Achievement behavior is defined as behavior directed at demonstrating high ability. Ability is conceived as relative to one's own past performance, or relative to that of others. Conditions under which these conceptions of ability function as individual's goals and the nature of subjective experience in each case are specified. (Author/BW)

Discusses reasons for the limited behavior-analytic research about anxiety, describes recent developments in the experimental analysis of human behavior that make behavior-analytic study of anxiety more tenable, and examines some applied implications of these recent developments. Explores the term "anxiety" and recommends increased…

A search of the literature to differentiate among definitions of physical discipline, corporal punishment, and physical child abuse identified five studies which revealed that abusive parents spanked their children more often than did nonabusive parents. Aggregated data from nonabusive parents suggested a "normal range" of daily spanking…

The theoretical and practical implications of viewing difficult temperament as a characteristic of the individual rather than as a social perception are discussed, with an emphasis on an interactionist view of developmental process. (Author/MP)

The author discusses the substantive and methodological contributions which several disciplines can make to naturalistic research in the field of special education and raises definitional issues. (Author)

A clarification of the identification process for emotionally disturbed children is presented. Traditional definitions of emotional disturbance (ED) are explored and four behavioral clusters within traditional definitions are presented. The four are withdrawal from social interaction (autism), unsatisfactory interpersonal relationships,…

This paper reviews the literature on positive and negative aspects of diagnostic classification of children, or labeling. It reviews the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, which mandated that special education must be available to all children with disabilities. Definitional issues in diagnostic labeling of students with learning…

This book reviews issues concerning attention deficit disorders (ADDs) in the context of a systems perspective. ADDs are viewed as resulting from dynamic interactions of behavior, cognition, and affect, out of which emerge distinct and idiosyncratic ways of coping. Chapter 1 looks at the interaction of attention and behavior. In chapter 2, the…

This book is intended as an eclectic review and overview of what is known about autism, emphasizing clinical, rather than theoretical, aspects of the syndrome. Eleven chapters address the following topics: (1) definition of autism (myths, definitions, and facts about autism); (2) diagnosis of autism (medical versus educational diagnosis); (3)…