"A dialogue ensues between an advocate of traditional psychoanalytic psychotherapy and a proponent of some newer therapeutic modalities. The two speakers raise issues concerning the nature of the relationship between patient and therapist; the techniques employed; the role of abreaction; the importance of diagnosis; and the place of thought and…

Explains the need for attention to library environment in terms of conservation, disaster planning, and external environmental factors. Discusses measures adopted at the University of the West Indies Trinidad related to operation and maintenance of buildings and physical plant, describes a workplace evaluation project, and examines factors…

A study of the acquisition of mands (requests) and tacts (labels) relating to food and eating utensils in three individuals with severe mental retardation revealed that responses acquired as tacts did not readily occur as mands, but spontaneous manding was developed through a stimulus control transfer procedure. (MSE)

This review focuses on correspondence training procedures, in which a subject makes statements about intended positive behavior and the statements are reinforced. The paper examines early research, generalization, maintenance, application to mentally retarded individuals, and the concept of self-control. (Author/JDD)

Describes a classroom demonstration using differential reinforcement to shape student participation in a small psychology laboratory. Concludes that the technique was useful for illustrating how reinforcers shape behavior. Suggests that the demonstration facilitated understanding of operant conditioning procedures and encouraged more equitable…

A parent-conducted program of verbal response-contingent stimulation was effectively used to reduce stuttering to near zero levels in 12 children (younger than age 5). Treatments were completed in a median of 10.5 1-hour clinic sessions and 84.5 days. (Author/DB)

Explains how a well-designed heating and air conditioning system with good facility maintenance can prevent most indoor air quality problems in schools. Stresses attention to issues of leak prevention and sanitation. (GR)

Illustrates how Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax), by upgrading the control and monitoring of one building or section of the school at a time, could produce savings in energy and operating costs and improve the environment. Explains a gradual, "building block" approach to facility automation that provides flexibility without a…

This study assessed antecedents of severe problem behaviors of 92 adults with intellectual disability using a checklist comprising 19 scales of antecedent events scored for likelihood of preceding problem behaviors. Data analysis with clients with conduct behavior problems, emotional behavior problems, and both conduct and emotional behavior…

A study found verbal reprimands, delivered contingent upon eating prohibited foods, were sufficient to decease the food stealing of a girl (age 14) with Prader-Willi syndrome. Warning stimuli were then successfully used to help her discriminate between permitted/prohibited foods during sessions in which food stealing was not directly observed.…

Psychology instructors and textbook authors rate operant conditioning as one of the most essential concepts for students to learn, yet textbook writers, as well as students, can fall prey to misconceptions. This study is a content analysis of the presentation of operant conditioning in introductory psychology textbooks and their companion Web…

This study examined developmental changes in concept formation, rule switching, and perseverative behaviors of children in the WCST by altering visual features of the test and using a new test score--the "zigzag" error score--which shows the number of shifts made between two incorrect concepts or rules. Instead of the original four 3-dimensional…

A series of experiments introduced interruptions to the execution phase of simple Tower of London problems and found that the opportunity for preparation before the break in task reduced the time cost at resumption. Retrieval of the suspended goal was facilitated when participants were given the opportunity to encode retrieval cues during an…

Background: The selective attention of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) to briefly exposed delay-related cues was examined in two experiments using a dot-probe conditioning paradigm. Method: Colour cues were paired with negatively (i.e., imposition of delay) and positively valenced cues (i.e., escape from or avoidance…

When a visual target is identified, there is a period of several hundred milliseconds when the processing of subsequent targets is impaired, a phenomenon labeled the attentional blink (AB). The emerging consensus is that the identification of a visual target temporarily occupies a limited attentional resource that is essential for all visual…