In this issue of "School Psychology Review," various authors devoted their articles to provide information on the comorbidities and trajectories of different subgroups of bullies and victims. These studies provide a clear direction for future research in this burgeoning field. In this article, the author provide his views on these studies. He…

This commentary summarizes methodological and conceptual issues in functional analysis methodologies and offers some suggestions for their resolution. Considered are increasing complexity, absence of contingencies during assessment, use of subtle manipulations, alternative assessment strategies, analysis of antecedent influences on behavior,…

Presents some ideas for using simulation games to improve human performance, serve as motivators for instruction, provide opportunities for evaluating learning, and test research models. The potential for instructional technologists to diversify approaches to learning and meet learning needs is also discussed. Fifteen references are listed. (MER)

Offers a rebuttal to Giyoo Hatano's commentary on a study on sociomoral development in the kindergarten classroom. It is suggested that the danger in restricting evaluation to stated goals is that unintended negative effects will not be recognized. (LB)

This commentary on assessing the social validity of behavior-change programs examines which groups should be included in the assessment, whether social validity assessment should be required, and whether new methods are needed. The paper notes that social validation should be an interactive process between researcher and consumer. (JDD)

This article proposes a model for the functional analysis of aggression in school-age children and youth. The model incorporates multimodal data collection and data triangulation to generate credible hypotheses regarding the functions of aggression. Key features include operational definitions of target behaviors, examination of the environmental…

This essay discusses the evaluation of the relationship between the nervous system and emotion regulation, introducing vagal tone as a measurable organismic variable that contributes to individual and developmental differences in the expression and regulation of emotion. (MDM)

Incorporating statistical process control (SPC) methods into applied behavior analysis is discussed. It is claimed that SPC methods would likely reduce applied behavior analysts' intimate contacts with problems and would likely yield poor treatment and research decisions. Cases and data presented by Pfadt and Wheeler (1995) are cited as examples.…

General issues raised by Gersten in his commentary on DeVries' article are discussed. These include the role of error, academic content, and direct instruction in constructivist education. His criticisms of sociomoral research by DeVries and others are emphatically refuted. (LB)

This article challenges applied behavior analysts to use their knowledge of consumer behavior and effective educational strategies to provide consumers with useful information, thereby enabling them to make informed decisions. This will decrease the misconceptions that many consumers have about behavior analysis, thus improving the social validity…

An attempt is made at providing cohesion and structure for a range of disparate activities and examining their interrelationships. Among concepts considered are: (1) the relationship of philosophic analysis in education; (2) the nature of pedagogical research; (3) the process-product paradigm; (4) aim-oriented empiricism; (5) the reduction thesis;…

This paper discusses the practice of social validity assessment in applied behavior analysis, proposes elements that should be included in state-of-the art assessment procedures, offers a taxonomy of consumers to guide the construction and circulation of assessments, and suggests strategies to improve social validity assessment. (JDD)

Introduces the inspection-time (IT) measure in psychology, and argues that its much-replicated correlation with intelligence quotient (IQ) and its potential for theoretical tractability has more potential for the understanding of individual differences in cognitive ability than other indices of human information processing. It summarizes studies…

A rationale for the integration of the principles of behavior therapy with those of neuropsychology is provided. Theoretical issues, empirical considerations and future directions pertaining to this area of specialization are discussed, with special reference to the practice of school psychology. (Author/AL)

This paper argues that many social validity processes in applied behavior analysis are actually measuring consumer satisfaction and not the habilitative validity of goals, procedures, or outcomes. The term "habilitative validation" is proposed to replace social validity, and use of more objective assessment methods is encouraged.…