ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with behavior therapy. The rationale for including a chapter on this topic is the close connection between behavior therapy and the psychology of learning. Most of the founders of behavior therapy believed that clinical problems were acquired and maintained according to the principles of c1assical and instrumental conditioning. With some exceptions (see Buchwald & Young, 1969), their treatment procedures were based on these principles. Today a number of prominent behavior therapists do not agree that behavior therapy is, or should be, merely applied learning theory (e.g. Davison, 1969; Franks, 1969; Lazarus, 1967). However, research in learning continues to influence behavior therapy, and psychologists and laymen alike tend to identify behavior therapy with the field of learning.
