Assumptions of applied behavior analysis are presented: (1) good practice should be good research; (2) behavioral goals, procedures, and effects should be socially validated; and (3) a systems perspective should be adopted when focusing on behavior analysis and intervention. (Author/JAC)

This article reviews 66 studies which used applied behavior analysis to change the behaviors of students with visual disabilities. It documents the participants, targeted behaviors, procedures used, outcomes, and follow-up. The article offers recommendations for future researchers on the selection of subjects, target behaviors, appropriate…

This literature review on antecedents, behaviors, and consequences in the noncompliant behavior of people with mental retardation found that noncompliance is more likely when instructions are vague or task demands are too difficult and that noncompliance responds well to programs utilizing combinations of social and tangible rewards. (Author/JDD)

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a brief intervention that has been shown to reduce heavy drinking among college students. Because all college studies of MI to date have included a personalized feedback report, it remains unclear which of the components is necessary to produce behavior change. This study evaluated the separate and collective…

Written and spoken language contains inherent mechanisms driving motivation. Accessing and modifying psycholinguistic mechanisms, links language frames to changes in behavior within the context of motivational profiling. For example, holding an object like an imported apple feels safe until one is informed it was grown in a toxic waste dump.…

Investigates the influence of two types of basic speech courses on behavior change. (MH)

A description of the socio-demographic characteristics associated with student drug use is discussed. Findings indicate that while drug usage began to increase in the seventh grade, substantial increases occurred after this grade level. For all substances, drug use peaked in the ninth or tenth grade with dramatic decreases in the twelfth grade.…

An attempt was made to determine whether a behaviorally oriented conditioning approach, "covert sensitization," is more effective in the treatment of alcoholism than the commonly used problem-solving approach; and whether female counselors employing covert sensitization are more successful than males. Appropriate statistical analysis of…

This study is concerned with the effects of teacher contingencies on academic behaviors of normal children at cognitively oriented centers in an open education classroom. Results indicate teacher attention greatly affects preferences for academic and nonacademic centers by kindergarten children. (Author)

Contingency contracting has been demonstrated to be an effective procedure for achieving weight loss. A problem with this type of contract is that the S may have to permanently forfeit an item for a failure to lose weight when in fact his/her eating behavior has been appropriate. The following procedure was developed to overcome this problem. A…

Forty overweight female subjects were randomly assigned to one of eight treatment combinations in a 2x2x2 matrix. The use of positive coverants produced significantly more weight loss than negative coverants. (Author)

Research sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of DOD under contract No. 92OF-9717 and monitored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under contract No. AF 49(638)-1237.

Until recently, the use of contingency contracting has been largely an issue of theory and discussion with little experimental research evidence gathered to support efficacy. Two major reasons for this problem are suggested and discussed: (1) the concept of contingency contracting has not been adequately defined nor its minimal requirements…

This document contains the reports of research at a symposium on "Altered States of Consciousness and Alcohol." The participants primarily agreed that alcohol induces an altered state of consciousness similar to other drugs, but that this phenomenon has not been explicitly stated due to the current interest in newer and more novel drugs. The…

This report provides a technical-level analysis, discussion, and summary of five experiments in applied behavior analysis. Experiment 1 examined the token economy as a basis for motivating inmate behavior; Experiment 2 examined the relationship between magnitude of token reinforcement and level of inmate performance; Experiment 3 introduced a…