naturalistic Observation – used primarily in research and teaching settings. It is a good method for obtaining data. Because of its difficulty and expense, it is not popular in everyday clinical practice.

Achenbach’s Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL] – is one of the most widely used of children’s assessment tools. See Table 9 – 2 for sample items from the “Direct Observation Form [DOF] of the CBCL.

Concurrent validity – in the context of behavioral assessment, if professional observations of behavior (e.g., a child’s aggression) agree with parent and teacher reports, the validity of the observation is supported.