This paper explores the controversy surrounding gentle teaching, with particular reference to the relationship between gentle teaching and applied behavior analysis. Advantages and disadvantages of this approach are discussed, and it is suggested that gentle teaching and applied behavior analysis need not be regarded as mutually exclusive…

This study analyzed specific stimuli reinforcing destructive behavior in two 11-year-olds males with mental retardation and severe destructive behavior problems maintained by attention. The use of concurrent schedules of reinforcement identified alternatives to the reinforcing verbal reprimands and led to development of effective treatments to…

Identifies an epistemological bias in current psychological research in family planning and population change that contributes to its lack of relevance in providing solutions to problems: population psychologists simply must get on with the business of effecting changes in problem behaviors. (Author/JM)

Two theories, the closed loop model (divides self-regulation into self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement) and the non-mediational model (defines self-regulation as behavior that is controlled by its long-term and observable consequences), have been proposed to explain why behavior changes when self-monitoring occurs. Both…

Some of the unique characteristics of the drug abuse field which distinguish it from the other varieties of substance abuse and research methodologies for studying determinants of drug self-administration behavior which have been developed in response to these characteristics were investigated. Data suggest that residential drug…

This newsletter, focusing on literature and research on cognitive behavior modification (CBM), reviews articles and research on CBM with children. Works on retarded children, deaf children and children with learning disabilities are presented, with critical analyses. A parallel section on CBM with adults follows. Problem areas of phobias, anxiety,…

Response-cost refers to a procedure whereby a positive reinforcer is lost or some penalty is invoked following a specific misbehavior. In an alternate procedure called Differential Reinforcement of Other Responses (DRO), a reinforcing stimulus is delivered when a particular response is not emitted for a specific interval of time. This study…

This is the "Coordinator's Book," written to accompany the "Participant's Book of the Classroom and Instructional Management Program" developed by the Central Midwestern Regional Educational Laboratory. This book is divided into the following units that are also represented in the "Participant's Book:" (1) changing classroom behavior without…

Literature related to behavior modification is surveyed to draw implications for the diagnosis and treatment of reading deficits and for the inservice and preservice training of reading teachers. A 39-item bibliography is included. (AA)

This study investigates the effects of teaching decision-making skills on the classroom behavior of middle school problem students. Small groups of students met for 15 weeks with a counselor who adapted the "Deciding" program (College Entrance Examination Board) as the decision-making paradigm. Coppersmith's Self-Esteem Index and…

The purpose of this book is to make people who are involved in motivation in one form or another to think twice before trying to tackle a problem in a direct, head-on fashion. Motivating human behavior is a complex task that involves finding the proper channels of motivation and thinking through the reactions of the person who is to be persuaded.…

This symposium paper describes 2 experiments in which the principles of observational learning were applied in school settings to the treatment of 2 separate groups of test-anxious junior high school students. The first experiment was designed to test the assumption that the counter-conditioning responses thought to occur in systematic…

This study reports a successful classroom intervention program which was designed to curb encopresis. It used positive consequences in combination with negative consequences, rather than negative consequences alone. Also it utilized a reversal strategy to evalulate the efficacy of the treatment variables. (Author)

The importance of reinforcing the reading achievement of children and the procedures for accomplishing this reinforcement are discussed. (CK)