A brief overview describes a study in which high school students were taught to deal effectively with "critical incidents" in a pre-parenting program. The program described involved pretest; training in anger control, alternative responses to stress, and appropriate responses to behaviors; and posttesting. The study found students could be taught…

This report is an attempt to analyze the aggression which occurs within extended dyadic interchanges of parent and child, husband and wife, or sibling and peers. An argument is made for a "performance" theory of children's noxious behaviors based on the assumption that most children, exposed to modeling and reinforcing contingencies through which…

Investigated with a 26-year-old male graduate student were the immediate and long-term effects of social reinforcement and feedback on the incidence of stuttering. The S's speech dysfluencies were recorded under baseline and intervention conditions in three settings: two classes the S taught and a weekly hour-long conversation period with peers.…

Contingent social reinforcement was applied differentially to aid the behavioral and educational development of a 9-year-old severely retarded nonverbal female with quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy. Four behaviors prerequisite and collateral to beginning language development were defined and measured: eye contact, head control, initiative…

There is a considerable body of research that involves covert antecedents and consequences of behavior, and how these factors tend to influence overt behavior. As is frequently the case in new areas of endeavor, overenthusiastic claims have been made for covert conditioning procedures, often based on poorly controlled experiments or clinical…

The idea of year-round education (YRE) is not a new one. As early as 1912 there are records of YRE programs implemented in communities. As a result of the increasing enrollment in schools and the overcrowding many classrooms are experiencing, YRE has become an attractive alternative to the traditional 9-month schedule. Air conditioning costs and…

The fears and anxieties of students in second language learning situations often prevent successful performance in the language. Three techniques from Behavior Modification can be applied to overcome such anxieties and to further achievement in second language learning: (1) Systematic Desensitization; (2) Cognitive Restructuring; and (3) Modeling…

The background, organization, and operation of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API), a residential program for behavior disordered and emotionally disturbed children and adolescents, are described. Components of the educational program at API, including academic and social assessment, individual education plans, and elementary and secondary…

The author describes strategies and models (individualized instruction, diagnostic and prescriptive teaching, and behavior modification) which she suggests could result in improved special education services for exceptional children, especially Black and poor students. (CL)

Compared was the effectiveness of punishment and positive reinforcement on the nonattending behaviors and academic achievement of 18 elementary grade children in two special classes for children with social or adjustment problems. During the positive reinforcement condition each student earned a slash mark whenever he was observed attending to…

The study sought to identify effective procedures for facilitating initial imitative vocal behavior in mentally retarded children, thus accelerating the initial stages of language acquisition. Three groups of Down syndrome children ages 6 months to 4 years (N=15) served as subjects in an examination of the relative effectiveness of three…

The process of promoting behavior change in children described as being immature or antisocial with conduct or behavioral disorders can be enhanced by training their parents in operant techniques in an outpatient clinic setting. Most parents can respond to training because a theoretical understanding of operant techniques is not a prerequisite for…

The paper considers whether precise control over the actions, thoughts, emotions, and desires of individuals is desirable. New technological methods for controlling human behavior enable systematic manipulation of people and promise an even greater degree of manipulation in the near future. Arguments for and against behavior control are presented.…

Reviews psychological research suggesting that conditioning and social modeling procedures contribute to the formation and modification of the affective components of eating behavior. (DS)

An exploratory study examined gender differences in writing in the essays of five male and five female freshman composition students. The findings suggest parallels between the writing and speaking behaviors of men and women students and between student writing and the work of male and female professional writers. The male students made few…