Volume 1 Num. 2 - December 2001
Into the Lion's Den: Incorporating Personality and Evolutionary Psychology to Expand Clinical Behavior Analysis [En la Guarida del León: Incorporando la Personalidad y la Psicología Evolutiva para Expandir el Análisis del Comportamiento Clínico]
Volume 1 Num. 2 - December 2001 - Pages 175-189
Authors:
Jennifer A. Harrington, Brandi C. Fink and Michael J. Dougher
Abstract:
This paper incorporates aspects of the personality and evolutionary psychology literatures into a behavior analytic framework to expand clinical behavior analysis. We argue that personality can be understood in reference to contingencies of reinforcement that are differentially potentiated across individuals by the joint influences of phylogenetic and ontogenetic variables. Moreover, we propose that the behavioral effects of phylogenetic variables, which have been relatively neglected in the behavior analytic literature, can be conceptualized as functioning like establishing operations. This conceptualization provides a partial behavioral account of the variability across individuals with respect to reinforcer potency and why some are behaviors appear to be refractory to change or therapeutic intervention. The practical ramifications of our approach to personality are exemplified in a clinical case example and discussion of acceptance-based couple’s therapy.
Key words:
Personality, Clinical behavior analysis
Full Article
More articles in this volume
- - Three Types of Selection and Three Centuries [Tres Tipos de Selección y Tres Siglos]
- - Predictive Validity of the MMPI Among Chronic Pain Patients [Validez Predictiva del MMPI en Pacientes con Dolor Crónico]
- - ¿Desconexión Cerebral o Discriminación Interoceptiva? Una Revisión del Modelo de la Disregulación de G. Schwartz [Brain Disconnection or Interoceptive Discrimination? A Review of the G. Schwartz Model of Disregulation]
- - Some Notes on Theoretical Constructs: Types and Validation from a Contextual Behavioral Perspective [Algunas Ideas Sobre Constructos Teóricos: Tipos y Validación Desde Una Perspectiva Conductual Contextual]