The purpose of this article is to bring together the work of Jurgen Ruesch, Gregory Bateson, Paul Watzlawick, and Jay Haley in order to reveal their combined contribution to a systemic understanding of communicative behavior. Emphasis is upon the interactional and circular pattern of human communication, rather than on the linear, or cause/effect,…

An active five-session, individualized treatment approach to the stopping of smoking is described. This approach emphasized the following: (a) the feedback, in and out of hypnosis, of the client's own reasons for quitting, (b) the visualization of both positive and negative smoking experiences meaningful to the client, (c) maintaining contact with…

This paper reviews case reports of parents as behavior therapists for their children. The studies are summarized by presenting problems; the subject's age, sex and birth order; and modification technique, number of sessions, setting, outcome, and followup, and in particular, erroneously identifying the child's behavior rather than the parental…

The thesis presented in this paper is that elementary counselors can become the most important behavioral change agents in the school. The following discussion will support this proposition. First, certain aspects of behavior modification will be discussed. Second, trends in elementary school counseling will be reviewed and finally, a synthesis…

From 300 introductory psychology students, 40 female "snake phobics" were selected to test the hypothesis that distraction paired with fearful imagery is effective in alleviating the "phobia." Subjects were divided into three treatment groups and a control group: H+PI (fear hierarchy plus pleasant imagery as distraction), H+P…

Article provided a summary of three effective techniques for developing better classroom discipline. (Author/RK)

The article describes a program which decreased waste of food by giving elementary school children tokens good for special activities if they finished their lunches. (CD)

The Marcus School staff feels that the best approach to discipline is a preventive one--the provision of a variety of educational and environmental alternatives that will interest, challenge, and motivate the pupil. (Author)

Two studies investigated the hypothesis that noncontingent interviewer "mm-hmms" facilitate interviewee verbal productivity. Within- and between-subjects comparisons failed to support the hypothesis, although interviewees' ratings indicate that the mm-hmms were perceived as the social reinforcers they were intended to be. (Author)

Significant reduction of seizures in an 11-year-old girl was achieved through a contingency management program implemented by her classroom teacher. The program was designed to shift the focus from her actual seizures to her seizure-free time periods. Seizures diminished over the total treatment period. (Author)

The present study examined the efficacy of rational-emotive psychotherapy and systematic desensitization in the treatment of stuttering. Both therapies, making extensive use of in vivo behavioral assignments, were examined under the presence and absence of in vivo tasks. Results show that rational-emotive therapy was more effective in reducing…

The present study examined indirect effects of modifying appropriate classroom behavior by itself and academic performance by itself. Results show reinforcing appropriate behavior increased that behavior but produced little improvement in arithmetic performance. However, reinforcing arithmetic performance increased correct work and resulted in a…

The present study investigated effects of a token program for one child on the attending behavior of other children sitting near him. Results show the rewarded child's attending increased in the reinforcement conditions and the unrewarded children's attending increased when they were sitting on either side of the rewarded child. (Author)