| Abstract: | Conceptual issues regarding cognitive-behavior modification are presented, beginning with an analysis of the basic terms of cognition, behavior modification, and behaviorism. Five controversies in the relevant literature that stimulated increased interest in cognitive factors among behavior therapists are reviewed: (a) symbolic control in classical and operant conditioning; (b) Breger and McGaugh's (1965) critique of behavior therapy; (c) cognitive factors in systematic desensitization; (d) the debate regarding cognition in the first issue of Behavior Therapy (1970); and (e) Ledwidge's (1978) Psychological Bulletin critique of cognitive-behavior modification. An analysis of several conceptual issues emerging from the literature results in the following conclusions: cognitive-behavior modification is a “revolutionary” development only insofar as it extends beyond mediational behaviorism to a truly cognitive view that includes internal cognitive structures; cognitions are not behaviors, but can be studied in their effects on behaviors as is done with drugs and genetics; a unifiedinteractive approach that incorporates cognition, behavior, and affect represents the logical future development in psychotherapy research and practice. |
