BEHAVIOR THEORY CAN FORTIFY SOCIAL CASEWORK BY PROVIDING PRACTICAL LINKS BETWEEN THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE CLIENT IN DISTRESS, THE DELINEATION OF CLINICAL GOALS, THE FORMULATION OF PLANS OF INTERVENTION, AND THE MEASUREMENT OF OUTCOME. THESE BASIC ASSUMPTIONS IN THE BEHAVIORAL APPROACH ARE IMPLICIT IN THE STRUCTURE TREATMENT--(1) ALL SOCIAL…

THE PRACTICE OF SOCIO-BEHAVIORAL THEORY CONSISTS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIO-BEHAVIORAL KNOWLEDGE (SBK) IN PROBLEMS INVOLVING THE CHANGE, STABILIZATION, OR CONTROL OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR, AND OF THE BEHAVIORAL SPECIFICATION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE HELPER. THE NATURE OF SBK IS DESCRIBED, AND INDIVIDUAL, GROUP, ORGANIZATIONAL, AND COMMUNAL MEANS OF…

The effects of stimulation and language training on the intellectual acceleration of seven normal and Down's Syndrome infants were studied. Intervention consisted of the operant conditioning of linguistic, social, self-help, and motor skills, and the training of parents in child management and child development topics. Among other things, it was…

This conference report consists of two presented papers and a selected bibliography. The paper by Joan Gussow, "Behavioral Management and Educational Goals," is concerned with operant conditioning as a theory of learning and an instructional method. Basing their methods on the work of B.F. Skinner, educators who are proponents of this…

This review of literature in linguistics and the psychology of language focuses on studies produced from 1961 through 1963. Such topics as language development, generative grammar, semantics, and the role of linguistics in the teaching of reading are covered, and much attention is given to the areas of verbal learning and the psychology of…

The author describes strategies and models (individualized instruction, diagnostic and prescriptive teaching, and behavior modification) which she suggests could result in improved special education services for exceptional children, especially Black and poor students. (CL)

A program was designed to train college students in the use of behavior modification procedures with problem children in the classroom. Through application of social learning theory principles and operant conditioning, program trainees learned to reduce the innapropriate behavior of problem children in class, to prevent small difficulties from…

In order to determine whether or not systematic desensitization or hypnosis have any effect in alleviating the test anxiety of community college students, 30 Massasoit Community College student volunteers were matched for GPA and assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) a systematic desensitization group, in which subjects listened to tape…

Compared was the effectiveness of punishment and positive reinforcement on the nonattending behaviors and academic achievement of 18 elementary grade children in two special classes for children with social or adjustment problems. During the positive reinforcement condition each student earned a slash mark whenever he was observed attending to…

Planning, funding and operating anti-poverty programs require skilled community organizers. Training organizers deals with problems of how to motivate others and what tactics should be used when difficulty is encountered. Two approaches to these problems determined by images of 20th Century Man have been employed: (1) rational economic man who…

Outlined are plans for a 9-month elementary school-wide program of token reinforcement for the trainable mentally retarded (TMR), which is said to allow for later additional components. Program focus is to be application of reinforcement to TMR academic work. All children will take the Metropolitan Readiness Test in pretest and posttest design for…

Rules were established, improved behavior was rewarded, and undesirable behavior was ignored to change disruptive classroom behavior of 25 slow learning 10-year-olds and 13 controls in a classroom setting. Experimental teachers were instructed in application of behavior modification principles. Burk's Behaviour Rating Scale (included) was used to…

The problem of measuring attitudes in preschool children is discussed. The general rationale employed is closely related to that of the semantic differential (SD). Research employing the SD with older children and adults has demonstrated that the primary dimension of affective meaning is that of evaluation. It has also been shown that evaluation…

Five profoundly retarded males (6 to 9 years old) with clinical manifestations of autism were used to evaluate the use of operant conditioning techniques to toilet train children in an autism ward of a hospital for developmentally disturbed children. (Author/SBH)