Abstracts in English

M L Stevens: The Workclock: A Means of Establishing and Maintaining Classroom Control. Soand J Behav Ther, S, 1-8, 1977- As an alternative to the time consuming token economy system in classrooms, a more practical "workclock" program was tested. A clock started whenever a pupil broke one of the rules stipulated. When rulebreaking ceased the clock was stopped. The primary reinforcer for not making interruptions during the working periods was free time. The results revealed a great decrease in interruptions during the formal "workclock" period and also during the follow-up period.L-G Ost: Supervision in Behaviour Therapy. Soand J Behav Ther, 6, 9-18, 1977. Super—vision of behaviour hterapy trainees is presented and advantages as well as disadvantages with the described model are discussed. The supervision aims fora gradually increased security and independence in the therapist role. Different problems are described as well as the question of how long a time period a trainee should have supervision and the importance of continuous evaluation both from the supervisor and from the trainee.

O Hordlund & S Ronnberg: Treatment of a Child With Disruptive Behaviours During his Mother's Social Contacts. Soand J Behav Ther, 6, 19~2k, 1977. Some children become extremely noisy and disturbing when a parent is visiting or talking to friends. An analysis of this behaviour pointed to the following factors as important in maintaining these behaviours: a) Differential reinforcement of disturbing behaviours as these are more likely to be noticed than quiet behaviours during social conversations, b) Social gathering functions as S :s for time—out from positive reinforcement (e g no attention). The child may bring this situation to an end by emitting a high rate of disturbing behaviours, which are thus reinforced. A successful treatment program based upon this analysis and applied to a four year old boy included: a) Differential reinforcement of a low rate of disturbing behaviours, b) Instructions to the mother never to stop a conversation when the boy engaged in disturbing behaviours, c) Instruction to the mother to attend to the boy when he is not disturbing her. Experimental control was demonstrated by the use of an A-B-A-B design.L-G Ost & L-G Ka.ll: Treatment of Eat Phobia with Eeinforced Practice and Fading: Two Case Reports. Soand J Behav Ther, 6, 25-38, 1977- In two subjects with rat phobia the applicability of reinforced practice and fading were tested using single-subject designs. Furthermore the possibility of continuous assessment of the phobic behaviours across different modalities was tested. The results shuwed that the phobias were extinguished in nine and 15 sessions respectively. The changes were unequivocal both across modalities and response systems (overt behaviour and verbal-cognitive responses).M Fredriksson: Change of Avoidance Behaviour and Heart Rate as an Effect of Systematic Desensitization: A Case of a Social Phobia. Soand J Behav Ther, 6, 39-, 1977-A phobia of public speaking was treated by systematic desensitization. The technique was modified so that an imagined response (to speak) was altered to a real stimulus (taperecorded speech). The client was given control over exposure to that stimulus. The treatment was evaluated by means of subjective reports and registration of heart rate. The results were interpreted in terms of counterconditioning and exposure to the phobic situation.     

OVERCORRECTION: GENERALIZATION AND MAINTENANCE1

The present study examined the effects of one component of overcorrection—verbal reprimands—and compared them with the effects of the entire overcorrection procedure. Generalization and maintenance of effects were also evaluated. A combined reversal and multiple-baseline experimental design was used to evaluate the effect of the various contingencies on the inappropriate searching behavior of a severely and profoundly mentally retarded adult living in a group home. Searching was defined as carefully and thoroughly touching floors, sofas, cabinets, etc. Data were collected by group-home personnel during three separate observation periods each day of the 115-day study: before breakfast, after breakfast, and after dinner. Observers also served as experimenters. Following an initial baseline phase, verbal reprimands followed searching behavior during two daily experimental periods in multiple-baseline fashion. An immediate reduction of searching during experimental periods occurred with the onset of verbal reprimands. No reduction was observed in the third daily observation period, the control session. After a second baseline phase, during which searching behavior was not shown to return to the original baseline levels, overcorrection procedures (washing hands) were instituted. Overcorrection virtually eliminated inappropriate searching during both daily experimental periods. Further, the effects generalized to the daily control session. In a final experimental phase, decreased searching behavior was maintained with verbal reprimands alone.     

