phobia is prevalent in the general population,
afflicting approximately 8% of Americans each
year (Kessler et al., 1994). The STABS has items
that assess respondents’thoughts in social situations
that are characteristic of those with social phobia.
These include cognitions related to social compar-
isons (e.g., beliefs that others are more socially
competent and capable) as well as cognitions related
to social ineptness (e.g., beliefs that one is awkward
in social situations and will appear socially anxious
to others). STABS scores have been shown to dis-
criminate patients with social phobia from those
with other anxiety disorder diagnoses (Turner
et al., 2003).
Methods that assess multiple cognitive constructs
atthesametimearealsoavailable(Linscott&
DiGiuseppe, 1998). For example, Davison, Robins,
and Johnson (1983) have used a method in which
participants listen to an audiotape that presents several
problem situations. Every 10 or 15 seconds, the tape
pauses so that the participants can report whatever is
in their minds at that point. Results from numerous
studies suggest that the method uncovers how
people think about both difficult and innocuous
situations (Davison & Neale, 1998), and it reveals
cognitions related to a variety of conditions, including
depression, anxiety, family conflict, and aggression
(Linscott & DiGiuseppe, 1998).
Strengths and Weaknesses of Behavioral Assessment
The use of more systematic and precise methods of
evaluation in the field of behavioral assessment is
laudable. Behavioral assessors operationalize the clin-
ical problem by specifying the behaviors targeted for
intervention. Further, multiple assessments of these
behaviors before, during, and following treatment
are conducted. Finally, assessment results are used
to inform or modify treatment. This is in contrast
to“traditional” assessment in which, too often,
assessment occurs only once, either before or in the
beginning stages of treatment. In addition, it is often
not clear how these assessment results influence
treatment.
The precision and comprehensiveness of
behavioral assessment methods, however, appear
to be both a strength and a weakness. Many of
these techniques have proved to be impractical in
clinical settings. Some of the natural observation
methods, as well as the psychophysiological meth-
ods of assessment, are quite time-intensive and
expensive. Therefore, behavioral clinicians have
begun to incorporate less time-intensive methods
and measures into their assessments. For example,
it is now quite common to administer some type of
self-report inventory as part of the behavioral assess-
ment battery. Granted, these inventories contain
items of a more cognitive or behavioral nature
than those found in traditional self-report invento-
ries. However, all these measures assume that a
patient’s self-report conveys an accurate representa-
tion of his or her behavior or cognitive processes.
Early behaviorists placed little faith in these types of
self-report inventories.
Another interesting development in this field
is the seeming acceptance of theDiagnostic and Sta-
tistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM) diagnostic
classification system. Behavioral assessors, in gen-
eral, now concede that such a diagnostic formula-
tion may be useful as one component of the
overall assessment. Diagnoses must be supplemen-
ted with data from more traditional behavioral
methods. It was not so long ago, however, that
behavioral clinicians not only ignored mental dis-
order diagnostic information but attacked the
legitimacy and utility of this source of information.
Of course, there are still some radical behaviorists
who maintain this rather anachronistic perspective
on mental disorder diagnoses. They are in the
minority, however.
Why the change of heart for most behaviorists?
A multitude of explanations are plausible, but several
possibilities stand out. First, the criteria for the various
mental disorders have become increasingly objective
and behavioral. Second, behavioral clinicians have
discovered some degree of utility in using diagnostic
labels. These diagnoses describe constellations of278 CHAPTER 9