Behavioral script

Article summary

In the behaviorism approach to psychology, behavioral scripts are a sequence of expected behaviors for a given situation. Scripts include default standards for the actors, props, setting, and sequence of events that are expected to occur in a particular situation. The classic script example involves an individual dining at a restaurant. This script has several components: props, including tables, menus, food, and money; as well as roles, including customers, servers, chefs, and a cashier. The sequence of expected events for this script begins with a hungry customer entering the restaurant, ordering, eating, paying and then ends with the customer exiting. People continually follow scripts which are acquired through habit, practice and simple routine. Following a script can be useful because it can help to save the time and mental effort of deciding on appropriate behavior each time a situation is encountered.

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