CLEANING-UP COGNITION IN TRIPLE-RESPONSE FEAR ASSESSMENT THROUGH INDIVIDUALIZED FUNCTIONAL-BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

Improvements in behavioral assessment spurred by the triple-response c oncept have been overshadowed by a preoccupation with content of asses sment and a lack of regard for the context of assessment. The aims of this article are to (a) clarify the imprecise use of the verbal-subjec tive-cognitive mode and to reinterpret cognitive events based on evide nce and methods derived from clinical behavior analysis, (b) discuss t he limitations of the triple-response assessment framework, and (c) su ggest an alternative functional idiographic approach to assessment and treatment that may direct attention toward behavior relations underst ood functionally within the context of environmental contingencies; an approach that once was the hallmark of behavior therapy and the basis for therapeutic interventions. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Lt d