Abstracts in English

F R Quale: A Behaviour Contracting Approach to Weight Control. Saand J Behav Ther, 4, 117-124, 1975. A weight control program employing behaviour modification techniques is presented. In the first phase the clients were trained to use different techniques to achieve weight loss. A weight control contract, specifying a penalty for weight gain or lack of weight loss, was established. In the second phase, the goal was maintenance of weight loss during the following year. The success rate reported was 62 % in Phase I and 91 % in Phase II.C Botella & L Wadelius: Behavioural and Traditional Treatment of Obesity. SaandJ Behav Ther, 4, 125-136, 1975. After a summarized background to the overweight problem the literature on behavioural treatment of obesity is reviewed. An experimental comparison between behavioural treatment of obesity and traditional medical treatment is reported. Both treatment groups lost weight significantly. At the one-year follow-up, only the behaviourally treated group had maintained a significant weight loss, although less than immediately after the end of treatment.

H Fries: Anorectic Behaviour: Nosological Aspects and Introduction of a Behaviour Scale. Saand J Behav Ther, 4, 137-148, 1975. The anorectic behaviour is typical for patients with primary or "true" anorexia nervosa. It may also be of a more unspecific character, as in mitigated forms of anorexia nervosa or "pseudo-anorectic" conditions. A valid and easily applicable anorectic behaviour scale is introduced, which seems well suitable for diagnostic purpose and routine evaluation of therapeutic effects.T Aim & L-G Kall: Anorexia Nervosa and Behaviour Therapy. Saand J Behav Ther, 4, 159–163, 1975. The historical development of the treatment of anorexia nervosa is reviewed. Experimental evaluations of active components in therapy, by means of single—subject designs are discussed. Some concluding remarks are given pointing at the importance of including the patient's natural environment in the treatment.M Lindquist & K G Gotestam: Self—Control over Eating. Saand J Behav Ther, 4, 159–163,. 1975. The effect of environmental planning and self—administration of consequences was studied in an A-B-C design in the treatment of a client with incorrect eating habits. The combination of the techniques proved to be effective for this problem.     

The use of overcorrection to eliminate the public disrobing (stripping) of retarded women

Institutionalized retarded persons who disrobe publicly or ‘strip’ are a source of great concern to administrators, treatment staff and visitors. Common institutional approaches to public disrobing have been to dress strippers in restrictive clothing or cloister them from public view. Although behavior modification techniques have sometimes been used successfully to eliminate stripping, none has received widespread usage. The present study compared the effectiveness of an Overcorrection procedure that was designed to eliminate stripping with two behavioral treatments for stripping: time-out and physical restraint. The procedures were applied to two profoundly retarded female strippers. The key components of the Overcorrection procedure were: (1) a Restitutional Overcorrection procedure that consisted of a required dressing in panties, bra, slip, panty hose and tie shoes in addition to the woman's normal ward clothing that consisted solely of a dress and (2) a Positive Practice Overcorrection procedure that required the stripper to attend to the clothing needs and personal appearance of other ward residents by buttoning or zipping their unfastened clothing, straightening rumpled or twisted clothing, furnishing footwear to those in bare feet and combing tousled hair. The Overcorrection procedure eliminated the women's stripping within 2 weeks and was more effective than the alternative procedures. The Overcorrection procedure appears to be a rapid, effective, and enduring method of eliminating the public disrobing of retarded adult females.     

And Yet it Moves! A Reply to “Rectifying Misconception: A Comprehensive Response to Gardner,Moore, and Marks Comments on ‘Some Concerns About the Psychological Implications of Mindfulness: A Critical Analysis’ ”

In this brief article I reply to Gardner et al. (J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Ther. doi:10.1007/s10942-014-0196-1, 2014)’s comments to my previous article titled “Some concerns about the psychological implications of mindfulness. A critical analysis” (David, in J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Ther. doi:10.1007/s10942-014-0198-z, 2014). While initially—humorously and for the sake of debate—adopting an attitude towards mindfulness based on a modified version of Galileo’s Abjuration, I then critically argued that Gardner et al.’s criticism is focused on a priori defending a construct and its associated practices that, by the very nature of empirically supported constructs/interventions, are not perfect (i.e., panacea), but subject to clarifications, limitations, and improvements.     

EFFECTS OF A PROCEDURE DERIVED FROM THE OVERCORRECTION PRINCIPLE ON MANIPULATED AND NONMANIPULATED BEHAVIORS

Positive practice overcorrection has been shown to be effective in reducing stereotypic self-stimulatory behaviors displayed by retarded and autistic individuals. In addition, the procedure also may increase the occurrence of appropriate behavior through intensive practice. In the present study, several stereotypic and one appropriate behavior (appropriate toy play) displayed by two autistic children were measured before and during treatment by a positive practice in appropriate toy play overcorrection procedure. Overcorrection was introduced for each of the targeted inappropriate behaviors in succession for both children. Results showed that overcorrection reduced all stereotypic behaviors displayed by both children. In addition, one subject displayed marked increases in the behavior practised during overcorrection, appropriate toy play, relative to its baseline rate of occurrence. The results indicate that for some individuals, overcorrection may be effective in teaching and motivating appropriate forms of behavior as well as in reducing stereotypy.     

