There is increasing evidence that Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an effective, and often superior, method to teach children with Autism Spectrum Disorders ASD), than other methods. The Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center of Rutgers University (DDDC) has been using ABA for more than thirty years to teach toddlers, young children,…

Wilderness Therapy Programs have recently become a formal alternative treatment for adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (Hinkle, 1999; Russell & Hendee, 1999; Russell, Hendee, & Phillips-Miller, 2000; Russell, 2003a, 2003b). Adolescent populations are unique in that traditional forms of psychotherapy, including "talk-therapies,"…

Errorless compliance training is a noncoercive, success-focused approach to treatment of problem behavior in children. The intervention involves graduated exposure of a child to increasingly more challenging requests at a slow enough rate to ensure that noncompliance rarely occurs, providing parents with many opportunities to reinforce cooperative…

To investigate dropout from parenting programs for disruptive behavior disorders, we followed 18 clients prospectively from the beginning of a manualized treatment program to three month follow-up. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we then compared those who dropped out of the program with those who completed it. We found that in…

The "Behavior Education Program" (BEP; Crone et al., 2004) is a modified check-in, check-out intervention implemented with students who are at risk for more severe problem behaviors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the BEP on problem behavior with 12 elementary school students. Results indicated that the BEP was…

Best practice in preventing severe problem behavior in schools involves implementing a continuum of effective behavior support. This continuum includes primary prevention strategies implemented with all students, secondary prevention strategies for students at-risk, and tertiary interventions for students who engage in the most severe problem…

Previous studies have shown that the use of behavior modification techniques, specifically the use of token reinforcement systems, can produce positive changes in the behavior of heroin addicts within a hospital setting. A token economy program was assessed to determine the effectiveness of such a program with patients in an outpatient methadone…

Assessed a cognitive-behavioral program with a goal of either abstinence (AB) or controlled drinking (CD) with early-stage problem drinkers (N=70). Results of a two-year follow up indicated that most CD clients achieved moderation of alcohol use and that most AB clients failed to abstain but nonetheless moderated their drinking. (LLL)

The authors suggest ways to establish quality behavioral programs within a hospital for the mentally ill. They emphasize the importance of staff morale, consistency of effort, teamwork, staff training and reinforcement. Procedures said to be responsible for successful maintenance include a flexible credit economy system. (Author/CL)

This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of the "Fear and Loathing of Speaking Out in Public" program. The program, a personal initiative, adapts primary features of the treatment offered by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for clients suffering from fears and phobias. CBT strategies include progressive desensitization, identifying…

This is an investigation of the impact that a volunteer-based violence prevention program is having in a large urban school district located in the Midwest. The program addresses behavioral and violence prevention issues in the school setting with the hopes of reducing the factors that might put a student at-risk for school failure. The long-term…

Used monetary contracts to evaluate artificial incentives in weight reduction. Overweight men (N=89) were assigned to weight reduction treatment groups which varied by amount of deposit and type of contract. Results showed group contracts produced more weight loss than individual contracts. Amount of deposit was only weakly related to outcomes.…

Annual controlled outcome results revealed that the program led to significant and consistent reductions in expulsions, suspensions, and grade failure, and variable, often significant, gains in attendance and achievement. (Author)

Obese persons about to enter a group program intended to produce "conditioned satiety" were asked to estimate their weight loss. Their outcome expectation correlated significantly with weight loss recorded seven weeks later. However, the magnitude of expected weight loss exceeded the actual amount of weight lost. (Author)

Smokers were assigned to a smoking abstinence program, a smoking abstinence program plus social support, a smoking abstinence program plus social support and paraprofessional training, or a control group. Results revealed incremental improvement in treatment outcome due to social support and paraprofessional training manipulations. (Author/BEF)