Functional assessments were conducted for two Irish individuals with severe disabilities and aberrant behavior. A modified attention condition was introduced, which involved both parents interacting with a third person. Aberrant behavior occurred only in the modified attention condition. Successful treatment consisted of delivery of attention on a…

This article reviews the functional assessment paradigm in relation to students with serious emotional and behavioral disorders who have well developed cognitive abilities and linguistic skills. Based on the needs of these students, the Assessment Intervention Process, a system for facilitating the development of effective positive behavior plans…

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, a federally funded nutrition education program in California, is undertaking to assess the needs of Latino clients and develop culturally appropriate tools to evaluate changes in food-related behaviors. Latino participants in Fresno County reported improvements in reducing fat intake, using fruits…

Examines issues involved in collecting observational data and conducting a functional analysis of student problem behavior directly in the elementary classroom. Two cases of children with behavior disorders in special classes illustrate the active role that teachers can take in data collection and decision making prior to program changes.…

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…

This article discusses the successes of behavior analysts in affecting challenging behaviors in persons with developmental disabilities. Three future issues are then addressed: the development of challenging behaviors, the role of rule-governance in challenging behavior, and the behavior of persons who directly apply functional assessment and…

A review of 33 studies of residential service outcomes found that almost all of the studies found statistically significant increases in overall adaptive behavior scores associated with deinstitutionalization of individuals with mental retardation. Three studies reported statistically significant improvements in challenging behavior associated…

This article outlines principles of a needs-based approach to the inclusion of students with emotional and behavioral disorders and describes implications for inclusion in three areas: (1) provision of services; (2) curriculum; and (3) behavior management. The article also addresses the responsible limits of inclusion from a needs-based…

This article offers teachers 12 suggestions for dealing with cursing by students, such as teaching students the differences among assaultive cursing, racial insults and slurs, lewd and sexually assaultive insults and slurs, and profanity and epithets; differentially reinforcing less offensive profanity; trying self-mediated interventions; and…

Describes a study of first-, second-, and third-year management students at a two-year college in Ontario, Canada, to determine differences in learning styles between students and teachers and changes in learning styles in students over time. Finds no significant changes over time, but significant differences between teacher and student learning…

Outlines strategies for dealing with campers who have difficult behavior and includes examples in which camp staff were unaware of a camper's emotional or behavior problem. Case studies involve a camper with a learning disability and a camper who had been sexually abused by a teacher. Includes guidelines for establishing behavior agreements. (LP)

Habits and entrenched behavior patterns are difficult to change, particularly for problem children and adolescents. Youth programs in the Netherlands have had success with this population using outdoor adventure experiences. A model of facilitation of behavior change consists of assessment of basic needs, basic rules, experiential environment, the…

This article presents seven sequential steps to completing a functional behavioral analysis and a behavioral intervention plan for a student with emotional/behavior disorders: (1) description of the behavior; (2) refinement of the behavior; (3) data collection; (4) data analysis; (5) hypothesis generation; (6) behavior intervention plan…

Twenty-two middle school students with emotional/behavioral disorders placed in an alternative school were exposed to a cognitive-behavioral intervention which decreased the inappropriate external responses to anger and increased anger control as measured by student self-reports and teacher behavioral checklists. No effect was found for internal…

A study examined two methods of using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales with people with Down syndrome at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Scoring the scales using the basal rule outlined in the manual resulted in highlighting significant declines in scores for those meeting the criteria for "probable Alzheimer's disease."…