European Journal of Social Sciences Studies ISSN: 2501-8590 ISSN-L: 2501-8590 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/soc Volume 2 │ Issue 7 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.845523 REFRAMING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR AND/OR FEELINGS DISORDERS: WHAT EDUCATIONAL THERAPISTS, SPECIAL EDUCATORS AND COUNSELORS SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND Kok Hwee Chia1i, Boon Hock Lim2, Ban Meng Lee3, Ed.D, Special Needs Consultant & Trainer, 1 Board Certified Educational Therapist, Singapore PhD, Special Education Consultant & Trainer, 2 Certified Special Needs Educational Therapist, Malacca, Malaysia BAcc, Arts as Dialogic-Diagnostic Therapist, Malacca, Malaysia 3 Abstract: In this paper, the authors have chosen to take a closer look at a socio-emotional behavioral condition known as Inappropriate Behavior or Feelings Disorder (IBFD) which is listed in the Educator’s Diagnostic Manual of Disabilities and Disorders EDM Pierangelo & Guiliani, 2007). The term (or IBFD for short) used in this diagnostic manual is not found anywhere in the current literature including the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). According to the EDM, under the IDEA 2004 enactment, it is one of the criteria for the classification of Emotional Disturbance ED under normal circumstances inappropriate types of behavior or feelings p.163 , and it covers social, emotional, physical and psychological aspects of behavior or feelings. Hence, the term Inappropriate Behavior or Feelings Disorder is coined from this particular IDEA statement of criterion and, in turn, it is used only in the EDM multi-level coding system. The authors argued the need for educational therapists, special educators and counselors to reframe their current understanding of the IBFD, whose symptoms are similar to disruptive behavior disorders (DBD), within the context of the cognition-conation-affect-sensation (CCAS) framework as they continue to observe, record and evaluate the condition in terms of its Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 48 Kok Hwee Chia, Boon Hock Lim, Ban Meng Lee REFRAMING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR AND/OR FEELINGS DISORDERS: WHAT EDUCATIONAL THERAPISTS, SPECIAL EDUCATORS AND COUNSELORS SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND core symptoms seen, measured and/or profiled before the diagnostic term IBFD is applied under the EDM code ED3.00. Keywords: affect, aggression, behavior, conation, cognition, sensation 1. What do We understand about Behavior? The word behavior (or behavioral act) is [“] generic term covering a wide range of deeds such as acts, activities, responses, reactions, movements, processes, operations, etc. (Reber, Allen, & Reber, 2009, p.90). Although it has to be a measurable response of any living organism (e.g., amoeba, earthworm, ant, squid, whale, lion, and man), there is still no conclusive agreement among the experts to put some set of coherent limits on the boundaries of denotation of behavior. As the debate continues, one explanation, for example, concerns the difficulty in deciding exactly what activities constitute behavior. Another explanation is that until we know exactly whether behaviors are measurable and/or how behaviors can be best measured, the answer to the question of what behavior is remains elusive. It is not within the scope of this paper to go into detail on the different theories or models of behavior or behaviorism (see Hunt, 2007, for more detail). Instead, we have chosen to take a selective review of how our understanding of behavior (and hence, behaviorism or behavioral psychology) and its different main or key levels and types as well as the acts associated with each of the behavioral levels/types that have been developed over time. We have to go back in time when behavior was focused on overt responses – objectively observable and measurable acts or responses (R) – to stimuli (S). Among the many well-known behaviorists is I.P. Pavlov (b.1849-d.1936), who used animals such as a dog to experiment on what is now known as classical conditioning that involved reflexive (involuntary) behavior. Also known as Pavlovian behavior, it refers to respondent behavior conditioning that occurs when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) at the outset, neutral with respect to the unconditioned response (UR), which is paired with the US. After a number of such pairings the CS will elicit, by itself, a conditioned response (CR) very much like UR. If the CS is repeatedly presented without reinforcement, the CR weakens and eventually vanishes. The Pavlovian behavior may also include tropisms ii – a term Loeb (1900) used According to Reber, Allen, and Reber (2009), tropism is “ generic term for any unlearned orientation or movement of an organic unit as a whole toward a source of stimulation p.836 . ii European Journal of Social Sciences Studies - Volume 2 │ Issue 7 │ 2017 49 Kok Hwee Chia, Boon Hock Lim, Ban Meng Lee REFRAMING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR AND/OR FEELINGS DISORDERS: WHAT EDUCATIONAL THERAPISTS, SPECIAL EDUCATORS AND COUNSELORS SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND to describe all instinctual reactions of earthworms, insects, and even higher animals to external stimuli such as light and temperature. It is also described as stimulus-driven automatous behavior. E.L. Thorndike (b.1874-d.1947), an American psychologist who was recognized as both functionalist and behaviorist (though he did not see himself as being either one or both), studied the animal behavior and came to formulate a theory of connectionism. Briefly, this theory can be expressed in two laws of behavior. Firstly, the Thorndikean Law of Effect states that the effect of any behavioral (stimulus-response or S-R for short) act determines if it becomes the response (R) to a given stimulus (S) or not. Secondly, the other Thorndikean Law of Exercise states that a R becomes strongly associated to a S in proportion to the number of times it has been connected with that specific event and to the average vigor and duration of the connection. In other words, a behavioral act may develop over time by trial-and-error (not by means of reasoning or insight) as a R to a S, gradually eliminating useless behavioral responses and makes the connection between the appropriate action and the target goal that is to be attained. For downloading the full article, please access the following link: http://oapub.org/soc/index.php/EJSSS/article/view/175 European Journal of Social Sciences Studies - Volume 2 │ Issue 7 │ 2017 50