Considerable evidence suggests that personality traits may be changeable, raising the possibility that personality traits most linked to health problems can be modified with intervention. A growing body of research suggests that problematic personality traits may be altered with behavioral intervention using a bottom-up approach. That is, by…

This paper traces the developmental history of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) from its beginning as comprehensive distancing to its current form and status. It is maintained that technical differences between the two approaches are overshadowed by ones of conceptualization. Comprehensive distancing emerged from efforts to extend Skinner's…

The Behavior Intervention Support Team (BIST) is a proactive school-wide behavior management plan for all students, emphasizing schools partnering with students and parents through caring relationships and high expectations. The BIST program is well-grounded in behavioral theory and combines strength-based and resiliency principles within the…

There is growing interest in coaching as a means of promoting professional development and the use of evidence-based practices in schools. This article describes the PBIS"plus" coaching model used to provide technical assistance for classroom- and school-wide behavior management to elementary schools over the course of 3 years. This Tier…

School psychologists are often in the position of seeing a situation, a system, or a common strategy for working with students that might be approached from a different perspective. Knowing this themselves is rarely good enough, though; they work in teams and as consultants to teachers and parents who generally work most closely with the students.…

Following from the seminal work of Ferster, Lewinsohn, and Jacobson, as well as theory and research on the Matching Law, Lejuez, Hopko, LePage, Hopko, and McNeil developed a reinforcement-based depression treatment that was brief, uncomplicated, and tied closely to behavioral theory. They called this treatment the brief behavioral activation…

Prevention of behavioral problems in school settings is essential. When the function of behavior communicates a sensory-based need, as it does for many learners with autism, teachers need to know what to do. Therefore, it is important for teachers to have varied strategies available for use in the support of such learners. The authors present…

This account describes the total reengineering of an organization with the attendant changes to the culture, the nature of the work, the rethinking of the organizational purpose, and the identification of a new customer base and new concepts of how the organization will reach it. The case is presented not as scientific research but as a case of…

Research into genetic, psychosocial, and cognitive explanations for depression (biopsychosocial models) provides support for the role of these variables in the etiology of depression. Regularly identified as basic to depression is loss, and the experience of loss has been found to be more influential than genetic factors in the causation of…

Serious video games for health are designed to entertain players while attempting to modify some aspect of their health behavior. Behavior is a complex process influenced by multiple factors, often making it difficult to change. Behavioral science provides insight into factors that influence specific actions that can be used to guide key game…

The authors propose a person-centered relational framework in which C. R. Rogers's (1957) core conditions remain the primary catalyst of therapeutic change and cognitive-behavioral work is accomplished while adhering to person-centered principles. Important ideas asserted include the following: Cognitive-behavioral tasks occur naturally within the…

Behavioral pharmacology is a maturing science that has made significant contributions to the study of drug effects on behavior, especially in the domain of drug-behavior interactions. Less appreciated is that research in behavioral pharmacology can have, and has had, implications for the experimental analysis of behavior, especially its…

Playful wrestling, splashing, fidgeting, chair-tilting, and a number of other behaviors by children often result in injuries, tantrums, or conflicts in families. Exact limits can be established in these instances with an intervention which integrates strategic, structural, and cognitive-behavioral approaches. Two case examples are presented and…

Social learning theory provides a complex scientific foundation for health education and can be used to improve health education research and practice. This foundation includes proven cognitive and behavioral constructs and techniques for promoting health behavior changes. (JN)

The most salient characteristic of the psychopath is the propensity to engage in maladaptive and inappropriate behavior of all sorts, including antisocial and criminal actions. Consequently, there is considerable interest--particularly in the field of criminology--in determining what sorts of treatment interventions are likely to be effective in…