Betsy Redux

To the social cognitivists, the social exchange that occurs between Betsy and her teacher, Mr. Wah, is much more complex than a simple, "she said, he said."  Because internal variables are considered as important as external variables, the social cognitivist attempts to deter­mine what, if any, personal variables (e.g., cognitions and emotions) might be influ­encing Betsy's behavior.

Using a variety of assessments including, but not limited to, a functional behavioral assessment (FBA), inter­views, direct observations of behavior, and self-report pencil-and-paper measures, the social cognitivist analyzes the data collected and generates a set of conclusions.  These are listed below along with their corresponding assessment sources. 

1. Betsy's shouting behavior is maintained by Mr. Wah's reprimands. [assessment source: FBA]
2. Betsy has a strong need for adult attention.  [source: interviews with B. and her past teachers]  Unfortunately, she receives little or no attention from Mr. Wah unless she misbehaves (see "a." above).
3. Betsy believes her self-worth is tied to the attention she receives; the more attention, the more self-worth; the less attention, the less self-worth. [source: an interview with B. and a pencil-and-paper beliefs assessment she completes]
4. Betsy gets anxious when she thinks she might not get the attention she wants from Mr. Wah. [source: a direct observation of her behavior both during and outside of individual seatwork and an anxiety inventory for children she completes]
5. Betsy has poor stress management skills and is unable to manage her anxiety in a productive manner. [source: an interview with B. and a direct observation of her behavior]
6. Betsy has observed shouting for adult attention modeled by her siblings at home and her peers at school, and has been vicariously reinforced by the results in both settings. [source: an interview with Betsy and a direct observation of her peer group in the classroom]

The social cognitivist then uses this information to formulate a hypothesis regarding the cause of Betsy's behavior. This hypothesis is diagrammed in Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3: Etiology of Betsy’s disruptive behavior according to social-cognitive approach with focus on STUDENT

Looking at Figure 1.3, one sees that the event that sets the social exchange in motion is Mr. Wah attending to one or more of Betsy's classmates (see #1 on diagram). In this case, “attending to” refers to the teacher going to the student’s desk and talking with and/or listening to that student to the exclusion of other students in the class. Observing this event, Betsy perceives it as a sig­nal (or invitation) to compete for her teacher's attention in much the same way that we experience having to compete for the attention of a sales clerk in a busy store when there are no numbers to take or lines to stand in (see #2).

Because Betsy is attention deprived (see #3), her need for attention is great, especially since it is driven by her irrational belief that her self-worth is tied exclusively to the amount of attention she receives from adults (see #4). She becomes anxious (see #5) when she sees her peers getting the attention she craves and thinks she might not get any attention from her teacher.  It is this anxiety combined with her lack of stress management skills (see #6) and the expectation that shouting will get her what she wants (see #7) that leads directly to her behavior (see #8).

Betsy's shouting produces two important effects: first, it provides her with an immediate, albeit brief, outlet for her anxiety (see #9) and second, it causes Mr. Wah to attend to (i.e., scold) her (see #10). Because Mr. Wah's scolding provides Betsy with the attention she craves, it serves to reinforce (i.e., strengthen or maintain) Betsy's shouting, as well as her expectation that shouting will get her what she wants (see #11).

What happens to Betsy is only half the story. This is, after all, a social exchange, a mutual transaction. The other half of the story is what happens to Mr. Wah.  Focusing a second round of assessments on the teacher, the social cognitivist analyzes the data collected and generates the following set of conclusions:

1. Mr. Wah's scolding behavior is maintained by Betsy's cessation (brief though it is) of her shouting.  [source: the FBA]
2. Mr. Wah does not pay attention to Betsy unless she misbehaves; in fact, he tends to ignore her on those few occasions when she raises her hand and waits.  [source: the FBA]
3. Mr. W equates quiet and conforming stu­dents with teacher control while equating shouting inside the classroom with anarchy.  [source: an interview with Mr. W.]
4. Students who shout out in class make Mr. Wah anxious. [source: an interview with Mr. W. and a direct observation during and outside of the individual seatwork setting]
5. Mr. Wah has poor stress management skills and is unable to manage his anxiety in a productive manner.  [source: the interview with Mr. W. and the direct observation]
6. Mr. Wah has limited behavior management skills and doesn’t know how to consequate shouting-out behavior other than by scolding.  [source: the interview and direct observation]
7. Because scolding has the immediate effect of interrupting (i.e., punishing) the student’s shouting, Mr. Wah believes that his scolding is an effective way to eliminate shouting out in class. [source:  the interview]

Given the above information, the social cognitivist completes the social exchange with a hypothesis regarding the cause of Mr. Wah's behavior.  This hypothesis is diagrammed in Figure 1.4.

Figure 1.4: Etiology of Betsy’s disruptive behavior according to social-cognitive approach with focus on TEACHER

 Figure 1.4 indicates that the antecedent that sets the social exchange in motion is Betsy's shouting out in class (see #1). Mr. Wah's personal variables (e.g., his irrational thinking regarding a student revolt, the resultant anxiety, and his poor self-management and behavior-management skills) (see #2-4) all serve to influence his scolding behavior (see #5). In turn, his scolding influences his personal variables since it results in the reduction of stress (see #7). His scolding also influences the environment (i.e., the student) by immediately weakening, or at least interrupting, Betsy's behavior. The environment reciprocally influences both Mr. Wah's behavior, by negatively reinforcing his scolding,  and his personal variables, by making him think that scolding is effective and that he is still “in control” of his class (see #8).

The social exchanges described above represent a classic example of what psychologist Gerry Patterson (1973) refers to as “pain control.” Betsy experiences the psychological and physiological pain of anxiety and learns to use pain (i.e., shouting out) to control her own anxiety as well as her teacher’s behavior. Mr. Wah, meanwhile, experi­ences similar pains and learns to control them and Betsy’s behavior by using what he believes is painful for her (i.e., scolding).