Patterns of food transfer in temminck's red colobus

This paper presents data on the behaviours and food types associated with the transfer of individual food items in Temminck's red colobus (Procolobus badius temminckii). The relevance of (a) male–female differences and (b) the properties of the individual food items are addressed. Although the data are limited, it does suggest that food transfer, in this species, is infrequent, not particularly related to increasing nutritional knowledge or value, usually involve highly visible large items and is predominantly an aggressive male behaviour—from infancy through adulthood. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–6. 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Overcorrection: Reviewed, revisited and revised

Overcorrection is a widely used behavior management procedure, the success of which has been well documented. However, overcorrection is not a simple, single procedure. Rather, it is a complex combination of procedures that often make it a complicated strategy to understand conceptually and to implement correctly. The complex nature of overcorrection combined with the use of multiple labels has created much confusion and debate among both researchers and practitioners. A number of issues relating to overcorrection are examined and evaluated. A proposal is made for revising the present overcorrection terminology. Finally, directions for future research are suggested.     

The elimination of autistic self-stimulatory behavior by overcorrection

No method is in general usage and of demonstrated effectiveness in eliminating the self-stimulatory behaviors of retardates and autistics. An Overcorrection rationale was used to develop such a method. The Overcorrection procedures consisted of a period of practice in the correct mode of the behavior contingent upon self-stimulatory behavior. The procedures were applied in a behavioral day-care program to three retarded children and one autistic child who exhibited object-mouthing, hand-mouthing, head-weaving and hand-clapping. For some behaviors, comparisons were made between the Overcorrection procedure and several alternative procedures, such as physical punishment by a slap, reinforcement for nonself-stimulatory behavior, a distasteful solution painted on the hand of a hand-mouther, and free reinforcement. The Overcorrection procedures eliminated the self-stimulatory behaviors of all four children in tutorial sessions and during the entire school day and were more effective than the alternative procedures in eliminating self-stimulation. The Overcorrection procedures appear to be rapid, enduring, and effective methods of eliminating self-stimulatory behavior.     

Book reviews

Abstract

Marriage and Marital Therapy: Psychoanalytic, Behavioral and Systems Theory Perspectives, Thomas J. Paolino, Jr., Barbara S. McCrady (Eds.), New York runner/Mazel 1978, $25.00, 586 pages

The Prevention of Sexual Disorders, C. B. Qualls, J. P. Wincze, and D. H. Barlow, New York: Plenum, 1978, $14.95, 202 pages

Family Therapy in Clinical Practice, Murray Bowen, M.D., New York: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1978, $25.00, 565 pages

Homosexualities—A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women, Allen P. Bell, M. S. Weinberg, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1978, $12.95, 505 pages     

The parenting dimensions of British Pakistani and White mothers of primary school children

There is increasing emphasis internationally on the use of parenting programmes to support the development of appropriate social behaviour in children. However, in such programmes diversity is often ignored. Research into the parenting styles and practices (dimensions) of different ethnic groups is needed in order to investigate the applicability of universal programmes, to guide their design and implementation in the future. Thirty‐four British Pakistani and 34 British White mothers of primary aged children, comprising equal numbers of males and females, completed English or Urdu versions of the Parental Dimensions Inventory—Short Version (PDI‐S), (Power, Int. J. Behav. Dev. 67 : 302–313) and a child behavioural screening instrument, the SDQ (Goodman, J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 38 : 581–586). More similarities than differences between the parenting dimensions of Pakistani and White mothers were found overall. However, compared with White mothers, Pakistani mothers reported more ‘following through on discipline’ as well as ‘reminding’ as a disciplinary action. Further, Pakistani mothers reported following through on discipline more with boys than White mothers did and the more they reported inconsistent parenting, the more their children reportedly had behaviour problems. It is concluded that while these findings provide some support for the cross‐cultural applicability of generic parenting programmes, programme efficacy studies are also needed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effectiveness of instructor behaviours and their relationship to leadership

This study analysed qualitatively the nature of instructor behaviours and their relationship to leadership. The Critical Incident Technique was used to collect effective and ineffective incidents of instructor behaviour in military training from both instructors' and trainees' perspectives (total incidents = 1150, effective = 696, ineffective = 494), across the three UK Armed Services. Nine dimensions of instructor behaviour were developed with high inter‐ and intra‐coder reliability. No differences were found between instructor and trainee generated incidents or among the three Armed Services. About 82% of the incidents could be recoded with high inter‐coder reliability into categories of both transformational and transactional leadership. Strong relationships emerged between the following dimensions of both instructor behaviour and leadership respectively: Showing and Demonstrating, and Appropriate Role Model; Using Instructional Strategies and Intellectual Stimulation; Feedback, Practice and Adapting, and Individual Consideration; Forms of Punishment and Control, and Contingent and Non‐contingent Punishment. These results inform not only the relationships between instructor behaviours and leadership but also the future training of military instructors, particularly the balance between a traditional authoritarian approach and an individualised supportive one.     

