Tested efficacy of behavior therapy for obesity and duration of treatment. Assigned obese clients (N=48) to either 20 or 40 weekly sessions with identical program content; treatment procedures were introduced more gradually in extended treatment. Both groups showed equivalent weight loss at week 20; extended treatment produced significantly…

Analyzed follow-up data for drug abuse treatment study of residential drug treatment program clients (N=89) enrolled in control group or behavior skills training group. Found training group had higher skills than control group 12 months after training. Found, with exceptions of marijuana and amphetamine use, that skill training did not affect…

This study evaluates parental use of differential reinforcement of other and/or incompatible behavior to treat high-rate disruptive behavior in a severely retarded four-year-old boy. A withdrawal experimental design was used. Intervention effectively reduced instances of toy chewing and throwing, while appropriate toy play and ability to remain…

The paper argues that behavioral research with children might have more impact if experimenters paid more attention to assessment of long term maintenance effects, dissemination, and social validity of behavioral programs. Selected illustrative studies from the child behavior modification literature are reviewed and suggestions offered. (DB)

Reports on a movement conducted by social workers to decrease the infection of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome by changing human behavior through public education. Stresses that the focus is to draw attention to behavior modification. (RT)

An alternating treatments design was used to compare gentle teaching, visual screening, and a task-training condition in the reduction of high-level stereotypy of three persons (aged 7, 21, and 28) with mental retardation. Visual screening produced the greatest and most consistent decrease, while gentle teaching was found to have limited…

Results are reported from a study in which Cognitive Behavior Modification (CBM) was used successfully to modify the behavior of students (N=55) with mild behavior problems. This method teaches individuals to reinforce or rebuke themselves for their own behavior. Also outlined are steps in implementing a CBM program. (IAH)

There are strong theoretical and empirical rationales for believing that psychological processes are integral to the maintenance of smoking behavior. A comprehensive treatment program for chronic cigarette smokers must have, at its foundation, interventions addressing the psychological processes that maintain smoking. The article examines the…

This study, involving a man having profound mental retardation and demonstrating severe self-injurious behavior, found that a Therapeutic Shock Device (TSD) worn by the client and remotely operated was more effective than a previously used handheld shock stick, and it did not cause tissue damage. The client did not appear to find the TSD aversive.…

This paper identifies critical components of recent organizational quality improvement programs and specifies how applied behavior analysis can contribute to quality technology. Statistical Process Control and Total Quality Management approaches are compared, and behavior analysts are urged to build their research base and market behavior change…

This commentary on EC 605 189 discusses assumptions of gentle teaching, its use of supportive behavioral techniques, and criticisms of gentle teaching. The paper concludes that gentle teaching is distinct from applied behavior analysis (ABA) in its unconditional valuing and focus on mutual change and is congruent with ABA in use of several…

This paper describes a project of Communidad Los Horcones (Mexico), dealing with alternatives to contrived or artificial reinforcement. The paper proposes the use of natural reinforcement, which can be individualized and received without the mediation of another person and which contributes to making the natural consequences of behavior…

This commentary on EC 603 646, a paper describing a natural reinforcement project of Communidad Los Horcones (Mexico), argues that natural reinforcement is best when the learning objective produces a natural reinforcer and when the natural reinforcer is more powerful than any competing punishers inherent in the task or reinforcers for competing…

This study used a data-based assessment to identify reinforcers and punishers for successful treatment of two children with severe destructive behaviors. Results suggested that empirically derived consequences may be useful in decreasing destructive behavior when a functional assessment is inconclusive or suggests that internal stimuli are…

Issues that impact on the ability of behaviorists to be effective in solving social and community problems are discussed, including use of legislative initiatives to bring about behavior change, sustaining interventions with local resources, and the possible rewards from employing collaborative methods in behavioral research. (JDD)