An autistic child is successively reinforced for behaviours ranging from making eye contact, attending to therapist’s speech, and imitating speech sounds until sentences are uttered in normal social contexts.
This technique is called:
A. Shaping refers to an operant conditioning technique that has been used in autistic children. It consists of successive reinforcement of behaviours that approximate to the fi nal desired behaviour. It is different from chaining in that chaining involves eliciting a complex behaviour by reinforcing the comparatively simpler components of the behavioural chain. Flooding is a behavioural technique used in exposure therapy. In this technique, sudden exposure to highly threatening stimulus (from a hierarchical list of various anxiety provoking situations) is attempted. It is often unacceptable to many patients and is not popular. Aversion therapy is not used in present-day behavioural treatment. It refers to a conditioning technique where negative reinforcement is used to bring about a desired behaviour or to stop an unwanted behaviour. It is not very effective as any positive outcome tends to be temporary. Token economy is a contingency technique where immediately available secondary reinforcers (e.g. coupons, vouchers, tokens) are used to reward a desirable behaviour. Later, primary reinforcers can be obtained in exchange for secondary reinforcers. A wide variety of behaviours can be thus reinforced even in large group settings.
Reference:
A smoker is made aware of numerous health problems that could occur due to smoking. If the smoker attempts to reduce the dissonance between his smoking behaviour and health beliefs, which of the following is least likely to happen?
A. This is an example of cognitive dissonance or, more precisely, attitude behaviour discrepancy. Cognitive dissonance is defi ned as a psychological tension that arises when inconsistent cognitions are held simultaneously. A similar tension can also occur when there is a discrepancy between one’s attitude and behaviour. When one is faced with such dissonance, a change in behaviour happens very rarely. Changing one’s behaviour requires more motivation, effort, and sustained energy. Instead one of the following three happens more often:
Inducing cognitive dissonance is an important therapeutic approach in which of the following treatments?
D. The concept of cognitive dissonance is therapeutically employed in motivation enhancement therapy. When treating harmful users of alcohol, the evidence for harm caused by alcohol is highlighted along with reflecting on one’s continuous drinking behaviour. This induces a cognitive dissonance which will drive towards an action.
Which of the following terms describes an evaluative rather than a descriptive stand one holds about oneself?
C.
Behavioural couples therapy is a treatment approach used in which of the following conditions?
A. Behavioural couples therapy is a specifi c intervention for alcoholism. It is derived from a general behavioural conceptualization of substance abuse, which assumes that family interactions reinforce alcohol-seeking behaviour. It has strong empirical and randomized controlled trial-based evidence for its effectiveness. It encourages family members to reward abstinence. Soon after the substance user seeks help, the patient and their partner are seen together in therapy for 15 to 20 out-patient couple sessions over 5 to 6 months. The therapist arranges a daily ‘sobriety contract’ in which the patient states his or her intent not to drink or use drugs that day (traditionally, one day at a time), and the spouse expresses support for the patient’s efforts to stay abstinent. Stop– start or squeeze–pause techniques (Masters and Johnson) are used for premature ejaculation. Sex offender treatment programmes in the UK largely use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)-based treatment approaches.
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