Behavior treatment: General considerations

The principal goal of behavior treatment for retarded clients is that of modifying behavior as it occurs in a given environment in such a maner that it becomes more appropriate to that environment. The therapeutic or change agents can involve a variety of persons other than the counselor, teacher, and client—this may include parents, peers, work supervisors and others who can provide supportive influences. Education and rehabilitation programs should be tailored to the occupational and social environment of the retarded client and designed to teach those behavior patterns that are relevant to that environment. Additionally, the work tasks for which retarded clients are trained should be highly structured and routine. Excessive demand for adaptability or decision making is a major cause of training failure for retarded clients. Reprinted from Gardner, William I.Behavior Modification in Mental Retardation: The Education and Rehabilitation of the Mentally Retarded Adolescent and Adult. Aldine.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: An A to Z practical guide to emotional and behavioural difficulties: By Harry Ayers & Cesia Prytys Developing inclusive practice — A practical guide: By Rita Cheminais Investigating troublesome classroom behaviour — Practical tools for teachers: By Loraine Corrie Supporting children with behaviour difficulties — A guide for assistants in schools: By Glenys Fox Challenging behaviours in mainstream schools — Practical strategies for effective intervention and reintegration: By Jane MacSherry Incorporating social goals in the classroom — A guide for teachers and parents of children with high functioning autism and Asperger syndrome: By Rebecca Moyes Remaking the concept of aptitude — Extending the legacy of Richard E. Snow: By L. Corno, L.J. Cronbach, H. Kupermintz, D.F. Lohman, E.B Mandinach, A.W. Porteus & J.E. Talbert Gifted children grown up: By Joan Freeman Understanding children's experiences of parental bereavement: By J. Holland Literary practices as social acts: Power, status and cultural norms in the classroom: By Cynthia Lewis Language and image in the reading‐writing classroom: Teaching vision: Edited by Kristie Fleckenstein, Linda Calendrillo & Demetrice Worley Phonics exposed: Understanding and resisting systematic direct intense phonics instruction: By Richard Meyer     

Empirical Investigation of the Relationships Between Irrationality,Self-Acceptance,and Dispositional Forgiveness

Milburn (J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Ther 33:325–340, 2015) recently suggested a theoretical link between REBT and forgiving, proposing that irrational beliefs, particularly demandingness and global evaluations of human worth, play a role in lack of forgiveness. The present study investigated a quantitative link between the concepts of irrationality, self-acceptance, and dispositional forgiveness. Four-hundred and thirty-three participants (70% female) participated in a 69-item online survey combining four previously validated scales: Shortened General Attitude and Belief Scale; Heartland Forgiveness Scale; Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire; and the Transgression Narrative Test of Forgivingness—(with revised response-options). Results indicated moderate and strong negative correlations between irrationality and dispositional forgiveness. Conversely, unconditional self-acceptance was significantly positively correlated with dispositional forgiveness. Regression analyses indicated that subtypes of irrationality and self-acceptance could predict dispositional forgiveness of self, other, and situation. No significant differences were found between sexes. These findings add empirical support to the hypotheses made by Milburn, suggesting that holding irrational beliefs impedes the process of forgiving, and one’s level of self-acceptance predicts one’s disposition to forgive.     

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf: a prospective paradigm to test Rachman's indirect pathways in children.

Rachman's theory [The conditioning theory of fear insition: a critical examination. Behav. Res. Ther. 15 (1977) 375-387] of fear acquisition suggests that fears and phobias can be acquired through three pathways: direct conditioning, vicarious learning and information/instruction. Although retrospective studies have provided some evidence for these pathways in the development of phobias during childhood [see King, Gullone, & Ollendick, Etiology of childhood phobias: current status of Rachman's three pathway's theory. Behav. Res. Ther. 36 (1998) 297-309 for a review], these studies have relied on long-term past memories of adult phobics or their parents. The current study was aimed towards developing a paradigm in which the plausibility of Rachman's indirect pathways could be investigated prospectively. In Experiment 1, children aged between 7 and 9 were presented with two types of information about novel stimuli (two monsters): video information and verbal information in the form of a story. Fear-related beliefs about the monsters changed significantly as a result of verbal information but not video information. Having established an operational paradigm, Experiment 2 looked at whether the source of verbal information had an effect on changes in fear-beliefs. Using the same paradigm, information about the monsters was provided by either a teacher, an adult stranger or a peer, or no information was given. Again, verbal information significantly changed fear-beliefs, but only when the information came from an adult. The role of information in the acquisition of fear and maintenance of avoidant behaviour is discussed with reference to modern conditioning theories of fear acquisition.     

