This report discusses an ego-oriented therapeutic approach developed for the fragile patient who needs to learn how to deal with the anxiety that feeds into a drug addiction problem. Through controlled thought and perception, he is helped to channel his anxiety into growth by employing the perceptual senses to redirect energy away from the need to…

This manual describes an assertive training group model which is an integration of current theories on assertiveness, facilitator experience and client feedback. Assertive training is defined as the facilitation of a set of skills designed to improve an individual's appropriate expression of his feelings, maintenance of personal rights and meeting…

A partial replication of an investigation of the effect of covert reinforcement on a perceptual estimation task is described. The study was extended to include an extinction phase. There were five treatment groups: covert reinforcement, neutral scene reinforcement, noncontingent covert reinforcement, and two control groups. Each subject estimated…

The process of assertive training is described with emphasis placed on its applicability to problems in female assertiveness. Male and female members of four assertive training groups were compared on the Wolpe-Lazarus assertive inventory. Male members obtained a significantly lower score than female members i.e., men reported themselves as…

The Department of Social Services has designed a systems model to integrate the services provided for the child by the foster home, school, and community agencies so that each child in its charge can gain the skills necessary to develop the motivation and emotional maturity for self-direction and self-discipline. Multilevel reinforcers are used by…

The Reinforced Readiness Requisites (RRR) program was developed to provide Mexican-American, Indian, and Black children with the necessary motivation for learning. Comprised of a three-stage behavior modification strategy to improve substandard academic performance, RRR utilizes tangible rewards with the additional components of token and…

Several of the theoretical and experimental assumptions relating to behavior modification are examined and criticized: (1) the human mind can only be understood by observing and measuring the functional behavior it causes, (2) performance can be equated with learning, (3) reward systems and token economies improve intrinsic learning, and (4) all…

This study demonstrated reinforcement control over pronounced feminine behaviors in a male child. The clinical history of S paralleled the retrospective reports of adult transsexuals, including (a) cross-gender clothing preferences, (b) actual or imaginal use of cosmetic articles, (c) feminine behavior mannerisms, (d) aversion to masculine…

The Work Group on Behavior Modification in Education, which issued this report, was authorized by Secretary Elliot Richardson on November 21, 1970. The body of this report includes an analysis of the benefits of behavior modification techniques in education, examples of their successful application with a variety of large student populations, an…

Six papers consider various aspects of the education and treatment of emotionally disturbed children. B.S. Parsonson examines the rationale and efficacy of the application of learning theory principles to the modification of deviant behavior. The need for family therapy is discussed by J.E. Ritchie, who focuses upon the environmental causes and…

Review of a case study of a 4-year-old girl who assumed the role of a retardate reveals that the girl probably suffered multiple congenital impairments of a minor character that affected the central nervous system and the structures governing social behavior and maturation. The stated basis for pseudo-retardation is the person's ability to…

Eight papers report on the project at Austin State School, funded by a Hospital Improvement (HIP) grant, which used a multidisciplinary team to implement socialization programs for institutionalized mildly retarded persons exhibiting socially inept behavior. Two papers consider social rehabilitation and the task of trying to move residents out…

Some fundamental characteristics and trends of the approach to teaching employed in functional literacy projects for adults are described, and avenues for study and research are suggested. The Experimental World Literacy Programme educational activities show two major methodological trends: an "ecological" trend and an "industrial" trend. The…

Written in the form of programmed instruction, this book is designed to help parents and teachers understand and correct situations in which a child's behavior is distressing. The book utilizes the social learning approach (that people learn most behavior patterns from other people). The first section discusses how parents and children learn and…

Seven articles treat the establishment of operant conditioning programs for the mentally retarded at Pacific State Hospital in California. Emphasis is on the administrative rather than the demonstration of research aspects of operant conditioning programs. Following an introduction and overview, the medical director's point of view on operant…