Experiments in Behaviour Therapy

Experiments in Behavior Therapy: Readings in Modern Methods of Treatment of Mental Disorders Derived from Learning Theory focuses on experiments involving the application of modern theories of learning and conditioning to behavior disorders. The selection first offers information on the nature of behavior and systematic desensitization treatment of neuroses. Discussions focus on the technique of systematic desensitization, examples of hierarchies from actual cases, and desensitization procedure. The text then ponders on experimental desensitization of a phobia, treatment by a method derived from experimental psychology, and treatment of anxiety and phobic reactions by systematic desensitization psychotherapy. The publication examines the treatment of chronic frigidity by systematic desensitization, application of reciprocal inhibition therapy to exhibitionism, and group therapy of phobic disorders by systematic desensitization. The isolation of a conditioning procedure as the crucial psychotherapeutic factor; application of learning principles to the treatment of obsessive-compulsive states in the acute and chronic phases of illness; and case of homosexuality treated by aversion therapy are also discussed. The selection is a dependable source of data for readers interested in behavior therapy.

ForewordThe Nature of Behavior TherapyPart I Reciprocal Inhibition 1. The Systematic Desensitization Treatment of Neuroses 2. The Experimental Desensitization of a Phobia 3. A Case of Cat Phobia (Treatment by a Method Derived from Experimental Psychology) 4. Case Report: The Treatment of Anxiety and Phobic Reactions by Systematic Desensitization Psychotherapy 5. The Treatment of Chronic Frigidity by Systematic Desensitization 6. Application of Reciprocal Inhibition Therapy to Exhibitionism 7. Group Therapy of Phobic Disorders by Systematic Desensitization 8. Isolation of a Conditioning Procedure as the Crucial Psychotherapeutic Factor: A Case Study 9. The Application of Learning Principles to the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive States in the Acute and Chronic Phases of Illness 10. Behavior Therapy, Spontaneous Remission and Transference in Neurotics 11. Case of Homosexuality Treated 12. Behavior Therapy in Transvestism 13. The Application of Behavior Therapy to a Sexual Disorder 14. Behavior Therapy, Extinction and Relapse in NeurosisPart II Operant Conditioning 15. Reinforcement and Punishment in the Control of Human Behavior by Social Agencies 16. Application of Operant Conditioning to Reinstate Verbal Behavior in Psychotics 17. Intensive Treatment of Psychotic Behavior by Stimulus Satiation and Food Reinforcement 18. Experimental Analysis of Hysterical Blindness 19. Reduction in Rate of Multiple Tics by Free Operant Conditioning Methods 20. Conditioning of Mental-Hospital Patients to Fixed-Ratio Schedules of Reinforcement 21. The Psychiatric Nurse as a Behavioral Engineer 22. Operant Stuttering: The Control of Stuttering Behavior Through Response-Contingent Consequences 23. Conditioning Against Silences in Group TherapyPart III Other Methods 24. I. Rational psychotherapy; II. A Homosexual Treated with Rational Psychotherapy; III. The Treatment of a Psychopath with Rational Psychotherapy; IV. Outcome of Employing Three Techniques of Psychotherapy 25. Behavior Modification in Chronic Schizophrenics 26. Asthma Conceived as a Learned Response 27. Recent Empirical and Theoretical Approaches to the Experimental Manipulation of Speech in Normal Subjects and in Stammerers 28. Learning Theory and the Treatment of Tics 29. Experimental Psychology and the Treatment of a Ticqueur 30. Massed Practice and Simultaneous Reduction in Drive Level 31. Objective Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Dysphemia 32. The Hypnotic Treatment of Asthma 33. Some Clinical Applications of AutohypnosisPart IV Behavior Therapy with Children 34. Learning Theory and Child Psychology: Therapeutic Possibilities 35. The Use of "Emotive Imagery" in the Treatment of Children's Phobias 36. The Use of Learning Theory in the Psychological Treatment of Children 37. The Elimination of Children's Phobias by Deconditioning 38. Clinical Implications of Relationships Between Verbal and Nonverbal Operant Behavior 39. Effect of Withdrawal of Positive Reinforcement on an Extinguishing Response in Young Children 40. Interaction Between Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior 41. Rapid Development of Multiple-Schedule Performances with Retarded Children 42. The Development of Performances in Autistic Children in an Automatically Controlled EnvironmentAuthor IndexSubject Index