Historically, the chosen method of discipline in United States schools has gone from corporal punishment to an emphasis on suspension. Recently, as principals have become less certain about the extent of their authority to suspend students, many inschool programs have been developed as alternatives to suspension. Among the advantages of such…

The purpose of precision teaching is to modify those academic or social behaviors that are in need of change, as effectively and efficiently as possible. Development of a precision teaching program involves pinpointing the target behavior, administering daily probes, charting the data, setting the aim, implementing the instructional strategies,…

A set of practical behavior change techniques for improving young children's classroom behavior are briefly discussed. Techniques are classified and discussed under two general categories: those that reduce frequency of behaviors ("sticks") and those that increase their frequency ("carrots"). Included under "sticks" are techniques such as ignoring…

In the first part of this paper, training models and procedures of alcohol and drug counselors at paraprofessional levels are compared and elaborated. Findings from a review of more than 120 different training programs throughout the United States reveal that none of these programs are designed specifically to train behaviorally-oriented drug and…

Data are from a large scale experimental study which was designed to evaluate a multimethod problem solving approach to obesity. Obese adult volunteers (N=90) were randomly assigned to three groups: maximal treatment, minimal treatment, and no treatment control. In the two treatment groups, subjects were exposed to bibliographic material and…

New techniques are being developed that enhance the effectiveness of psychological forces in controlling bodily reactions. All of them are powerful tools for the psychological control of pain. This article reviews such techniques and addresses itself to the contributions that counselors can make to alleviate physical pain. (Author)

Behavior modification has been used in classrooms, industry, and marriage counseling. In behavioral family therapy, the therapist examines how family members learn undesirable behaviors, how they can unlearn these behaviors, and how they can learn more desirable behaviors. This type of therapy is a method of direct treatment in which goals are…

The literature on symbolic forms of communication was reviewed, and an experimental program was designed to teach a single set of vocabulary to a group of four institutionalized profoundly retarded blind/mute adults through the use of gestures. Literature about deaf/blind persons suggested the use of coactive movement techniques and facilitation…

Although the augmental value of exercise to behavioral weight control programs has been suggested, demonstration of this value is dependent upon an assessment of adherence to change in eating habits and activity patterns. Self-report measures of adherence were obtained from overweight college women undergoing treatment that involved either dietary…

The use of paradoxical interventions and brief therapy interdictions with a population of emotionally disturbed adolescents (males and females ages 13-18) attending a semi-residential alternative school was investigated. Paradoxical interventions were made by the psychological staff for purposes of management and change of withdrawn, acting out…

The efficacy of training parents as behavior modifiers of problem behaviors displayed by their seven-year-old severely retarded son was investigated in relationship to targeted problem behaviors including throwing objects, refusing to comply with parental commands, and refusing to sit in a chair at a table. In order to deal with the child's…

The Residential Youth Center, based in the inner city, was established to house those "high risk" youths who were not being reached by existing manpower programs. The staff consisted of indigenous, nonprofessional personnel who worked intensively with families. The project was able to effect tremendous behavioral changes in dozens of…

In order to provide training for counselors of American Indian youth in higher education, this program presented course material related to the development of counseling skills; sought to improve understanding of human behavior and personality characteristics of American Indian youth in higher education; and provided familiarity with some of the…

A rationale for the establishment of human rights review procedures within local education agencies is presented, focusing on students who have severe behavior problems with or without mental retardation, for whom intrusive behavioral treatments are considered. Topics discussed include informed consent, committee review, due process, and least…