Modeling

Description of the Strategy

People learn by watching other people. Throughout history, writers, educators, and social leaders have [Page 376]extolled the importance of providing a good example for others and, conversely, for basing one's own behavior on the conduct of particularly virtuous or accomplished individuals. Modeling procedures take advantage of observational, or vicarious, learning to teach people more adaptive responses. Modeling involves having an observer watch another person, the model, engage in specific behaviors that demonstrate effective ways to respond to problem situations. The modeled segments are structured and are systematically and repeatedly presented until the observer displays the desired behavioral outcome.

Observing the behavior of others, which we will call modeling, produces three general effects. First, modeling can help people acquire new behaviors and emotional responses, a process called observational learning. Modeling is particularly useful in teaching complex or intricate behaviors, such as effective social behavior or an academic skill. In addition, watching the emotional reactions of others can produce similar emotional responses in observers. Thus, a child may develop a fear of thunderstorms from watching her mother's fearful behavior during storms. Such acquired fears may persist for years. An important clinical extension of this principle is that anxiety can also be reduced or eliminated by observing others approach the feared object or situation without suffering harmful effects. This process is sometimes called vicarious extinction.

Second, observing another's behavior and the consequences of that behavior for the model can inhibit or disinhibit existing behavior. Thus, a child who observes another child being ridiculed for speaking in class may become less willing to try to answer questions. In contrast, observing a bully receive approval for aggressive behavior may encourage other children to display aggression.

Finally, modeling can lead to response facilitation. Here, a person uses the behavior of another as a cue as to when to engage in specific behaviors. At a social function, for example, a person may watch whether others shake hands or bow, or when they begin to eat, so that he or she can match the behavior displayed by people who know what to do. Observational techniques are used in cognitive-behavioral treatments to produce all three types of outcomes.

Two of the most common clinical uses of modeling are as components of treatments designed to overcome maladaptive anxiety and to teach effective interpersonal behavior. An example of the use of modeling to overcome anxiety is found in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, a condition marked by unshakable intrusive thoughts and repetitive, unwanted behaviors. Treatment generally begins with the therapist and patient developing a hierarchy of feared objects or behaviors that are organized from least to most anxiety provoking. Patients are then exposed to the feared events using participant modeling, a technique in which the therapist first models the feared behavior, followed by the patient. Participant modeling begins with the least anxiety-provoking item of the hierarchy and moves to more anxiety-provoking items as lower items come to elicit less anxiety. Take the example of a person who fears contamination from touching light switches or doorknobs. First, the therapist will touch the “contaminated” object, and then the patient will be encouraged to do so. Observing the therapist touch the object without harm takes advantage of vicarious extinction to reduce patient anxiety, which, in turn, reduces avoidance of feared objects in real life.

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