Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a lifetime wellness course on changing students' global self-efficacy, physical self-efficacy, and wellness behavior. Methods: Seventy-one college students from a lifetime wellness course completed the TestWell Wellness Inventory--Standard Edition (National Wellness Institute,…

The Internet is considered to be a promising delivery channel of interventions aimed at promoting healthful behaviors, especially for adolescents and young adults. Exposure to these interventions, however, is generally low. A more extensive exploration of methods, strategies, and their effectiveness with regard to facilitating exposure is…

The effect of a financial management intervention on college students' financial behavior was examined. The intervention strategy, a form of expenditure tracking, focused on consciousness-raising and was implemented among 170 undergraduate students. Qualitative analysis of participants' self-reflection papers revealed that awareness of spending…

Empirical evidence has attested to the benefits of autonomy support in a classroom context, in facilitating students' autonomous motivation, well-being, creativity, engagement, and persistence. However, most interventional research aiming to increase teachers' autonomy-supportive behaviors has been conducted in school and college contexts, with…

Objective: To examine the effects of a school garden on children's fruit and vegetable knowledge, preference, and consumption. Design: Self-report questionnaires, interview-style taste and rate items, lunchroom observations. Setting: An elementary school. Participants: Second-grade students (n = 115). Intervention: Participants were assigned to…

This commentary on the use of gentle teaching with individuals with developmental disabilities examines the method's assumptions, describes its use of behavioral techniques, and criticizes its ineffectiveness. (JDD)

This paper outlines, and refutes, concerns about structured behavioral teaching methods for children with learning difficulties. Concerns addressed include overly heavy reliance on extrinsic rewards, emphasis on learning without understanding, failure to allow students to learn from their mistakes, teaching out of context, and little use of…

The effectiveness of written instructions was compared with the effectiveness of direct instructions for training in the application of four behavior change processes with 12 undergraduates. Both instructional techniques were effective. Direct instruction was more consistently effective immediately, with both techniques producing similar effects…

The effectiveness of a video feedback and self-management package was assessed with various inappropriate behaviors exhibited by six adolescents with mild mental retardation. Participants evaluated their own videotaped behavior. Results showed a statistically significant decrease of the percentage intervals of inappropriate behavior when the…

Nine mothers of children with physical disabilities in Ireland participated in a 10-week training program that focused on social learning theory and identification and modification of undesirable child behaviors. Evaluation indicated reduced maternal stress and substantial reductions in identified problem behaviors. (DB)

This paper explores the controversy surrounding gentle teaching, with particular reference to the relationship between gentle teaching and applied behavior analysis. Advantages and disadvantages of this approach are discussed, and it is suggested that gentle teaching and applied behavior analysis need not be regarded as mutually exclusive…

This paper reviews the use of self-management procedures such as self-monitoring, self-administering consequences, and self-instructing with students having developmental disabilities. The paper explores definitions of self-management, various self-management procedures, effectiveness in changing behavior, and effectiveness in maintenance and…

This analysis of the effects of self-management training on the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of skills of persons with mental retardation found self-management training to be useful in promoting the maintenance of behavior change first effected by external control procedures. Training effectiveness may depend upon the cognitive and…

The study examined the effects of instruction in new behavior on behavioral change in behaviorally or emotionally handicapped students by comparing Ifd (intensity, frequency, and duration) behavior scores of students who received special behavioral instruction (N=360) with students not receiving this instruction (N=360). The study also…

Single-subject multiple probe designs were employed in two studies with 5 young adults who had mental retardation and mental illness. After learning visual arts activity skills in Study 1 and personally expressive behaviors in Study 2, participants displayed improvement in behaviors associated with mental illness and increases in expressive…