The assumption that therapeutic or homework directives enhance therapy has received little research attention. To explore compliance with homework directives in a behavioral self-control treatment of weight loss, the comparative importance of social support (S), support plus directives with no rationale (SD), support plus directives with rationale…

The monograph on severe behavior disorders of children and youth presents 23 papers on juvenile delinquency, behavior disorders at the secondary level, and self control instruction. Some of the papers included are: "A Comparison of Varied Teacher-to-Child Ratio on the Adaptive and Attending Behaviors of Two Autistic Children" (M. Zener,…

Rotter's social learning theory was used as a basis for studying the effects of locus of control on the frequency of the responses of undesirable behaviors. Subjects, 12 fifth graders who had operant levels higher than desirable were monitored by either themselves, a peer, or by no agent for a period of eight weeks. Classes of behaviors…

Psychological training programs developed and implemented for gymnasts of a wide range of age and varying ability levels are examined. The programs utilized strategies based on cognitive-behavioral intervention. The approach contends that mental training plays a crucial role in maximizing performance for most gymnasts. The object of the training…

Intended for those who want to reduce disruptive behavior in elementary and secondary schools, this book argues that children must be held responsible for their actions and prefers self-discipline to imposed discipline that evaporates when authority is absent. Schools need to take greater initiative in teaching students responsibility and giving…

This review of the literature on self-speech, a subset of a communicative speech (speech not intended for nor effectively adapted for communication with others), focuses on the concept of self-control through language. The theories of six major researchers in the area of self-speech--J. Piaget, L. Vygotsky, A. Luria, H. Reese, J. Flavell, and L.…

Although the augmental value of exercise to behavioral weight control programs has been suggested, demonstration of this value is dependent upon an assessment of adherence to change in eating habits and activity patterns. Self-report measures of adherence were obtained from overweight college women undergoing treatment that involved either dietary…

The classroom test performance of three groups, self-monitoring (SM), a combination of self-monitoring, self-reinforcement and self-punishment (SM+C), and controls, were compared in independent replications in a chemistry (n=149) and a calculus (n=80) class. In chemistry, but not calculus, the experimental subjects outperformed controls. It was…

This paper describes a program of research into children's understanding of psychological principles underlying social behavior. An initial study had indicated that at about 10 years of age children knew many of the basic principles of social behavior and the rules for social control. Two strategies were developed to explore these findings in…

An objective index of degree of parental agreement was generated by comparing the independent responses of 83 parental dyads to a set of Q-sort items referencing child-rearing values and orientations. This index was found to significantly predict subsequent continuation or termination of the marriage and to relate to independently-described…

The Madison (Minneapolis, MN) school program provides intensive instructional and treatment services to students 12 to 16 years old with serious emotional and behavioral problems. The primary goal of the program is to aid individual students to develop sufficient coping skills and self based behavioral controls so they can successfully return to…

A brief overview describes a study in which high school students were taught to deal effectively with "critical incidents" in a pre-parenting program. The program described involved pretest; training in anger control, alternative responses to stress, and appropriate responses to behaviors; and posttesting. The study found students could be taught…

Two experiments were implemented in which hyperactive children were exposed to models of their own age level. It was hypothesized that modeling treatments designed to demonstrate reflective problem-solving strategies would improve the problem-solving ability of both normal and hyperactive children, and that, concomicantly, children's ability to…

Since its appearance in 1974, the Snyder Self-Monitoring Scale has been employed in research dealing with self-presentation, attribution, and attitude expression. The Scale was developed to measure the degree to which people are concerned with the social appropriateness of their behavior, are aware of relevant social cues, and regulate their…

Compared were two samples of 173 and 95 aggressive and normal 5- to 8-year-old boys on measures of verbal and cognitive development. Aggressive boys were significantly lower than normal boys on nonverbal tests but not on verbal tests. The pattern of test performance which distinguished aggressive and normal was consistent with the hypothesis that…