The effectiveness of applied behavioral programming in teaching lip closure was investigated with three severely retarded students (9-13 years old) with oral motor dysfunction. Results revealed dramatic increases in functional lip closure when an appropriate adaptive device was combined with behavioral intervention. Functional lip closure…

Determined if baseline anxiety levels are predictive of outcome on treatments associated with cancer chemotherapy. Results indicated low-anxiety patients reported less anxiety and depression before behavioral training but nonetheless exhibited significantly greater reductions in anxiety, depression, and diastolic blood pressure after training.…

The study illustrates the use of a teacher directed peer-confrontation system to decrease inappropriate verbalizations of three emotionally disturbed five- to seven-year-olds and two nontargeted peers. The system was a viable and effective method for decreasing the inappropriate behaviors of the targeted students and had vicarious effects on the…

Timeout, a behavior reduction technique used with handicapped and nonhandicapped persons, is defined; its parameters (including warning, duration, and timeout schedule) are reviewed; and its procedural aspects (including preconditions and concurrent interventions) are considered. Five basic types are placed along a continuum of restrictiveness.…

The eye poking behavior of a six-year-old blind child was significantly reduced during orientation and mobility training through the use of a differential reinforcement for the omission of behavior program. The program was significant in terms of magnitude of behavior change, practical applicability, and adherence to least restrictive strategies.…

Investigated the influence of group cohesiveness on two multicomponent behavioral treatments of smoking. Subjects (N=72) were randomly assigned to treatment. Enriched cohesiveness subjects not only scored higher on several indexes of cohesion but tended to be more successful over a short term in modifying their smoking behavior. (BH)

Evaluated the relative effectiveness of three versions of a controlled smoking program conducted in the worksite: abrupt reduction, gradual reduction, or gradual reduction plus feedback on nicotine consumption. All conditions were effective. There was some indication that the gradual reduction condition was more effective than the abrupt…

The author describes how political and social whims can have disastrous effects on existing, effective programs for developmentally disabled, institutionalized persons, as illustrated in cutoffs for funding of a behavior modification team which used parent assistants as volunteers. (CL)

The study use of three schedules of reinforcement to investigate the impact of reinforcement probability on transfer of stimulus control. Transfer was accelerated when reinforcement probability favored anticipatory responding. The schedule that favored prompted responses did not prevent a shift to unprompted responding. Errors were infrequent…

Tongue protrusion of a 24-year-old moderately retarded woman with Down syndrome was reduced through self-monitoring. A series of six, 30-minute audio cassette tapes, with decreasing numbers of beep tones, served as cues to self-monitor. This reduction of tongue protrusion was maintained when the self-monitoring procedures were gradually faded and…

A manual to teach parents how to help their six children (3-11 years old) overcome fear of the dark included desensitization, reinforcemnt, and verbal self-control statements. Data indicated that all children were sleeping all night with the rheostat set at criterion level or lower within two weeks after initiation of treatment. (Author/CL)

Anger is a natural and healthy human emotion when managed effectively. But it can be a source of various physical, mental, emotional, social, or legal problems when not managed effectively. It is often a problem in one of these areas that brings a client in for counseling, either on a voluntary or a mandated basis. As a counselor, there are…

Comments on article by Ray E. Hosford in same issue. Makes points on the learning process, conditioning, major difference between behavior therapy and "traditional" therapy. (CJ)

Juniors in three high schools were selected for the study. Findings: (1) Both reinforcement groups were effective in reducing students' feelings of alienation; (2) There were no significant differences between effects of model reinforcement and verbal reinforcement counseling; (3) There was no interaction between counselors and treatments or…