Challenging behavior is often a source of frustration for parents. Challenging behavior is defined as any behavior that interferes with children's learning and development, is harmful to children and to others, and puts a child at risk for later social problems or school failure (Bailey & Wolery, 1992; Kaiser & Rasminsky, 2003). Children's…

The study expands reported here Extension education's knowledge regarding characteristics of potential change agents. Graduate students learning to become agricultural Extension educators were studied to determine their definition of a change agent. Participants' cognitive styles were assessed using Kirton's Adaptation-Innovation Inventory to…

The purpose of this article is to clarify critical variables in the individualizing process. These include selecting appropriate practices, dealing with the abstract, changing student behavior, and humanizing instruction. (SK)

Discusses ways of identifying stress and its sources and then changing it by altering behavior patterns. Guidelines are provided for implementing a stress management program. (Author/MLF)

Four areas of procrastination discussed in this article are: (1) the perfection trap; (2) the need to avoid avoidance; (3) the completion trap; and (4) the failure to prioritize. Included are an explanation of each area, examples of reasons people put off tasks, and methods of coping with procrastination. (EM)

Discussed are the determinants of environmentally responsible behavior, the attitude-behavior discrepancy problem, how environmental attitudes are formed and changed, and the effects of individual differences on appropriateness of educational techniques. (CW)

Basic intervention strategies for dealing with client resistance include psychoanalytic, learning/behavioral, and hypnotic/paradoxical. Psychoanalytic theory views resistance as a way to avoid the anxiety aroused by increasing awareness of unconscious materials and vulnerable areas in the person's life. Resistance is dealt with after it has…

Calls cognitive behavior therapy useful tool for changing negative behaviors of children. Presents some guidelines for those wishing to use cognitive behavior therapy with children. Suggests that teachers and others who work with students act confident, be kind but tough, learn to have successful confrontations, use rewards to replace punishments,…

This article reports on the development and evaluation of an instructional module for teaching systematic desensitization. Physiological and self-report data reflecting changes in client fear levels were gathered in an attempt to determine whether the instructional module is effective. (Author)

Three problem areas are identified in mainstreaming gifted students: (1) teachers who feel that gifted children do not need differentiated opportunities; (2) teachers who do not address students' needs in subject areas in which they feel uncomfortable; and (3) insecure teachers who feel threatened by the confrontational nature of some gifted…

This booklet is about changing human behavior in everyday settings in the school and home. The approach to human behavior outlined is called "behavior analysis," which is based on that approach to psychology called the exerimental analysis of behavior. The ABC model of behavior is explained. In this model, the A refers to the "antecedent" that…

An overview is presented of systematic behavioral analysis as a method for modifying both social and cognitive behaviors through reinforcement. Various techniques are explained: response differentiation, shaping, chaining, fading, extinction, timeout, and response cost. (SJL)

Power, force, influence, and authority are motivational controls used by teachers to cause behavior changes in students. Examples of how these controls are used in educational settings are explored in this article. The use of authority is recommended as the control that effects the most meaningful behavior change. (DF)

Nonverbal and verbal techniques that teachers can use to manage surface behaviors are suggested, including planned ignoring, eye contact, facial expression, body posture, close proximity, touch control, limitation of space, redirection to another activity, ventilation, distraction, understanding and reassurance, modeling, humor, one-to-one…

An inservice course is outlined for elementary school teachers on behavior modification and open classrooms; results support the observation that inservice courses for teachers are a reasonably efficient, effective, and economical way to change teacher behavior. (MB)