A device used to prevent drivers from falling asleep dramatically reduced stereotypic rocking in a 21-year-old blind student in a residential school. His rocking had been a chief obstacle to employment and acceptance into mainstream society. Follow-up data indicated maintenance of the low level of rocking and positive social changes. (Author/VW)

Discusses how chronometric measures such as the DART (Display And Response Timing) computer program, have become virtually indispensable in testing cognitive theories of human social behavior. Describes how the DART (1) provides a way to collect response latency data; and (2) allows measurement of response latencies to a set of user-specified,…

Examines how account episodes are organized as a communicative practice. Finds that account episodes involve minimally a three-part sequence: problematic event, accounts, and evaluation. Indicates that accounts may be seen as a local solution to the problem based on a person's practical reasoning to prevent the loss of face. (JD)

Factor analyzed systematic observations of child behaviors in 78 child-parent dyads in Mexican families. Results suggest that across different cultures, individual child behaviors cluster into similar dimensions, but bipolar dimensional arrangements of these clusters previously found may have been determined more by methodologies than cultural…

Presents two studies that replicated and extended J. K. Burgoon and R. C. Koper's research by examining nonverbal behavior patterns, relational message interpretations, and credibility evaluations associated with communication reticence. Challenges the traditional view that reticence produces pronounced performance decrements and discusses…

This study measures inmates' perceptions of conditions in a metropolitan detention center. Results indicate that educational programs can reduce the problems associated with crowded conditions. Correlation analyses indicated significant relationships between participation in educational programs and more positive feelings of inmates, along with a…

Results of synthesis of 1007 studies on the nature of learning disabilities using indicators in the linguistic, achievement, neuropsychological, and social-behavioral domains, indicated that 75% of learning disabled Ss could be differentiated from normal Ss but only 40% of the variance could be explained. Findings suggest the need for a…

Review of 20 studies comparing relative efficacy of individual and group contingencies found the former to be generally superior when academic performance was the targeted behavior. In contrast, no consistent differential effect was found when students' social response was the targeted behavior, yet increased verbal threats were reported during…

Examines the social behavior of 34 preschool children, observed both at home and in preschool, to determine patterning interactions among siblings and consistency in children's interactions with siblings and peers. Concludes that children's behavior at home is most affected by relative age of their siblings. (HOD)

Describes the effects of an alcohol education program for 155 ninth-grade students. Results indicated that the experimental group scored significantly more favorably on knowledge, refuting arguments, compliance and riding with drinking drivers. Scores of the experimental group continued to be significantly more favorable six months later. (JAC)

Studied two community-based aftercare programs for relocated elderly mental patients focusing on processes utilized to attain resocialization goals of enhanced social response, reduced confinement, and reduced dependency. Rough measures of process effectiveness used include social noise, social integration, being in the community, and disjunctions…

The social impact of assertive versus nonassertive behavior in fourth- and fifth-grade boys was investigated. Subjects viewed and evaluated eight videotaped scenes of different ten-year-old male models responding assertively or nonassertively to given situations. Results suggest that assertive behavior is valued by elementary school boys. (RDN)

Social skills training programs offer an effective means of controlling behavior problems in the classroom. Modeling, role-playing, reinforcement, and transfer of training are suggested methods for inducing behavioral change. Several programs to help students control negative behavior are discussed. (DF)

Utilizing social judgment theory, a method for eliciting opinions about the relative importance of multiple objectives, a model was developed to evaluate the performance of public agencies and programs. The model was then applied to the problem of establishing relative weights for six performance dimensions for a public agency. (Author/EGS)

The choice between genetic and environmental explanations is most properly based on "jointly genetic/environmental designs," which control for both genetic and environmental differences in a behavior genetic framework. (Author/GC)