Two studies involving stereotypic hand gazing revealed that: (1) a dramatically increased therapy program substantially reduced a 35.4 month-old boy's hand gazing and augmented his toy manipulation skills; and (2) both glasses and toys effectively reduced hand gazing by two visually impaired 30.3 and 17.9 month-old children. (Author/CB)

Despite general trends for violence in marriage to escalate in frequency and intensity, there are some couples who, through their own efforts, stop being violent. Describes three such couples, with particular attention given to spouses' reports on the cessation of their violence. Discusses implications of these couples' experiences for the…

Of 673 special education teachers responding to the survey, over 55 percent reported that behavior modification was not their major system of classroom management. Responses are broken down by categorical title of classroom for experiences with positive reinforcement, time out, negative reinforcement, contingency contracting, response cost,…

Provides two-year follow-up data for a comparison between a complete behavioral marital therapy treatment package and two of its major components, behavior exchange and communication/problem-solving training for 34 couples. Statistically significant differences between the three treatments were not in evidence on any of the measures of marital…

Compared the effectiveness of a home-based behavioral intervention (relaxation and thermal biofeedback training) with an abortive pharmacological intervention (with compliance training) for treating recurrent migraine and migraine/tension headaches. Both interventions yielded reductions in headache activity, psychosomatic symptoms, and daily life…

Assigned 40 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to stress inoculation training (SIT), which included cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and progressive deep-muscle relaxation training adapted for MS patients, or current available care (CAC), which provided the usual clinic services. The SIT group was significantly less depressed, anxious and…

Describes psychological techniques, such as distraction and hypnotic imaginative involvement techniques, which have been found effective among chronically ill children and their parents in reducing anxiety and distress, and increasing the ability to cope with taxing medical procedures. Cases from research conducted in Vancouver, British Columbia…

Reviews programs to prevent delinquent behavior in school, behavioral analysis of absenteeism and truancy control, behavioral contracting in schools, parent training for changing behavior in school, vandalism reduction, behavioral school consultation, and Skill Streaming in schools. (Author/LHW)

The effectiveness of a quick-transfer language training method combined with incidental teaching on snack requests was examined with two severely mentally retarded primary grade children. Trained requesting behavior transferred to incidental opportunities and was maintained at 1-month followup. (DB)

Eight language approaches in education of the hearing impaired are reviewed: language stories and drills, Fitzgerald Key, the natural approach, patterning, programed instruction, behavior modification, linguistic programs, and developmentally based programs. An approach is proposed that focuses on functional conversational skills, facilitative…

The review examines cognitive strategy training and self-instructional training with learning disabled children. Discrepancies between potential and performance, cognitive behavior modification, the promotion of active self-regulatory learning styles in arithmetic and reading, and methodological issues and future directions are discussed.…

Written pre- and posttests were used to assess the smoking-related knowledge of 1,068 seventh graders in three comparable communities. Students in two communities participated in interventions designed to enhance knowledge acquisition, social activism, and non-use of tobacco. The interventions influenced respondents' health concerns, but not…

The synthesis of 18 single subject research studies on early intervention for socially withdrawn children indicated that reinforcement and measurement of targeted socially interactive behaviors showed the largest effects, with some treatment (such as unreinforced modeling of behavior) showing little effect. There was little evidence for skill…

Investigated stimulus context (therapy session versus therapy description) and stimulus medium (audiovisual versus written) in preferences for the behavioral and person-centered orientations. Behavioral orientation was preferred when both orientations were presented audiovisually as a therapy session. Conversely, the person-centered orientation…

Two adolescents with severe disabilities were successfully taught pictorial communication skills using an interrupted behavior sequence strategy. The independent variable involved insertion of a typical operant instructional trial for teaching communication skills into the midst of ongoing predictable sequences of behaviors, rather than at the…