Which theories build from psychological research on learning and cognition?

Role Playing, Modeling, and Imitation

These three techniques are derived from Bandura's Cognitive Social Learning Theory (CSLT) (see Chapter 3 for a detailed discussion of the CSLT).2 These techniques are based on the idea of vicarious learning.14 This is the type of learning that occurs through observation of others engaged in the desired behavior and the consequences resulting from their behavior. For example, the therapist may demonstrate how to behave in an interview for a job in a role play. The client then imitates the therapist's behavior through similar role play, and feedback is provided regarding the effectiveness of the behavior. In this case, the therapist is using role play to model desired behavior that the client imitates. Another way of teaching the behavior may be by having the client watch a video showing individuals engaging in an interview successfully and getting a desired job. Through the video, the client learns vicariously job interview behaviors that are effective.

Theoretical Rationale for CET

Exposure-based treatments for SUDs were derived from a foundation in classical learning principles and broadened to incorporate coping skills training within the exposure sessions as derived from cognitive social learning theory. These theories indicate that SUDs are acquired on a foundation of individual biological predisposing factors using the same learning principles by which any other behaviors are learned. The most relevant of these principles for CET is respondent learning, sometimes called classical conditioning or associative learning, in which a response becomes associated to a stimulus that does not inherently elicit (call forth) that response. We call these stimuli “cues.” Pleasurable physiologic reactions to drug ingestion become associated with all the sights, sounds, and smells that were associated repeatedly with drug use, including even places, times of day, or days of the week. For cocaine-dependent patients, after snorting cocaine repeatedly, the sight of any white powder, a mirror, a bank card, or a certain neighborhood can elicit increased heart rate and cravings. The types of cues (conditioned stimuli) associated with substance use become complex and broader than the sight and smell of the drug itself and can include emotions, people, environments, and temporal cues. This learning is not considered to occur in a mechanistic manner but instead is affected by cognitive processes such as encoding, organizing, and retrieving information to mediate between environmental events and behavior.

Cues associated with drug use can pose a risk for relapse through three different mechanisms. First, the conditioned responses learned through respondent conditioning include a variety of physiological and emotional responses, and these can result in an urge (desire, or craving) to use the substance. (The terms “urge” or “desire” will be used instead of “craving” because they represent the full range of desires to use rather than just extreme desire.) Second, when people are reacting to these cues, these learned reactions can interfere with the ability to use coping skills or motivational messages by reducing the amount of cognitive resources available for efforts to stay clean and sober. Third, the learned responses can lead to operant behavior (i.e. substance use) designed to decrease aversive aspects of the reactions and to obtain the pleasurable drug responses associated in the past with these cues.

3.3 Cognitive Social Learning Theory

In the late 1970s and 1980s, social learning theory was adapted to emphasize the cognitive aspects involved in learning from the social environment (Bandura 1986). In ‘cognitive social learning theory,’ emphasis was placed on the processes involved in creating expectancies of other's behaviors and how these expectancies guide one's own actions. Specifically, it was proposed that observational learning required four processes: paying attention, being motivated to enact the behavior, having the ability to reproduce the action, and having the ability to remember the behavior (Bandura 1986).

Social learning approaches have encouraged an expanded view of the forces that influence gender development. This theory has motivated researchers to include a more diverse view of the child's social environment. In addition, it has led to closer scrutiny of the social settings provided for children and the gender-laden messages these settings contain.

Social Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Theory

Social Learning Theory applies to several human behavior theories in which the acquisition and maintenance of behaviors such as addictive behaviors depend on the connections between personal factors, environmental factors, and the behavior. Social Learning/Cognitive Theory, to which Albert Bandura greatly contributed, focuses on several key constructs including differential reinforcement, vicarious learning, cognitive processes, and reciprocal determinism.

Differential reinforcement takes place when a behavior results in positive or negative consequences received from the environment or the self. This helps explain why behaviors may change with the environment. Note that consequences to behavior are often social consequences. For example, a teenager using cocaine with peers at a party may receive social approval; however, the same behavior, if observed or discovered by parents or other authorities would likely result in strong disapproval and additional unwanted consequences for the teenager. The likelihood that this teenager will engage in cocaine use is greater if he or she has a positive perception and has less disapproving attitudes toward cocaine use.

