Bulimia, an eating disorder characterized by binge eating, may be increasing in frequency. In order to examine and assess: (1) the prevalence of bulimia in a non-clinical sample of college women; (2) the relationship of reports of binge eating to the fulfillment of operationalized Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III (DSM III) criteria for…

Children over two standard deviations below height expectations have been described by researchers as being behaviorally immature and shown to be emotionally inhibited. The present study seeks to extend these findings by systematically evaluating what role age, sex, and etiology factors may have in the behavioral adjustment of groups of children…

The paper presents an overview of an ethological approach to the study of abnormal human behavior and a review of research using ethological approaches (with an emphasis on autism research). Ethology is defined as the study of behavior as it occurs in its natural habitat. The four types of questions ethologists ask about behavior, such as what is…

Childhood aggression is among the most common and least transitory of childhood dysfunctions. Mother-only families have higher rates of childhood aggression than do intact, father-present homes. The effect of father presence and father absence on the aggressive behavior of family members was examined, along with the behavior patterns in families…

Each of 7,056 children (3,607 boys and 3,449 girls) attending regular elementary school classes were rated by their fourth grade teacher and again by their sixth grade teacher to determine the prevalence of persistent emotional disturbances within the student population of 17 public school districts. Based on teachers' ratings of the student's…

The author conducted two studies of disturbed adolescents in an effort to specify the precursors of severe psychopathology in adulthood, particularly the schizophrenic spectrum of disorders. In the prospective study 35 disturbed adolescents were followed for a five-year period from age 16 to 21. Numerous measures were taken on the target…

This study of disciplinary offenders at Texas Tech University was conducted in order to provide information for areas of the campus which deal with various disciplinary activities. The research was limited to those students who had been either suspended or given probation for violating a University regulation. The total sample consisted of 938…

A measurement of behavioral effectiveness in a longitudinal study of children in urban classrooms is presented. The specific nature of behavioral difficulties from kindergarten to third-grade, the stability of behavior patterns over this four year period, the relation between behavioral effectiveness and traditional measures of achievement…

A brief introduction to various aspects of operant conditioning is presented, followed by a discussion of ethical concerns. Also discussed in this paper are topics such as (1) what is it? (2) motivation, (3) students need motivating, and (4) a new method. The latter part of the paper is concerned with a year long behavior project in an elementary…

Offers evidence supporting a model of bidirectional effects: the mother initiates maltreatment, but both mother and infant sustain the situation by their behaviors. Maltreated infants did not differ from controls in congenital characteristics, but displayed deviance in learned behavior patterns. Infants showed behavioral improvement after…

From a special feature on "Violence & Agression. Other articles in the feature include "Agression in the Classroom by Fritz Redl, "Anger in Children by George V. Sheviakov, and "Scapegoating by Beryce W. MacLennan.

Parallels between the abusive parent and the abusive teacher are drawn, demonstrating problem areas that need to be determined in order to stop the abusive behavior. Problems include parent being abused as a child, failure to understand the child, society's attitude toward abuse, environmental stress, and lack of positive role models. (CT)

Two exploratory studies describe patterns found in middle school discipline referral records. The first project involved the establishment of criteria for identifying the "most difficult" middle school students who would be candidates for a specialized mentoring program. The second project compared the discipline referral patterns of…

Four students (ages 4-6) with developmental disabilities who exhibited challenging behaviors in teaching situations were exposed to high intensity and low intensity social interaction in a play situation and a task situation. Interaction intensity made no difference in students' behavior. Two students exhibited task avoidance and two exhibited…

Gathered data on arcade use in adolescents (n=460). "Regular" arcade visitors varied sufficiently from the more "casual" visitors in their orientation to, and experience in, arcades. Regular visitors were more likely to score positively on indices screening for addiction. Raises questions about children's access to potentially…