Read the passage and answer the following questions:
Mrs. Sharma is a mother of two children aged 7 and 9 years. Both of them are very notorious and do not listen to her instructions. With every passing day, it is becoming difficult for her to regulate their behaviour. She is not able to discipline them, which she considers an important part of a successful life. One day, she comes across an article in which it is mentioned that if a mother observes behavioural issues in her child, she can apply a technique to modify the undesirable behavior of the child. According to this technique, Mrs. Sharma can give coupons to her children whenever they exhibit desirable behaviours. The coupons could later be exchanged by them for some tangible things such as candy, toys etc. Surprisingly, this technique worked very effectively with her children. In another article she came to know about another technique to modify behavior in which undesirable behavior can be reduced, and desirable behavior can be increased simultaneously.
The techniques mentioned in the passage is applied in which form of therapy?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Behaviour therapy
Option (1) Humanistic therapy — Incorrect. Humanistic-existential therapies help the client grow and realise her or his potential, mainly through a warm relationship in which the therapist shows unconditional positive regard and empathy. They do not use rewards for particular behaviours.
Option (2) Behaviour therapy — Correct. Behaviour therapy holds that psychological problems arise from faulty learning of behaviours and cognitions, so it changes behaviour through conditioning with different contingencies of reinforcement. Token economy (coupons exchanged for rewards) and differential reinforcement (rewarding the wanted behaviour while reducing the unwanted one) are both behavioural techniques.
Option (3) Psychodynamic therapy — Incorrect. It sees intrapsychic conflicts, born of unfulfilled desires and unresolved fears of childhood, as the cause of problems, and uses free association and dream interpretation to bring them to awareness. It does not reward behaviour.
Option (4) Existential therapy — Incorrect. Existential therapy treats questions about the meaning of one’s life and existence as the cause of psychological problems and helps the client find meaning. Coupons for good behaviour play no part in it.
NCERT (2025-26): “Type of Therapies … Psychodynamic therapy is of the view that intrapsychic conflicts, i.e. the conflicts that are present within the psyche of the person, are the source of psychological problems. According to behaviour therapies, psychological problems arise due to faulty learning of behaviours and cognitions. The existential therapies postulate that the questions about the meaning of one’s life and existence are the cause of psychological problems.…” “Behavioural Techniques … A range of techniques is available for changing behaviour. The principles of these techniques are to reduce the arousal level of the client, alter behaviour through classical conditioning or operant conditioning with different contingencies of reinforcements, as well as to use vicarious learning procedures, if necessary.…” “Behavioural Techniques … Persons with behavioural problems can be given a token as a reward every time a wanted behaviour occurs. The tokens are collected and exchanged for a reward such as an outing for the patient or a treat for the child. This is known as token economy.” “Behavioural Techniques … Unwanted behaviour can be reduced and wanted behaviour can be increased simultaneously through differential reinforcement. Positive reinforcement for the wanted behaviour and negative reinforcement for the unwanted behaviour attempted together may be one such method. The other method is to positively reinforce the wanted behaviour and ignore the unwanted behaviour. The latter method is less painful and equally effective.…” |