Concluding Comments on Theoretical Foundations and Requirements in Behavior Therapy

Abstract

Since its inception behavior therapy has continuously examined its own theoretical foundations and shifting orientations, and has questioned their relationship to clinical practice. In the same spirit, contributors to this book were asked to present their views on contemporary theory and its relevance to behavior therapy. They represent a spectrum of researchers ranging from those engaged in day-to-day therapy to those whose primary concern is with fundamental issues in theory. Hence the chapters reflect a number of different attitudes to theory and a number of different perspectives on what are seen as the requirements of an adequate theory. Chapter 1 affirms the starting point of Behavior Therapy as rooted in Pavlovian conditioning theory. It might be expected that succeeding chapters would show how these origins developed along the lines laid down. This is not the case. Rather, they illustrate the diversity of contemporary developments. Today’s conditioning research refers to many issues, to cognitive representations, to information processing, to learning about the causal structure of the world, and to emotions and the influence of neurohormones on acquisition and extinction.