In psychotherapy, effectiveness of an experimental treatment often is compared to care as usual. However, little if any attention has been paid to the heterogeneity of care as usual. The authors examined the effectiveness of manualized behavior therapy on school-aged disruptive behavior disordered (DBD) children in everyday clinical practice. A…

The present paper comments on and extends the citation analysis of verbal operant publications based on Skinner's "Verbal Behavior" (1957) by Dymond, O'Hora, Whelan, and O'Donovan (2006). Variations in population parameters were evaluated for only those studies that Dymond et al. categorized as empirical. Preliminary results indicate that the…

The conceptual basis for many effective language-training programs are based on Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior. Skinner described several elementary verbal operants including mands, tacts, intraverbals, and echoics. According to Skinner, responses that are the same topography may actually be functionally independent. Previous…

This curriculum guide contains 18 units of instruction for a competency-based course in residential and light commercial heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC). Introductory materials include a competency profile and an instructional/task analysis that correlates job training with related information for this course. Each instructional…

FOCUSED HISTORICALLY AND CHOSEN TO STIMULATE RESEARCH IN PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF ASTHMA, THE COLLECTION CONTAINS 18 PAPERS BY DIFFERENT AUTHORS. AREAS OF PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE COVERED ARE (1) PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH (ONE ARTICLE), (2) HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS, THEORETICAL MODELS, AND CORE PROBLEMS (THREE ARTICLES), AND (3) THE HYPOTHESIS,…

Psychologists, social workers, and school counselors are increasingly adding neurofeedback (NFT), a controversial alternative or complementary therapy to their treatment plans for patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. NFT involves training the patient in self-regulation of brain wave patterns, employing a standard diagnostic…

The present study explored a method of altering the reinforcing properties of the verbal event good in chronic, process, nonparanoid schizophrenics. When good was repeatedly paired with the termination of censure in the reaction time task, it became an effective reinforcer on a subsequent verbal conditioning task. (Author)

Two experiments designed to modify kindergarteners' pro-Euro-American and anti-Afro-American bias are reported. After an operant learning procedure, 30 Euro- and Afro-American kindergarteners showed reduced bias on a test not associated with the training. A curriculum promoting positive associations to dark-skinned persons had effect on 70…

The study showed that the experimental subjects made more correct responses, rated sessions positively, manifested a greater number of desired study behaviors, and increased their rate of responding and study behaviors, than the control subjects. (Author/BP)

This study attempts to show that information about one aspect of test rationale affects performance in a predictable manner. (Author/DEP)

A comparison was made between the traditional counterconditioning paradigm and a self-control paradigm of systematic desensitization. College students reporting high test anxiety and indicating interest in receiving treatment were assigned to counterconditioning, self-control, or wait-list control conditions. As predicted, self-control procedures…

Studies the effectiveness of therapeutic modeling using dissimilar or similar models. Pre- and post-measures of fear were taken on behavioral and attitude dimensions. Behaviorally, model similarity in level of fear was unimportant, while similarity in age was. More similar models on either variable produced greater change in attitudes. (Author/SJL)

Three experiments investigating variables related to the assessment and therapeutic functions of self-recording are reported. Monetary reinforcement and subject motivation were variables that enhanced the accuracy of self-monitoring. Varying levels of feedback did not differentially affect accuracy. The implications of the findings are discussed.…

This study examines the modification of smoking behavior resulting from smoking on command of a tape-recorded message. Neither paced groups nor the self-paced control group significantly differed in reductions in smoking at six-month follow-up. Cognitive dissonance is suggested in explanation of initial smoking reductions for self-paced subjects.…

Degree of transfer and fear change associated with four levels of desensitization, pseudodesensitization, and no treatment were assessed in snakephobic students. Desensitization subjects reported significantly less anxiety than no-treatment controls when repeating their highest pretreatment responses, but were no different from either control…