Vicarious learning, or modeling, occurs by observation of others' behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of the behavior and can increase the likelihood of the observer engaging in the behavior. Role models such as peers and parents affect expectancies, evaluations, and self-efficacy related to the observed behavior. Thus, even as the consequences we associate with our own behavior shape our future behavior, observing others' consequences associated with their behavior can also shape our behavior (see below for more detail).

Cognitive processes include encoding, organizing, and retrieving information, and these are postulated to regulate behavior and environmental events. An individual cognitively processes information from the environment and determines their behavioral response. Self-regulation can be defined as the ability to arrange environmental incentives and apply consequences. Thus, self-regulation need not be limited to one's ability to choose how to respond in specific situations but can also be applied to one's ability to make choices that affect the degree of exposure to specific influences. For example, if Clyde does not want to smoke marijuana and realizes that he has difficulty saying no to Paul or Mike, he can avoid Paul and Mike as a means of regulating his behavior. A related construct is self-efficacy, which can be defined as the belief that one can engage in a specific behavior and/or produce a specific desired outcome. Self-efficacy can be thought of as context-specific confidence. The extent to which Clyde believes he will be able to resist an offer to smoke marijuana is an example of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy effects and is affected by behavior. The more confidence Clyde has in his ability to resist peer influence, the more successful he will be in doing so. In turn, successful instances of resistance will increase self-efficacy to resist in the future. Furthermore, seeing a peer resist influence can boost one's self-efficacy in resisting peer influence.

Reciprocal determinism describes the associations between behavior and environmental and personal factors, each of which is affected by the other two factors. For example, peers and social environments affect subsequent smoking behaviors, and vice versa.

Cognitive Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977, 1986)

The theory suggests that humans learn behaviors by observing others and choosing which behaviors to imitate. Behaviors that are rewarded are more likely to be repeated, whereas behaviors that are punished are less likely to be repeated. According to cognitive social learning theory, gender differences in behavior are created because boys and girls observe different behaviors in same-gender models, and are reinforced and punished for different behaviors. In particular, boys and girls learn gender-appropriate behaviors because they are reinforced for gender role-consistent behaviors and punished for gender role-inconsistent behaviors (Mischel, 1966). In addition, boys and girls prefer to imitate same-gender models, which further increases their attention to gender role-consistent behaviors. Cognitive social learning theory suggests that boys and girls do not need to be directly rewarded or punished in order to learn which behaviors are appropriate to imitate. Instead, they may learn appropriate gender role behaviors simply by observing the rewards and punishments directed toward other same-gender models. Finally, boys and girls internalize these standards for gender appropriate behavior and regulate their own behavior in accordance with gender norms.

Albert Bandura's Cognitive Social Learning Theory

The last cognitive psychology theorist we will discuss in this chapter is Albert Bandura, who developed the Cognitive Social Learning Theory (CSLT).

Level of Service Inventory Revised

One of the most popular and widely used risk/needs assessments is the Level of Service Inventory instruments (LSI) (e.g., LSI-R, LSI-OR, LS/CMI). The various versions of the LSI are used in approximately 900 criminal justice agencies in North America (e.g., Lowenkamp, Lovins, & Latessa, 2009) with a variety of offender groups inside the institutions (e.g., Lowenkamp, Holsinger, & Latessa, 2001), as well as with offenders on community supervision (e.g., Raynor, 2007). The LSI instruments are founded on a General Personality and Cognitive Social Learning (GPCSL) theory of criminal behavior, which links criminal behavior to an individual’s assessment of the costs and benefits associated with prosocial versus procriminal alternatives. Based on this theory, when an individual perceives that the benefits of criminal behavior outweigh the costs (or outweigh the benefits of a prosocial alternative), this behavior is more likely to occur (Andrews & Bonta, 2010). This theory informs risk assessment as, when one conducts an assessment of risk, in essence, of evaluating the costs and benefits associated with the individual’s criminal behavior. For example, if an individual affiliates with peers who support criminal behavior, this individual will receive/perceive positive feedback for this type of behavior.

The LSI instruments are theoretically and practically structured according to the General Personality and Cognitive Social Learning (GPCSL) and the Central Eight risk/need factors. The first section of the LSI assessments, which is the general Level of Service Assessment, consists of 43 items (summed to generate the total risk score) and is organized into subscales that draw directly on to the Central Eight (Andrews, Bonta, & Wormith, 2004). The LSI instruments have consistently demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties (e.g., Bonta & Motiuk, 1992), as well as the prediction of both general and violent recidivism (e.g., Gendreau et al., 2002).

