EDITORIAL COMMENT: GUEST COMMENTARY

A pervasive problem faced by children in both classroom and clinic is the lack of transfer from the apparent learning of “skills” to improved overall reading performance. For varied reasons, “skills” learned by children fail to become integrated to enhance reading fluency. A related problem derives from the lack of automaticity that many children fail to achieve either in specific facilitating “skills” or in the reading task generally.     

EDITORIAL COMMENT: GUEST COMMENTARY TEACHERS'THEORETICAL ORIENTATIONS AND THE REAL CLASSROOM

A four year‐study of teacher beliefs and conceptions about reading is reported. Teacher beliefs were determined outside the classroom context and while conducting instruction. It was determined that classroom teachers can articulate theories of reading outside the classroom but that their actual instructional practice is governed by a complex set of contextual factors. It is concluded that reading educators must not only teach reading theory but must also help teachers apply theory to the complex instructional context of classrooms.     

“TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY”: A YULETIDE 1980 ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

The past two decades have witnessed marked improvment in the work produced by communication researchers. Today's research is marked by increasing reliance on theory, a greater emphasis on programmatic research, and attempts to fit methods to particular research objectives. These advances, along with a dramatic increase in the number of capable communication researchers, have combined to heighten the credibility of communication research among colleagues in related disciplines. Although many issues remain unsolved, progress is the key word in assessing events of the last 20 years.     

HOW EDUCATION CAN LEAD THE WAY TO AN INTEGRAL SOCIETY: A PROVEN MODEL FOR DOING SO ALREADY EXISTS

Chaotic Logic: Language, Thought, and Reality from the Perspective of Complex Systems Sciences IFSR International Series on Systems Science and Engineering, Volume 9 Ben GoertzelPlenum Press, New York and London, 1994, $65 USD, 278 pp., index

The Garden in the Machine: The Emerging Science of Artificial Life Claus Emmeche (translated by Steven Sampson), Princeton University Press, 1994, cloth; pp. 199, index; $24.95 USD.     

BRIDGING THE DISCONNECTION BETWEEN APPLIED RESEARCH AND PRACTICE: A REVIEW OF TREATMENTS THAT WORK: EMPIRICALLY SUPPORTED STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING CHILD BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS BY ED CHRISTOPHERSEN AND SUSAN MORTWEET

In recent years, behavior analysts have lamented a disconnection between applied research and practice. In their book, Treatments That Work: Empirically Supported Strategies for Managing Child Behavior Problems, Christophersen and Mortweet (2001) have attempted to bridge this gap for medical and behavioral health providers alike by describing empirically supported treatments, derived from behavior therapy and its application, that are specifically designed for challenging problems commonly seen in typical children. The book is clearly intended for both primary care physicians and behavior therapists, and in this article, we review the extent to which the book meets the needs of each. Discussion centers on the extent to which the book can meet the need for both technical precision and conceptual breadth in training of behavior therapists. We conclude that, in making explicit the connections between research and practice, the authors have provided a useful clinical teaching tool and have also raised important questions about how best to establish collaborative relationships with physicians and promote the use of behavioral technology in primary care.