Adolescent risky behaviors are often interpreted as products of self-control failures stemming from a developmental mismatch between reward processing and cognitive control systems. However, adolescents -- much like adults -- may also engage in risky behaviors because of conscious and deliberate (even if objectively poor) decisions. It is not easy…

The study assessed whether 4 students (ages 9-13) with severe autistic disabilities could learn to use a self-management treatment package to reduce stereotypic behavior. Use of the procedures greatly reduced levels of stereotypic behavior. Improvement also occurred for extended periods of time in new settings without the presence of a treatment…

Self-reinforcement through positive or aversive covert imagery was studied in obesity treatment. Subjects were randomly assigned to no-imagery, self-punishment followed by self-reward, and self-reward followed by self-punishment conditions. Neither order nor kind of reinforcement made any difference. Both reinforcement groups were superior to…

The issue presents two articles on emotionally disabled children. The first, "Self-Control Strategies for Emotionally Disabled Students" by Landis Fick, offers some alternatives to traditional externally managed behavior modification techniques, and defines the teacher's role in a program oriented toward developing self control. The…

Describes the extinction of demanding behaviors of a nine-year-old boy by placing responsibility for behavioral reinforcement directly under his own control. The therapist assumed that the behavioral pattern of the paranoid personality is characterized by an overdependence upon environmental reinforcers and therefore used the self-management…

A self-evaluation program was implemented at home with a disruptive boy (five years, 11 months old). The self-evaluation procedures typically resulted in increased compliant behavior and decreased inappropriate verbal behavior, although the effects generally weakened with time. (Author/SEW)