Due to its efficacy shown in early research with children, imagined contact has often been proposed as a school prejudice-reduction intervention. Nevertheless, some of the more recent studies have not been able to replicate the expected effects. This review presents the first systematic examination of the effect of imagined contact interventions…

The article reviews comparative studies of normal and developmentally disabled or at-risk infants in interaction with their mothers, relates these studies to the literature on optimal parent-child interaction, and draws implications for early intervention programs. (DB)

The review of the literature on aided communication illustrates the differences between "aided" and "normal" communication and outlines an intervention strategy which aims to modify the behavior of both interactive partners. (DB)

The paper reviews the literature on the training of social behavior in autistic children and reports on a project which developed and evaluated a program which explicitly trained mildly handicapped peers to facilitate the social behavior of autistic children. The extensive literature review looks at the etiology of social deficits in autistic…

Research on characteristics of Down Syndrome infants affecting the interaction between mother and child is reviewed. Differences in the development of the social communication behaviors of state control (sleep and awake); gaze patterns; coordination of gesture, gaze, and vocalization; and frequency of vocalization have implications for parental…

Relationships between change agent performance and outcome success within the context of group behavioral programs are identified. The evaluation of either the ultimate effectiveness, or the specific change processes in a group program often requires assessing the behavior of the change agents, as well as that of the target population. Five design…

This study examined the interactional social behaviors of six elementary grade children with specific language impairment. Data reviewed included teacher ratings of social skills and child self-perceptions of loneliness and peer contacts. Children also were observed during interactional tasks including access, negotiation, and cooperative work.…

Some of the distinguishing features associated with behavioral prevention methodology are discussed. Behaviorists for Social Action have already implicitly identified target populations for preventive interventions, and the two distinct populations which have been identified can form the focus of preventive endeavors. The dissimilar populations…

The purpose of this manual, the culmination of a graduate project begun at the University of Kansas, is to assist individuals with severe, multiple disabilities and their service providers in learning to utilize nonsymbolic behaviors in an expanded, facilitative manner that leads to more consistent and predictable communication functioning. The…