ABC triad means (A) affect (how people feel inside), (B) behavior (what people do), and (C) cognition (what people think about).
In the psychology context, the ABC triad refers to a theoretical model that describes the relationship between three key elements of human behavior: antecedents, behavior, and consequences. This model suggests that an individual's behavior is influenced by antecedents, which are the events or conditions that precede the behavior, and consequences, which are the events or conditions that follow the behavior.
Examples of how the ABC triad can be applied in psychology include:
- In the case of a child who throws tantrums, the antecedent might be a request to do homework, the behavior would be the tantrum, and the consequence would be getting out of doing homework.
- In the case of a student who procrastinates, the antecedent might be an upcoming exam, the behavior would be procrastinating, and the consequence would be a poor grade.
- In the case of a person with a phobia, the antecedent might be encountering a specific object or situation, the behavior would be intense fear, and the consequence would be avoiding that object or situation.
The ABC triad model is often used in behavior therapy to help identify the antecedents and consequences that are maintaining a problem behavior, so that the behavior can be modified by changing the antecedents or consequences. This model is widely used in different fields of psychology including clinical psychology, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and education.