Q. Could you please demonstrate the main differences between the following strategies of behavior therapy and how can I use this types of technique to promote learning?

A.

Flooding, sometimes referred to as in vivo exposure therapy, is a form of behavior therapy and desensitization—or exposure therapy. It is often used to treat phobias. The underlying theory behind flooding is that a phobia is a learned fear, and needs to be unlearned by exposure to the thing that you fear.

Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence.

Classical (or Pavlovian) conditioning is a learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired. Usually a response that is at first elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone.

In psychology and education, role playing is an educational tool that is used to visualize and practice different ways of handling a situation. In this method, each participant takes a role or persona and acts and reacts to situations and other participants in the exercise.

Modeling, which is also called observational learning or imitation, is a behaviorally based procedure that involves the use of live or symbolic models to demonstrate a particular behavior, thought, or attitude that a patient may want to acquire or change. Usually, the patient learns by imitation alone, without any specific verbal direction by the therapist.

Extinction is the disappearance of a previously learned behavior when the behavior is not reinforced.

Aversive conditioning is a type of behavior conditioning in which noxious stimuli are associated with undesirable or unwanted behavior that is to be modified or abolished such as the use of nausea-inducing drugs in the treatment of alcoholism.

REI or Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) posits addictions are caused by the interplay of cognition, behavior, and images. The addicted client thinks irrationally, acts self-defeatingly, and visualizes dysfunctionally. Consequently, REBT treatment involves a comprehensive approach that teaches the individual to intervene on these levels to address intense cravings for nicotine, for example, constructively, without a cigarette. This link explains better.