Used self-report measurement procedures to examine the impact of an experimental alcohol course on junior high school students' attitudes, alcohol knowledge, and behaviors.Group outcome analysis indicated limited change; however, results were influenced by subject characteristics. Previous research and directions for future alcohol education…

Using William Blake's work, discusses the element of the ideal in the development of contemporary adolescents. Discusses a model of constructive change in which explicit future outcomes are used as a starting point to construct new skills needed for change. Describes a monitoring system to measure progress. (RC)

Tested the effectiveness of a skill-training method, Structured Learning Therapy (SLT), and identified variables that will promote transfer of training. Disruptive male adolescents (N=43) were assigned to three experimental and two control conditions. Found groups receiving the SLT performed significantly better than groups not receiving SLT.…

Describes a variety of ways the clinician can use the genogram, a structured method of taking a three-generational family history. Demonstrates using it as a quasiprojective technique which reveals unarticulated fears, wishes, and values of the individuals comprising the family unit. Offers practical suggestions for creating genograms. (Author/JAC)

Examined the effect of empathy training on empathy, self-exploration, and key attitudes in older people. Older people (N=28) were assigned to empathy training, discussion, or control groups. The training group improved significantly on three measures of empathy. The training group also showed significant gains in self-exploration but not in…

Treatment outcomes are distinguished as ultimate, instrumental, and intermediate in terms of the role that they play in the treatment process. These distinctions between outcomes are proposed to facilitate a more discriminating view of the treatment process and thus contribute to the design of evaluative studies. (Author)

Evaluated naturally occurring methods for self-controlling poor study behavior. Successful and unsuccessful subjects were interviewed and observed. The successful methods were evaluated in a controlled treatment study. The self-control techniques identified in the earlier steps received some further support in the last step. (Author)

Seeks to assist college counselors and administrative personnel in identifying problems related to homesickness. A cognitively oriented theoretical base is used. Recommendations are made regarding structures and procedures for greater student retention. (Author/JC)

Studied the process of child psychotherapy by means of analyses of client verbal behaviors. Analyses of variables demonstrated the nature of each client's verbal responding as well as their pattern of change. Summarized the overall verbal response behavior of each client best through the factor analyses. (Author)

Examined the relations among self-esteem, perceived competency to cope, and actual coping behaviors following a threat communication. Manipulated threat level of a tetanus communication and fear level of an antismoking film. Results indicated low-esteem subjects showed coping deficits in both experiments, with positive feedback reversing the…

Described a behavioral parent training program presented in a manner either congruent or incongruent with participant's locus of control orientation. Interactions between locus of control and presentation mode were formed for management skills and child behavior. Results indicated greater positive attitudinal changes were realized by parents in…

A preview of statistical data from previous studies determined the benefits of positive reinforcement on learning in students from kindergarten through college. Results indicate that differences between reinforced and control groups are greater for girls and for students from special schools and that reinforcement appears to have a strong effect…

Presents an activity in which participants identify organizational situations in which they have tried to influence others and write brief essays discussing the dynamics. Working in pairs they score each other's essays with a form that includes an analysis of the tactics. Provides suggestions for using this design. (Author/RC)

Investigated changes in pronominal usage of students in a classroom situation where attention to usage was heightened by instructor use of "she" as the generic singular and by instructor assessment of reactions to the practice. Results indicate that pronominal usage is susceptible to change. (Author/JAC)

Argues that theorists have ignored insights of family therapists such as Bateson, Boszormenyi-Nagy and Spark, Satir, and Watzlawick and Weakland. Family therapy provides unique insights into the nature of intimacy. Existing case material adds to descriptions of intimate relations. Examples of how systems theorists could look at intimacy supplement…