Although the GPCSL, and, therefore, the LSI, is presented as applicable to all offenders (as it intentionally pays little attention to race or gender), given its development using, primarily, male, Caucasian offenders, criticisms have been made concerning the racialized nature of the factors considered under this theory (e.g., Hannah-Moffat, 2013). Critics suggest that although factors typically included in risk assessment tools, such as the Central Eight, do not directly make reference to race. Therefore, the ability of the GPCSL and the LSI to account for and understand factors related to the criminal behavior of non-White offenders is often questioned (Hannah-Moffat & Maurutto, 2010; Martel, Brassard, & Jaccoud, 2011).

5.08.3.2.1.3 Incredible Years®

One of the most widely studied PT programs was developed originally in 1979 by an author of this paper (C.W.-S.) for parents of children ages 3–6 years (e.g., Webster-Stratton, 1981). The Incredible Years (IY) Parent Program is a part of the Incredible Years® Training Series (see Webster-Stratton and Reid, 2018), a set of interlocking and multimodal parent, teacher and child training programs that can be used in multiple settings. The IY PT program has been evaluated alone, in combination with the Child Training Program (IY-CT), in combination with the Teacher Classroom Management Training Program (IY-TCM), and all three combined (e.g., Beauchaine et al., 2005; Webster-Stratton and Hammond, 1997). Next, IY PT programs are discussed (the teacher and child programs are described below).

The IY Parent Program is designed to improve protective factors and reduce malleable family risk factors associated with negative outcomes for children (see above), including ineffective parenting, harsh discipline, neglect, poor attachment relationships, parent isolation, lack of parenting supports, and low involvement with day care providers and teachers (see Incredible Years®, 2020a for the logic model). Over subsequent decades the program has been refined and updated based on research and parent feedback with both high-risk prevention populations (e.g., Head Start) and treatment populations of children diagnosed with ADHD, ODD, and/or developmental delays.

The IY PT series is grounded in cognitive social learning theories of CP development among children (e.g., Patterson et al., 1984), modeling and self-efficacy theory (e.g., Bandura, 1977), child developmental cognitive stages and interactive learning methods (Piaget and Inhelder, 1962), and attachment theory (e.g., Ainsworth et al., 1974). The parenting program works to break negative coercive cycles described above (e.g., Patterson, 1982, 1984) and build positive relationships and attachment between parents and children, as well as strengthen parents' support networks with family, teachers and other parents. The program integrates cognitive, emotional, and behavioral theories, which are deemed equally important.

Currently, BASIC (core) PT consists of four different curricula tailored to the developmental stage of the child: Baby Program (4 weeks to 9 months), Toddler Program (1–2 ½ years), Preschool Program (3–5 years) and School-Age Program (6–12 years). Each program emphasizes developmentally appropriate parenting skills and includes age-appropriate video examples of culturally diverse families and children with varying temperaments and developmental issues. Specific objectives for each program are described on the IY website (Incredible Years®, 2020b). BASIC parenting programs are focused on parenting skills such as child-directed play, academic coaching, persistence, social and emotional coaching, proactive limit setting, positive discipline, and ways to teach children problem solving. All programs are delivered in group format by trained group leaders/therapists who use video vignettes to lead problem solving discussions and trigger parent practices. Video modeling, reflective learning, and collaborative process are critical components of curriculum delivery (Webster-Stratton, 1984, 2012). When parents cannot attend groups due to schedule conflicts or other family issues, home coaching versions of all PT programs are available. There are also optional adjunct parenting programs that can be used in combination with the IY BASIC PT, as follows:

First, the IY ADVANCE parenting program, offered after BASIC preschool or school-age programs, is designed for selective high-risk and indicated populations. It focuses on ways to reduce parents' interpersonal risk factors such as anger and depression, poor communication, lack of support, problem-solving difficulties between parents and with teachers, and children's poor self-regulation skills. As outlined above, all of these issues can worsen child CPs.

Second, the ATTENTIVE parenting program serves as an adjunct to the toddler, preschool, and early school age programs. This universal prevention program is designed to (1) teach parents of children ages 2–6 years who do not have significant behavioral issues social, emotional, persistence, and preacademic coaching methods; and (2) promote children's reading, self-regulation, and problem-solving skills. It is also recommended in the form of booster sessions for indicated populations following BASIC PT completion.

Third, the autism program is for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder or language delays. It can be used independently or with the BASIC preschool program.

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