Behavioral Model

A behavioral model, or social-learning model, stemming
from American psychologists such as John B.Watson (1878-1958) and
B. F. Skinner (1904-1990), emphasizes the role of the environment in developing
abnormal behavior. According to this view, people acquire abnormal
behavior in the same ways they acquire normal behavior, by learning from
rewards and punishments they either experience directly or observe happening
to someone else. Their perceptions, expectations, values, and role
models further influence what they learn. In this view, a person with abnormal
behavior has a different reinforcement history from that of others.

The behavioral model of abnormality stresses classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, and modeling. In classical conditioning, a child might
hear a very loud sound immediately after entering the elevator. Thereafter,
this child might develop a phobia of elevators and other enclosed spaces. In
operant conditioning, a mother might give the child a cookie to keep him
quiet. Soon, the child will notice that when he is noisy and bothersome, his
mother gives him cookies and will develop a pattern of temper tantrums
and other conduct disorders. In modeling, the person might notice that her
mother is very afraid of spiders. Soon, she might develop a phobia of spiders
and other small creatures.

The behavioral model advocates a careful investigation of the environmental
conditions in which people display abnormal behavior. Behaviorists
pay special attention to situational stimuli, or triggers, that elicit the abnormal
behavior and to the typical consequences that follow the abnormal behavior.
Behaviorists search for factors that reinforce or encourage the repetition
of abnormal behaviors.

The behavioral model helped people realize how fears become associated
with specific situations and the role that reinforcement plays in the origin
and maintenance of inappropriate behaviors. However, this model ignores
the evidence of genetic and biological factors playing a role in some
disorders. Further, many people find it difficult to accept the view of human
behavior as simply a set of responses to environmental stimuli. They argue
that human beings have free will and the ability to choose their situation as
well as how they will react.