This booklet reviews the literature and offers procedures to reduce undesirable behavior in school settings. The following topics are addressed: definition of terms relating to behavior reduction procedures; environmental modification (changing the demands of a task, reducing the complexity of each step, or teaching a new skill); differential…

At the preschool unit of the Medical College of Ohio, parents of children with severe emotional or behavior problems (including autism) are involved in their child's treatment. Prior to admission, parents complete questionnaires listing their child's appropriate and inappropriate behaviors and sign a contract with the professional staff. An…

The Positive Education Program (PEP) in Cuyahoga, Ohio, incorporates a token economy and group process approach into the daily school routine for emotionally disturbed and behaviorally handicapped students. At elementary and secondary levels, minimum rules and expectations as well as privileges awarded for behaviors are clearly set forth. The…

Two variations of desensitization therapy for reducing test anxiety were studied, active desensitization in which the client describes his visualizations of the scenes and vicarious desensitization in which the client merely observes the desensitization treatment of another test anxious client. The relaxation treatment which emphasized application…

While much research has focused on the processes of marital problem solving, the content of marital problem solving has received considerably less attention. This study examined the initial efforts to develop a method for assessing marital problem solving content. Married individuals (N=36) completed a demographic information sheet, the Dyadic…

The efficacy of behavioral weight loss programs has been systematically evaluated during active treatment and at follow-up intervals. Despite repeated calls for more comprehensive assessment of change, other sources of information about change in behavior, nutritional habits, and thinking patterns are often neglected. These studies examined the…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference among attitudes of teachers in the Quitman Consolidated School District (Mississippi) toward assertive discipline when the variables of grade level, gender, and years of experience were considered. Significant differences were sought between: (1) elementary, junior…

Learned helplessness is an insidious condition involving undeveloped executive functioning, lack of persistence, and an undeveloped sense of connecting new words or concepts into a web of meanings. Remedial teaching in most small-group, diagnostic/prescriptive settings encourages continued learned helplessness because students are dependent on the…

The effect of a combined teacher-parent behavior management program on inappropriate behaviors in the school and in the homes of five preschool handicapped children is evaluated. The teacher/trainer collaborated with the parents to select a target behavior (finger chewing, cup throwing, screaming, spitting, hand licking) for each child. Training…

In this discussion of childhood obesity, the medical and psychological problems associated with the condition are noted. Childhood obesity most likely results from an interaction of nutritional, psychological, familial, and physiological factors. Three factors--the family, low-energy expenditure, and heredity--are briefly examined. Early…

The six 1986 issues of this newsletter for parents of handicapped children contain lead articles with the following titles: "Understanding Psychological Tests" (includes intelligence tests, achievement tests, personality tests and parental do's and don'ts); "Sex Education for the Special Person" (e.g., purpose of sex education, parental do's and…

This brief booklet discusses the characteristics, causes, and treatments of attention deficit disorders with hyperactivity. Although children with this condition may be overly active, fidgety, distractible, aggressive, impulsive, and have difficulty learning, the primary problem is their inability to concentrate and pay attention. The exact origin…

To provide a broad view of writer's block and the composing process, this annotated bibliography includes 100 sources that discuss (1) early views of blocking, e.g., Freud's warning about internal critics; (2) contemporary curatives, e.g., cognitive therapies that purport to change a writer's inhibitory self-talk; (3) successful writers' accounts…

The review characterizes phases of compliance in the learning of a skill (acquisition of the skill, fluency, generalization) and details research which exemplifies behavior management strategies that have been endeavored at each phase. The implications of these findings are considered and cautions and considerations of discrete strategies are…

The manual is designed to provide basic information on disabilities to future respite providers. The first chapter examines the nature and characteristics of handicaps in general as well as specific types, such as cerebral palsy, deafness, mental retardation, and behavioral disabilities. The chapter also introduces changing social notions…