Proposes that the U.S. school system purports to prize human variability, but many educators are engaged in activities that seek to homogenize students. Describes these activities, including diagnosis, labeling, ability grouping, and positive reinforcement. Presents suggestions for counselors to combat sources of cloning and self-validation. (RC)

A study of 520 prospective and practicing teachers indicated that many showed no strong orientation or affiliation in their personal educational beliefs and that those who did were attracted mainly to behaviourism or romanticism. Many considered current educational practice as either control-oriented or affiliated with behaviourism. (CM)

Members of two types of self-help groups assessed the occurence of various helping processes in their groups. Found self-help groups emphasized supportive and expressive processes while avoiding confrontive processes; and behavioral techniques were used more frequently by behavioral control groups than by stress coping groups. (RC)

Argues that establishing the purpose of observed inappropriate social behavior could help in understanding reciprocal relationships. Suggests inappropriate behavior can occur because an unpopular child adopts an interpersonal strategy to cope with rejection. Studies show that differential deficiencies in social skills are associated with the type…

Describes operant conditioning as an effective means of modifying behavior of children in typical classes. Emphasizes effective operant procedures as having a contingency between child's response and teacher's reward. Reviews relevant literature. Suggests only tentative evidence from the present review supports the contingency of response and…

Compared the relative effectiveness of three self-management procedures in enhancing self-esteem. Results indicated that it is possible to enhance reported self-esteem by self-management procedures and that cueing effects are as important as reinforcing effects. (KMF)

Discusses the relationship between emergent trends in counseling and behavioral medicine. Examines the failure of some behavioral strategies to maintain positive change in terms of social learning theory. Suggests the role of counselors in the treatment of chronic physical disease may have a positive impact on behavioral medicine. (Author)

Describes the results of a long-term behavioral/nutritional weight loss program, Eating Slim (ES) involving 36 trained therapists and 696 of 1,040 subjects who completed the program. Treatment losses in ES are comparable to those from other studies demonstrating that trained home economists can use behavioral techniques. (DS)

Describes and evaluates a classroom behavior management training program in terms of student attitudes toward the activities. Results indicate students low in self-sufficiency had more positive attitudes toward group oriented activities. Suggests this evaluation approach can be used as a model for assessment of specific classroom activities.…

A severely disabled and retarded 15-year-old girl was examined for: effect of music and approval as reinforcers for following a command; effect of a food-pairing procedure on an approval alone condition, an approval plus music condition, and an ignore condition; durability of newly conditioned reinforcers; and strength of the new reinforcers as…

Studies in self-management, attribution, and achievement motivation challenge the view that basic skills instruction requires strong teacher control, structure, convergence on learning activities, less pupil freedom, and less experimental teaching activities. Student-managed instruction yielded the greatest achievement gains and heightened…

Research evidence relative to three intervention strategies (medication, behavior modification, and cognitive training) was examined to determine the intervention effects on handicapped students' performance in personal/social, psychological processing, and educational skills domains. (PHR)

A treatment regimen demands extensive diagnostic work-ups. In most situations where a specific diagnostic finding does not occur, the appropriate treatment will be multitreatment. Drug treatment will continue to predominate, with research emphasis directed toward attempts to predict which children will respond positively to methylphenidate.…

The author suggests that counselors should concentrate on helping homosexuals improve the quality of their interpersonal relationships rather than offering therapy to help them change. This paper was presented at the annual convention of the Association of Behavior Therapy, San Francisco, 13 December 1975. (Author)

Explores the small group teaching method and its effect upon students with mild behavioral problems. (RK)