Two newsletters review the principles and application of two behavior modification techniques with mentally retarded persons: overcorrection and punishment. Overcorrection may be either restitutional, in which the client is made to restore the environment to a far better state than before the inappropriate behavior occurred, or positive practice…

Timeout, a widely used approach with severely handicapped and deaf blind students, is nevertheless potentially aversive and should not become a routine procedure. The decision to employ timeout from positive reinforcement should be based on careful consideration of the child's behavior, the severity of the target behavior, and the need for…

A case study focuses on the characteristics and physical management of a 15-year-old with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a birth defect associated with hypotonia, insatiable appetite, hypogonadism, central nervous system dysfunction, and abnormal growth and development . A literature review addresses studies dealing with behavior modification of obesity…

There is a need when working with mentally handicapped people to develop interventions that can be used within a self-control framework. One intervention that has demonstrated success in a self-control context with normally intelligent people is Cognitive Stress Inoculation Training (CSIT). In CSIT clients are taught to recognize current self-talk…

Three aversive conditioning programs were conducted to deal with self-injurious behavior at a residential facility for autistic, brain damaged and retarded children and adolescents. In study 1, mild electric shock paired with a neutral stimulus was moderately effective in decreasing lip biting and head striking in an autistic 15-year-old. Case 2…

This paper presents cognitive strategies as one major approach to pain management. They are discussed as part of a trimodal system of pain management that also includes behavioral manipulations and physical intervention. The need for a standardized classification to deal with terminological inconsistency in the literature on cognitive management…

Investigates the effects of personality types on the effectiveness of various treatment procedures in reducing test anxiety. Fails to support previous studies in which group application of counseling techniques reduced anxiety more than did a study skills group. (Author/PC)

Behavior therapy is going through a period of questioning and self-examination. This pause for self-questioning is certainly a healthy trend, and is sorely needed to prevent the field from becoming too entrenched in orthodoxy. (Author)

Author argues that behavior therapists could do worse than to begin the latest chapter in their development with the recognition that a decade or so of work has brought them back to conclusions they scorned at the outset. (Author)

Author argues that as long as behavior therapy continues to ignore the inductive, single-case research on behavior frequency that was so successful for both Pavlov and Skinner, there will be little progress. (Author)

In one study of a college merit pay program, the best predictor of salary improvement was proximity to the evaluator's office. (IRT)

Participants were trained to assemble two seven-piece vocational tasks. The Standard Behavior Chart was used to display, analyze, and quantify behavior change. The major dependent variables were response rate (celeration) and trials to criterion. For both dependent measures, the total task procedure was superior to the backward chaining procedure.…

Reviews the rationale for social skills training with delinquents. Describes one program that uses discussion, modeling, role-playing, positive reinforcement, and shaping. Presents four scales for behavioral assessment to access social skills, assertion/aggression, violation of minor rules and regulations, and evaluation of the program by each…

Reviews various social learning and counseling approaches utilized by psychotherapists in one-to-one clinical behavior therapy. Behavior analysis, family contracting, and social skills training are used as are other office-based clinical behavior therapy techniques to help delinquents change. (Author/LHW)

Discusses the complex ethical dilemmas in social work brought about by the availability of technology. Addresses the issues of privacy, behavior control, and health care. Considers the allocation and possible misuse of technology. (Author/ABB)