This article reviews applications of the applied behavior analysis ideas of B. F. Skinner and others to persons with both mental retardation and emotional disturbance. The review examines implications of behavior analysis for operant conditioning and radical behaviorism, schedules of reinforcement, and emotion and mental illness. (DB)

The literature on fears and phobias of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities is reviewed. Assessment procedures are then examined, including interviews, self-reports, parent rating scales, and behavioral observations. Interventions are drawn from the principles of respondent, operant, and vicarious conditioning. (Author/DB)

Currently, three theories of learning dominate classroom practice. First, B.F. Skinner's Theory of Operant Conditioning states that if behavior, including learning behavior, is reinforced, the probability of its being repeated increases strongly. Different types and schedules of reinforcement have been studied, by Skinner and others, and the…

Reviews the various roles that Black actors have played in American movies and in the development of the motion picture industry. Calls for more important roles for Blacks, both as performers and as writers, directors, and producers. (DA)

This review focuses on correspondence training procedures, in which a subject makes statements about intended positive behavior and the statements are reinforced. The paper examines early research, generalization, maintenance, application to mentally retarded individuals, and the concept of self-control. (Author/JDD)

It is well established that the cerebellum and its associated circuitry are essential for classical conditioning of the eyeblink response and other discrete motor responses (e.g., limb flexion, head turn, etc.) learned with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US). However, brain mechanisms underlying extinction of these responses are still…

This is a review of the contingency management literature and current related treatment programs for stuttering in childhood: the Lidcombe Program, Gradual Increase in Length and Complexity of Utterance (GILCU), and Prolongation (PS). Treatment efficacy research has shown these treatments to be effective and efficient for children, but there…

Agoraphobia is the most pervasive and serious phobic response seen by clinicians, accounting for approximately 50 to 60% of all phobic problems. The symptoms of agoraphobia, a condition in which an individual fears entering public areas, include fears of leaving home, fainting, entering open and closed spaces, shopping, entering social situations,…

Basic and applied research on variables that influence the extinction of operant behaviors is reviewed and applied to the treatment of behavior disorders. The potential value of a general technology for the use of behavioral extinction is discussed. The paper concludes that current research findings are not sufficient for the development of a…

Examines how the contributions of animal research are presented in eight of the most widely used introductory psychology textbooks. The authors show that, with the exception of principles of conditioning and learning, the contributions of animal research are often not explicitly acknowledged or are obscured to look like they had been obtained with…

Discusses the advances made in understanding the brain structures responsible for language. Presents findings made using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomographic (PET) scans to study brain activity. These findings map the structures in the brain that manipulate concepts and those that turn concepts into words. (MCO)

The paper presents a literature-based comparison of psychodynamic and behavioral approaches in the management of aggression in children. The section on psychodynamic approaches discusses the work of August Aichhorn, Fritz Redl, Nicholas Long, and William Glasser, in addition to discussions of life space interviewing and the importance of the…

Phenomenology is an important force in the development of psychological theory, rather than a variant type of counseling method. A distinction must be drawn between the sensory phenomenology in which gestaltists focus on sensory receptors, and logical pheomenology in which the grounding of belief or self-identity is viewed as a prediction or…

A developmental model for an empathy-based prosocial motive is presented. The framework of the model is presented in terms of three components of empathy. The first component, empathic affective arousal, is discussed and six involuntary psychological mechanisms which underlie it are described briefly. These mechanisms, in the order in which they…

Marian and Keller Breland pioneered the application of operant psychology to commercial animal training during the 1940s and 1950s. The Brelands' story is relatively unknown in the history of behavior analysis. Using information from the Breland-Bailey papers, this paper describes the development and activities of Animal Behavior Enterprises…