Provides an overview on the subject of punishment and alternative procedures to decelerate a behavior. Describes differential reinforcement, extinction, satiation, corrective feedback, using peers as models and rearranging the environment as positive and nonaversive procedures for decreasing a behavior. (LLL)

The ability of aversive conditioning and contingency management to control smoking was compared. Although contingency management was more effective in the short run, at a six-month follow-up treatment effects were no longer evident. (SE)

Reviews studies involving noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) for the treatment of challenging behavior such as aggression, self-injury, and extreme tantrums in persons with developmental disabilities. A clinical guide for implementation is delineated. Among the advantages of NCR is ease of implementation. NCR appears particularly relevant for…

Today, the term 'behavior therapy' has no clear denotation. Those who adhere to the more delimited meanings of behavior therapy tend to disregard significant nonbehavioral therapeutic development. They also overlook convincing data demonstrating that in adult humans, conditioning is produced through cognitive mediation. Adoption of a more…

The long-term treatment program and follow-up of a case of chronic, severe, multiple self-injurious behavior is presented. Contingent electric shock and differential reinforcement of other behavior were the primary techniques utilized. Total suppression was achieved in the laboratory setting, but extending control to the natural environment proved…

This study compared systematic desensitization and two pseudotherapy manipulations with and without false galvanic skin response feedback after every session suggesting improvement in the modification of intense snake and spider fear. The results indicated no consistent differences between the three treatment groups. (Author)

The article suggests that retarded behavior is maintained by certain events in the environment and their relationship to an individual's behavior. Maintenance of these behaviors is attributed to positive reinforcement, avoidance behavior, and contingency schedules. Several examples of the maintenance effects of each of these paradigms are given.…

Underweight subjects were assigned to either a self-reinforcement condition, a self-punishment condition, or to a discussion/reflection control condition. The subjects received one treatment session per week over a five-week period. After treatment, the self-reinforcement groups gained significantly more pounds (kilograms) than either of the other…

Discusses the Morris and Suckerman report on experimental studies testing the Rogerian hypothesis that phobic desensitization occurs as a function of therapist warmth versus the behavioral explanation that desensitization is a function of reciprocal inhibition. Morris and Suckerman respond to the critique. (Author/EJT)

This monograph examines the component parts of behavior modification, initially defining the problem behavior and drawing a difference between specific observable behaviors (the focus of behavior modification), and the interest of Freudian and similar psychologies in unobservable internal processes. Instrumental learning related to shaping in…

Available from: Sage Publications, Inc., 275 South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California 90212. Presented are guidelines for the identification of target behaviors and suitable intervention techniques by therapists using behavior modification techniques. (IM)

The same techniques of behavior modification that can be used by teachers to manage student behavior in the classroom can also be used by supervisors to alter the behavior of teachers. In both cases, it is necessary for the supervisors and teachers to focus primarily on the individual's behavior itself, rather than on what causes that behavior. To…