Shaiffadzillah Omarali
An insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling
INTRODUCTION
The mind of a child is engineered to learn. However, learning is a
tumultuous process at times immersed in conflicts of concepts and behaviors
that leads the child to a problem-plagued existence unless proper guidance is
given. For purely academic problems, teachers play a major role. For problems
that trigger abnormal behaviors such as truancy or low self-esteem, the guiding
task befits counselors. Counselors have in their arsenal an array of approaches to
cope with clients. One such approach is the Behaviorist Approach and is
acknowledged as quite popular among counselors as is evidently elaborated
under its implications in Bruneian secondary schools.
The Behaviorist Approach is the theory of John B. Watson, who was ‘a
strong proponent of the importance of learning in human development and the
father of behaviorism’ (Horowitz, 1992 as cited in Shaffer, p. 45, 2001). The theory
advanced with B.F. Skinners’ involvement and he did more than anyone else to
contribute to behaviorism (Shaffer, 2001). Gradually, the approach was usurped
into the counseling field in the late 1970s with ample and diverse contributions
from theorists such as Bandura, Pavlov and Wolpe. Each theorist came up with
concepts that are now used as guidelines in understanding and using the
Behaviorist Approach.
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Shaiffadzillah Omarali
An insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling
BASIC CONCEPTS
The behaviorist approach obviously emphasizes on behavior. It can be
defined as ‘the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their
environmental determinants’ (cited in Suppiah, 2002). This is a rephrase off of
Watson’s (1913, cited in Shaffer, 2001) statement that
“..conclusions about human development should be based on
observations of overt behavior rather than on speculations about
unconscious motives or cognitive processes that are unobservable [and]
associations between external stimuli and observable responses are the
building blocks of human development”.
From the statement it implies that ‘the environment is the most important force in
shaping development’ (cited in Suppiah, 2002), and how children turn out
‘depends entirely on their rearing environments and the ways significant people
treat them’ (Watson, cited in Shaffer, 2001).
The approach perceives learning as a continuous process of behavioral
changes instead of a series of distinct stages. Since learning is defined as “a
more or less permanent change of behavior resulting from experience” (quoted
from Boorer), the best observable element in identifying progress or deviations in
the learning process are the changes in a child’s behavior, which is what
behavioral counselors focus on.
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Shaiffadzillah Omarali
An insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
John Watson claimed that ‘he could take a dozen healthy infants and
train them to be whatever he chose—a doctor, lawyer, beggar, and son on—
regardless of their backgrounds or ancestry’. This statement of his implies that
human nature plays little role in behaviorism as opposed to nurture. Although the
role of human nature in behaviorism is yet to be unraveled, assumptions
proposed by Dustin and George (George & Cristiani, 1995) regarding the nature
of humanity may well be adequate in explaining the behavioral counselors’ view
of human nature.
Dustin and George’s first assumption is that “people are viewed as being
neither intrinsically good nor bad, but as experiencing organisms who have
potential for all kinds of behavior”. This is a well-known theory in the child
development field and is referred to as the term ‘tabula rasa’, which refers to the
idea that the mind of an infant is a ‘blank slate’ and that all knowledge and
behaviors are acquired through experience. John Watson’s statement on having
the ability to manipulate infants like malleable clay perfectly portrays this idea.
The second assumption is that ‘people are able to conceptualize and
control their own behavior’. It explains the notion that all behavior are governed
by first exposures to a stimulant and in turn the response (i.e. behavior) that
results from the first exposure produces a concept of association (a schema) with
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Shaiffadzillah Omarali
An insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling
the reaction for further similar exposures. This process is called conditioning and
will be elaborated as the paper progresses.
The third assumption is that “people are able to acquire new behaviors”.
Humans coined this acquiring of new behaviors as ‘learning’, such as through
imitation or drilling. Behaviorists believe that learning can only be acquired from
interaction with the environment.
The fourth assumption is that “people are able to influence others’
behavior as well as to be influenced by others in their own behavior”. Watson
perceives this as very important for parents, in that the ‘parents were largely
responsible for what their children would become’.
As mentioned earlier, conditioning is the linchpin of human behavior.
Since ‘behavior can be reduced to responses or actions that can be observed,
measured and analysed’ (Suppiah, 2002) a diagrammatic portrayal of this
conceptualization has been used by all therapists. The stimulus-response
paradigm shows how behaviors are learnt and unlearnt and how some
behaviors can be predictable. The knowledge being able to reverse
misbehavior into a desired behavior is of particular interest to counselors. The two
major conditionings are Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning and Skinner’s Operant
Conditioning.
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Shaiffadzillah Omarali
An insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling
‘Classical conditioning is also called learning through stimulus substitution
because it involves the repeated pairing of two stimuli so that a previously
neutral (conditioned) stimulus eventually comes to elicit the same response
(conditioned response) that was previously evoked by the first stimulus
(unconditioned stimulus)’ (Suppiah, 2002). This conditioning focuses on the
antecedent, or the cause of the behavior (the stimulus). (See Appendix, diagram
A2)
Skinner’s Operant conditioning, which is more extensively used in schools,
is ‘a form of learning in which the consequences of behavior produce changes
in the probability of the behavior’s occurrence’ (Suppiah, 2002). The
consequence of the behavior leads to changes of the behavior’s occurrence.
Consequence, which in this case is also called reinforcers, can be in the form of
rewards, punishments, motivation or advice. However if these reinforcers were
withdrawn and it results in the cessation of a behavior, this process is then called
extinction (See Appendix, diagram A3). Operant conditioning is very powerful
and is frequently used by teachers, parents, psychologists, therapists and
counselors in order to modify or change behavior. Hence one of the goals of
behavioral therapists is to modify or change undesired behavior.
GOALS OF THE APPROACH
Behavior is the main focus of behavioral counselors and from this notion
dawns the question of why is it put under such intense scrutiny. George and
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Shaiffadzillah Omarali
An insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling
Cristiani (1995) states five general goals that can be achieved from behavioral
therapy. The first is to ‘alter the maladaptive behavior in the client under
therapy’. An example of a situation is when a student commits truancy because
the lessons are not challenging. The counselor can suggest that instead of
rebelling in such scenario, the student can actually excel easier.
The second goal is to ‘help the client learn a more efficient decisionmaking process’.
For example, if a student always disrupts class to get the
teacher’s attention, the counselor can provide options to achieve the student’s
goal such as impressing the teacher with good behavior instead.
The third goal is to ‘prevent future problems’. Counselors can provide
advice on the possible dire consequences if a student continues to misbehave for example, the use of law enforcers (i.e. police) if the student harasses others.
The fourth goal is to ‘solve specific behavioral problems requested by the
client’. For example, if a student cannot stop being bossy because it has
become a habit, the counselor may innovate a reinforcement device, such as
assigning the student as a temporary class monitor.
The fifth goal is to ‘achieve behavioral changes that translate to action in
life’. It implies that counselors are to give options to clients on how to behave
acceptably through eliminating undesired behaviors.
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Shaiffadzillah Omarali
An insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling
REFERENCES
George, R. L., & Cristiani, T. S. (1995) Counselling: Theory and Practice.
(4th edition) Massachusetts: Allan and Bacon, 87-91.
Shaffer, D. R., (2001) Developmental Psychology (6th edition)
Wadsworth,USA 44-45.
Suppiah, C. (ed.) (2002) Developmental Psychology Reader for PP2203.
Dept. Educational Psychology SHBIE, UBD
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Shaiffadzillah Omarali
An insight to the Behaviorist Approach in Counselling
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