Which term describes the process of reinforcing and selecting new behaviors to replace old ones?

• A. Counterconditioning
• B. Contingency contracting
• C. Modeling
• D. Relaxation

Answer: (A)

Counterconditioning is a process in behavior therapy where an undesirable response is replaced with a more adaptive one by reinforcing a competing, incompatible behavior. The idea is to create a pattern that serves as a new response whenever the old cue appears, effectively substituting the old behavior with a reinforced alternative. For example, teaching a person to respond to anxiety with a calm, relaxed action instead of avoidance and fear, and then reinforcing that new behavior to make it more likely to occur in the future. This directly captures the notion of reinforcing and selecting new behaviors to replace old ones.

Contingency contracting centers on formal agreements about rewards or punishments for certain behaviors, which is more about structure than the replacement process. Modeling involves learning by watching others’ behavior, and relaxation is a technique to reduce arousal, not a replacement strategy.