Research Findings: The present study aimed to investigate whether the trial-to-trial intraindividual reaction time variability (IIV), which reflects prefrontal cortex activity related to attentional and cognitive control, mediated the longitudinal effects of earlier harsh discipline on children's later externalizing problems. The study involved…

Students' misbehaviors at younger ages can lead to more significant issues at the high school level such as dropping out, drug and alcohol abuse, and incarceration. The purpose of this study was to examine high school students' perceptions of positive reinforcement and punishment practices in their high school's behavior system. Two specific…

Research has suggested that students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds (e.g., students of color and those with disabilities) have received higher rates of exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) than their peers who are White and without disability. Various interventions have been implemented to address this…

Racial disproportionality in school discipline is a major U.S. educational problem. Official data show that Black boys are disciplined at the highest rates of any racial and gender subgroup. Scholars suggest the "criminal" Black male image shapes teachers' views and treatment of their Black male students. Yet few studies examine the…

Time-out is a negative punishment procedure that parents and teachers commonly use to reduce problem behavior; however, specific time-out parameters have not been evaluated adequately. One parameter that has received relatively little attention in the literature is the mode of administration (verbal or physical) of time-out. In this study, we…

A survey of a convenience (nonrandom) sample of parents and guardians of children with disabilities was undertaken to document the use of restraints, seclusion, and aversive procedures. A 23-item questionnaire was presented to participants using SurveyMonkey, a Web-based program. Participants were informed of the survey by different advocacy…

Many authors recommend various praise to reprimand ratios for teachers to use to manage their classrooms (e.g., Flora, 2000; Nafpaktitis, Mayer, & Butterworth, 1985; Wheldall, 2005); however, these recommendations are based on correlational data or secondary findings from studies not directly manipulating the praise to reprimand ratio. The…

The present study evaluates the effectiveness of two time-out (TO) procedures in reducing escape-maintained noncompliance of 4 children. Noncompliant behavioral function was established via a functional assessment (FA), including indirect and direct descriptive procedures and brief confirmatory experimental analyses. Following FA, parents were…

Discusses the use of a behavioral discipline approach--Time Out Procedure--along with other techniques for handling inappropriate classroom behavior. (FL)

Offers an account of firsthand experiences with children from the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. Details how the children, who were taken to a Methodist Children's Home following release from the Davidian Compound, exhibited evidence of martial training, severe physical punishment, and sexual abuse. Narrates the children's rapid…

Argues that the one portion of behavior modification that educators least understand is negative reinforcement. Discusses the advantages of this technique. (FL)

Outlines the history of punishment, focusing on the European tradition of obedience versus respect. Discusses reformers in child rearing, such as Maria Montessori, Karl Wilker, and Janusz Korczak, and looks at punishment and thinking errors in angry kids and in angry adults. Supplies a synopsis for conditions leading to effective punishment. (RJM)

This study investigated the therapeutic feasibility of self-administered punishment of imagined behavior. With heavy-smoking males, the imagined-smoking treatment was the only highly effective therapy. It was significantly more effective than the placebo or actual-smoking treatments, and it replicated. (Author)

Reports on interventions with gangs of youth in Northern Ireland beyond the control of authorities. Recounts how physical abuse or banishment have proven ineffective in curtailing delinquency and offers a case study to exemplify this point. Details the powerlessness of punishment, advocating high expectations and communication over coercion. (RJM)

Arguments for and against corporal punishment are set against a backdrop of overriding public concern about school discipline. In every year since 1969, the Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll has ranked lack of discipline as one of the top two problems in public schools. This report furnishes a historical perspective for corporal punishment, explains…