ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some of the important theoretical relationships between conditioning theory and modern behaviour therapy. It provides the modern-day behaviour therapy with one of its traditional philosophical bases — behaviourism. The chapter outlines the application of conditioning principles for therapeutic use: the principles are established in animal studies, laboratory studies should ensure that these principles apply to humans, and the principles are adapted into a technique to cope with the practicalities of the therapy situation. P. London has expressed the view that behaviour therapy is simply a commitment to the notion that all psychological problems require a functional analysis; that is, an analysis in terms of the interrelationships between environmental and behavioural events. L. Krasner has pointed out the value of combining traditional techniques based on conditioning theory with knowledge of social learning theory: It is important to emphasise that behaviour therapy involves both the technology and its social influence base.
