The financial implications of the increased prevalence of autism, though rarely discussed, will be extremely important to society. We compared the costs associated with 18 years of special education to the costs associated with the implementation of an average of 3 years of Discrete Trial Training as an Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention…

Young children with autism have deficits in initiating and responding to joint attention bids. This study was designed to examine a parent-implemented intervention targeting joint attention responding in children with autism. Parents were trained to increase their joint attention bids using behavior analytic techniques to facilitate appropriate…

In this study we evaluated the effectiveness of telephone crisis services/hotlines, examining proximal outcomes as measured by changes in callers' suicide state from the beginning to the end of their calls to eight centers in the U.S. and again within 3 weeks of their calls. Between March 2003 and July 2004, 1,085 suicide callers were assessed…

The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a modularized treatment of a specific fear of water for a 14-year-old youth with childhood onset schizophrenia using a multiple-baseline across behaviors design. Treatment included gradual exposure to a hierarchy of feared water-related situations with rewards for successful approximations ranging…

Previous studies have shown that the use of behavior modification techniques, specifically the use of token reinforcement systems, can produce positive changes in the behavior of heroin addicts within a hospital setting. A token economy program was assessed to determine the effectiveness of such a program with patients in an outpatient methadone…

Assessed a cognitive-behavioral program with a goal of either abstinence (AB) or controlled drinking (CD) with early-stage problem drinkers (N=70). Results of a two-year follow up indicated that most CD clients achieved moderation of alcohol use and that most AB clients failed to abstain but nonetheless moderated their drinking. (LLL)

The authors suggest ways to establish quality behavioral programs within a hospital for the mentally ill. They emphasize the importance of staff morale, consistency of effort, teamwork, staff training and reinforcement. Procedures said to be responsible for successful maintenance include a flexible credit economy system. (Author/CL)

This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of the "Fear and Loathing of Speaking Out in Public" program. The program, a personal initiative, adapts primary features of the treatment offered by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for clients suffering from fears and phobias. CBT strategies include progressive desensitization, identifying…

This is an investigation of the impact that a volunteer-based violence prevention program is having in a large urban school district located in the Midwest. The program addresses behavioral and violence prevention issues in the school setting with the hopes of reducing the factors that might put a student at-risk for school failure. The long-term…

Used monetary contracts to evaluate artificial incentives in weight reduction. Overweight men (N=89) were assigned to weight reduction treatment groups which varied by amount of deposit and type of contract. Results showed group contracts produced more weight loss than individual contracts. Amount of deposit was only weakly related to outcomes.…

Annual controlled outcome results revealed that the program led to significant and consistent reductions in expulsions, suspensions, and grade failure, and variable, often significant, gains in attendance and achievement. (Author)

Obese persons about to enter a group program intended to produce "conditioned satiety" were asked to estimate their weight loss. Their outcome expectation correlated significantly with weight loss recorded seven weeks later. However, the magnitude of expected weight loss exceeded the actual amount of weight lost. (Author)

Smokers were assigned to a smoking abstinence program, a smoking abstinence program plus social support, a smoking abstinence program plus social support and paraprofessional training, or a control group. Results revealed incremental improvement in treatment outcome due to social support and paraprofessional training manipulations. (Author/BEF)

Describes a seven step decision-making process which enables organizations to examine training situations to determine whether behavior modeling is appropriate. Includes a behavior modeling decision flow chart. (JOW)

The efficacy of different schedules of reinforcement (progressive and fixed) for promoting and sustaining cigarette abstinence was compared using 60 cigarette smokers. Results found that the progressive and fixed groups achieved greater levels of abstinence than controls and that the progressive group was less likely to resume smoking. (Author/CR)