Group assertion training has employed a variety of techniques including bibliotherapy, behavioral rehearsal, and didactic lecture presentations. Whether didactic information affects behavior, structure, and/or self-evaluation is unknown, and it is not clear whether behavioral practice enhances the effects of didactic training upon behavior,…

This digest reviews and summarizes what is known about effective school-wide behavioral management systems. Emphasis in such systems is on consistency throughout the building and across classrooms with the entire staff, both professional and nonprofessional, uniformly implementing common strategies. Common features of school-wide behavioral…

The paper reviews experimental/contrast groups and longitudinal studies of changes in adaptive behavior associated with retarded persons moving from state institutions to small community living arrangements.The paper summarizes outcomes in overall behavior, 7 specific behavior domains, and problem behavior. All 18 studies reported at least some…

A national survey of 147 institutions for individuals with mental retardation found that 68 percent of the institutions had used at least 1 of 3 specified treatment options to deal with behavior problems. Results indicated that, in comparison to in-house behavior shaping units and mobile intensive treatment teams, specialized outside referral…

Functional analyses were conducted with three boys (ages 4-7) with behavior disorders. The students were then successfully taught to self-manage incompatible appropriate behavior as well as appropriate requests for reinforcement (i.e., escape, attention, materials) identified as functionally related to the problematic target behaviors. (Contains…

The effects of wrist weights on the self-injurious and adaptive behaviors of a six-year-old boy with profound mental retardation were evaluated. Application of wrist weights reduced self-injurious behavior by 92 percent and was associated with higher increases or stable levels of multiple novel and preexisting adaptive behaviors. (Author/CR)

Evidence-based treatments exist for a range of child and adolescent behavior problems; however, effects are often limited by poor treatment attendance and adherence. The authors developed and evaluated the efficacy of a brief (5 to 45 min) intervention designed to increase treatment attendance and adherence in a sample of 76 parents referred for…

Educators often exclude socially maladjusted children (SMA) from a proper education due to serious disruptive behavior. Never the less, these children are entitled to services under section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. While SMA children are indeed difficult to educate, review of the associated literature suggests that methods to…

Schools have widely used suspension and related punitive practices, in spite of their proven ineffectiveness. This article discusses the role of Aggression Replacement Training (ART) as part of a schoolwide positive behavior support initiative. Grounded in theory and research, ART focuses on the proactive teaching of acceptable behaviors to…

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a lifelong condition that significantly affects the individual's learning, development, behavior, family, and quality of life. Diagnosing children with this condition and providing effective supports is challenging for professionals because little intervention research has been performed with the…

In order to address the federal "No Child Left Behind Act", the state of Oklahoma required that all public schools address the problem of bullying. Although numerous anti-bullying programs exist, few have been evaluated to determine their effectiveness. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of one such program,…

The literature from 1981 through 1985 in seven journals on the treatment of behavior problems was reviewed. Treatment procedures were grouped into three levels by degree of restrictiveness. Differential reinforcement and overcorrection were the two most widely used procedures. Effectiveness values for all problem-procedure combinations are given.…

Provides an overview of the theoretical and technical components of covert positive reinforcement and reviews the experimental literature to ascertain the efficacy of CPR and to evaluate the operant basis for the technique. The empirical evidence confirmed the effectiveness of CPR in modifying analogue and clinical target behaviors, but challenged…

The Adaptive Behavior Scale was used to evaluate a three-level token economy designed to modify the behavior of 42 behaviorally disturbed young adults of borderline intelligence. Following treatment large improvements occurred in those areas that were logically related to target behaviors within the token economy. Gains were maintained at…

The effects of an Assertive Discipline program on reducing out-of-seat and inappropriate talking among third-grade students were investigated. Results indicated a functional relationship between the program and the dependent measures. Social validation was provided by informal measures of teacher behavior and interviews with the principal,…