Background: Positive behaviour support emphasises the impact of contextual variables to enhance participation, choice, and quality of life. This study evaluates a sequence for implementing changes to key contextual variables for 4 individuals. Interventions were maintained and data collection continued over a 3-year period. Method: Functional…

There have been longstanding debates in the scientific community regarding what qualifies as evidence for programs that work with challenging youth. There are also a variety of levels of evidence on a continuum from promising to proven. Aggression Replacement Training[R] has stood the test of time in terms of its scientific underpinning and…

Techniques used by five interns build upon establishment of a strong relationship with the client, client acknowledgement of responsibility for his behaviors, acceptance by counselor of himself, search for hidden client feelings, and reinforcement. (CJ)

This study reports on four possible feedback sequences to be used in groups. The acceptance and desirability of the feedback, as well as subjects' endorsement of group attractiveness, are compared for various feedback conditions. (Author)

Data were collected on rate per minute of administering token reinforcement for one male and six female teachers enrolled in a behavior modification course. Comparison of reinforcement rates for observer-present versus absent indicated significantly higher rates of token delivery in the observer-present condition. Implications of this fact are…

After describing a social learning formulation of the male alcoholic's marriage, this paper reviews the few studies of behavioral marital therapy (BMT) for alcoholics and their wives. Although none of these studies are as rigorous as one might wish and many of them are merely case studies, a review of the literature shows that behavioral marital…

Families were interviewed in their homes to examine their perceptions concerning an adolescent member's psychiatric hospitalization. (Author)

Subjects either punished incorrect or rewarded correct responses made by a confederate on a learning task. In three experiments subjects were, interrupted midway through the learning trials. Half were individuated and half were deindividuated; they were provided a "hot-line" to summon the experimenter. Found no reliable methods for inhibiting…

Describes the Marital Studies Program focusing on intervention modules and specific assessment procedures. Then looks at a specific case study and describes how therapeutic objectives for the couple are accommodated within the over-all system. Comments on this article are included at the end. (Author/EJT)

A discussion of the key to success in family therapy as found in the change in interpersonal behavior within the family. (JM)

Group leaders frequently encounter a reluctance among members to talk about their problems in the group. Simple well-known exercises can be used to elicit successive approximations of the desired group behavior. The leader then uses reinforcement and other techniques to strengthen, maintain, and generalize the behavior elicited by each exercise.…

Older Americans are suffering from both physical and social losses as they age. These losses are sometimes accompanied by the elderly person's entrance into a long-term care facility. Some researchers have suggested that such facilities fail to maintain the residents' independent behavior. Others contend that behavior is plastic and can be…

Reciprocity counseling is a rapid reinforcement-based procedure developed for teaching marriage partners how to increase their individual happiness within their marital relationship. The major obstacle to implementing reciprocity techniques is convincing the partners to engage in the procedures, even if they feel these procedures appear contrived…