The findings of the study suggest that the distribution of contraceptives on the campus will not produce widespread loss of virginity and promiscuity, and it will not cause a breakdown in the moral structure. The challenge is to create a distribution system which will decrease the presently inefficient contraceptive practices. (Author)

The question of whether it is the subject or the investigator who is deceived is discussed relative to McFall's study on the effect of self monitoring on smoking behavior. Perhaps the results should be evaluated by the subject rather than by the investigator. (KJ)

This paper discusses some methodological, clinical and theoretical issues in the use of self observation raised in an experiment by McFall. (Author)

For the untrained subjects, only attendants achieved a lower approach score than trained therapists. Attendants achieved lower approach scores than other untrained groups for two of the patient types. The results support the need for additional research concerning minimally trained subjects and roles they might assume in mental health settings.…

Studied interaction styles of premarital couples (N=148) and developed a typology of couple interaction at two points in time before marriage. Results showed only 7 percent of the couples had the same type of interaction at the two testings, supporting the hypothesis that premarital relationships are fluid. (WAS)

The author explores the theory of changing basic thought processes in order to improve personal performance on the job. This entails helping people identify their existing thoughts and replacing the ones that won't support performance goals with those that will. (CT)

The problem drinking continuum was devised to illustrate different kinds of alcohol-related problems, without implying irreversibility, progression, or the presence of a unitary disease. It is one way of conceptualizing alcohol dependencies that has been fruitful in outpatient counseling, residential care, alcohol education, and training programs.…

Investigated the active components of covert positive reinforcement that consisted of an S-R modality, a reinforcement procedure, and a demand for expectancy of success. Results of the behavioral avoidance test indicated that subjects in the overt S-R modality groups approached closer to the rat. (Author)

This study investigated the sleep of 28 young blind and 22 sighted children (ages 4 to 36 months) whose parents completed the Sleep Habits Questionnaire. It found that the blind children had significantly more sleep problems related to bedtime and behaviors during the night than did the sighted children. (Author/DB)

A parent-report questionnaire, the Child Routines Inventory (CRI), was administered to 1,492 parents with children between 8 and 72 months of age. Results indicated that frequency of compulsive-like behaviors is more common among 2-, 3- and 4-year olds than among children younger than 1 year or over 4 years of age. Findings are relevant to a…

A theory of timing is proposed, based on the observation that signals of reinforcement elicit adjunctive behaviors. Transitions between these behaviors are described as a Poisson process. These behaviors may come to serve as the basis for conditional discriminations of the passage of time. (SLD)

This study of 12 residents of a treatment facility for individuals with mental retardation examined cycles in occurrences of self-injurious behavior (SIB) and aggression both within and across individuals. The study confirmed that such behavior tended to be rhythmical, with cycles of three-month and five-month periods consistently observed for…

The nature of certain aspects of emotion (as viewed from a control-theory perspective on behavior) is explored, focusing on the feedback-based processes through which people self-regulate their actions to minimize discrepancies between actual acts and desired or intended acts. (SLD)