Abstracts in English

S D Rose: Assertive Training in Groups: Research in Clinical Setting. Soand J Behav Thev, 6S 61-86, 1977. Under auspices of the Interpersonal Skill Training and Research Program a series of seven research projects have recently been completed in which the effectiveness of assertive training in groups with various clinical and professional populations has been evaluated. These populations included young adults, women, social workers and the elderly. The programs for assertive training included a variety of procedures such as modeling, coaching, overt behaviour rehearsal, covert rehearsal, group feedback, buddy contacts, selected readings, homework assignments, and contingency contracts. Data were collected on outcome by means of assertion inventories and audiotaped role play tests, and on process by means of observation of interaction, attendance, completion rate of assignments, and self report at the end of each meeting. Results on the role play tests tended to support the efficacy of assertive training for all the populations, however, strongest results were obtained for the women and young adults and the weakest for the elderly. Evidence also supported the use of contingecy contracts as a means of increasing the rate of assignment completion.

O Hordlund, S Ronnberg & Gohlsson: The Functional Importance of "Showing Responses" in the Creative Activity in Children. Soand J Behav Ther, 6, 87-93, 1977. A child's creative activity is often terminated by the child showing the accomplished product to a parent or a teacher. This "showing response" was hypothezised to be of central importance in maintaining creative behaviour, as it "mediates" social reinforcement for this activity. The hypothesis was tested on four children, two of which followed an A-B-A design and two a B-A design, where in the A condition the child was not given the opportunity to show his drawings. In the B condition this opportunity was provided. During the A condition the number of accomplished drawings rapidly dropped to zero. It is pointed out that the showing response seems to be a natural instance of "self-reinforcement".     

A semiotic theory of imagery processes with experiments on an Indo-European and a Ural-Altaic language: Do speakers of different languages experience different cognitive worlds?

StrØmnes, F. J. A semiotic theory of imagery processes with experiments on an Indo-European and a Ural-Altaic language: Do speakers of different languages experience different cognitive worlds?Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 291–304.-A theory of information transmission by symbol systems is presented. The theory is related to results on imagery and verbal behaviour found in the literature, and a new experiment is briefly reported. It is argued that information transmission can exclusively take place by the transmission of geometric isomorphs. Some of the conditions which must be fulfilled by a sign system which can transmit geometric isomorphs are pointed out. A supporting experiment, which purports to show that the underlying geometric systems of Ural-Altaic (represented by Finnish) and Indo-European (represented by Swedish) are strikingly different, is reported.     

WHEN CAN THE SUBJECT BE TRUSTED NOT TO THINK?

Sjöberg , L. When can the subject be trusted not to think?Scand. J. Psychol., 1968, 9, 274–276.—Many tasks can be approached either in an intuitive or an analytical mode. Hence, problems of interpretation may arise. Such problems are particularly pressing in cases where the results can be explained as the outcome of a trivial, analytic process. Certain recent work is discussed where such a risk appears to be present.     

Proactivity towards workplace safety improvement: an investigation of its motivational drivers and organizational outcomes

Initiating a safety oriented change—or safety initiative—is conceptually distinct from other forms of safety participation and safety citizenship behaviour, yet little attention has been given to its performance outcomes or its motivational antecedents. An initial study with a sample composed of middle managers (N = 86) showed that safety initiative predicted objective improvement actions 6 months later, whereas, showing differential validity, safety compliance predicted the implementation of monitoring actions. Two subsequent studies focused on motivational antecedents. First, using a sample of team leaders (N = 295), we tested a higher-order structure of proactive motivation that incorporates three domains: “can do”, “reason to” and future orientation. Second, in a longitudinal study of chemical work operators (N = 188), after checking for the influence of potential confounders (past behaviours; accidents experience; perceived risk), we showed that safety initiative was predicted only by proactive motivation. Instead, safety compliance was found to be associated with affective commitment and scrupulousness, whereas safety helping was found to be associated with affective commitment. Self-reported behaviours were validated against rater assessments. This study supports the importance of distinguishing safety initiative from other safety behaviours, indicating how to create an organizational context supporting a proactive management of workplace safety.