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 ). New York: Plenum Press.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson 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. è Suggested that conditioned responses were forms of learning. è 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. è There is variability in time spent between family members. è Space also varies between family members.  Influence on intrapersonal and behavioral factors: è Physical environment affects behavior and intrapersonal factors. è Family members serve as models, reinforcers, punishers. è 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 è physical appearance, è mental and physical health, è temperament, è 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 BehaviorIntrapersonal Social & Physical Environment Family Member B Family Member A Family Member C Behavior Intrapersonal CULTURE/ COMMUNITY