Applying behavior analysis to school violence and discipline problems: Schoolwide positive behavior support

School discipline is a growing concern in the United States. Educators frequently are faced with discipline problems ranging from infrequent but extreme problems (e.g., shootings) to less severe problems that occur at high frequency (e.g., bullying, insubordination, tardiness, and fighting). Unfortunately, teachers report feeling ill prepared to deal effectively with discipline problems in schools. Further, research suggests that many commonly used strategies, such as suspension, expulsion, and other reactive strategies, are not effective for ameliorating discipline problems and may, in fact, make the situation worse. The principles and technology of behavior analysis have been demonstrated to be extremely effective for decreasing problem behavior and increasing social skills exhibited by school children. Recently, these principles and techniques have been applied at the level of the entire school, in a movement termed schoolwide positive behavior support. In this paper we review the tenets of schoolwide positive behavior support, demonstrating the relation between this technology and applied behavior analysis.     

Parent–Adolescent Agreement on Disruptive Behavior Symptoms: A Multitrait-Multimethod Model

This study examined parent–adolescent agreement on reports of inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and conduct disorder in 203 adolescents (94 girls, 109 boys) ranging in age from 13 to 18 years (M = 15.21, SD = 1.37). Results of confirmatory factor analyses provided additional evidence of construct validity for these traits in adolescents. Internal consistency was examined for parent reports and adolescent self-reports. In addition, correlational analyses were used in a multitrait-multimethod format (MTMM; D. T. Campbell & D. W. Fiske, 1959) to examine convergent and discriminant validity. Results showed that parents provided more consistent and valid reports of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, whereas adolescents provided more consistent and valid reports of conduct disorder. In addition, interviews produced higher levels of convergence than rating scales. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for assessment of disruptive behavior disorders.     

A framework for studying minority youths' transitions to fatherhood: the case of Puerto Rican adolescents

A theoretical framework is proposed for studying minority young men's involvement with their babies that combines the integrative model of minority youth development and a life course developmental perspective with Lamb's revised four-factor model of father involvement. This framework posits a relationship between demographic and family background variables (such as education, employment, income, and family of origin) and fatherhood outcomes moderated by personal characteristics (such as sex-role ideology, acculturation, risk taking, and alienation) and mediated by definitions of fatherhood, life priorities normative for the culture under study, and sexual behavior. Once there is an acknowledged infant, a father's involvement is influenced by child characteristics, perceived fathering competence, social support, and quality of the relationship with the mother.     

Preliminary evidence for an emotion dysregulation model of generalized anxiety disorder

Three studies provide preliminary support for an emotion dysregulation model of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). In study 1, students with GAD reported heightened intensity of emotions, poorer understanding of emotions, greater negative reactivity to emotional experience, and less ability to self-soothe after negative emotions than controls. A composite emotion regulation score significantly predicted the presence of GAD, after controlling for worry, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. In study 2, these findings were largely replicated with a clinical sample. In study 3, students with GAD, but not controls, displayed greater increases in self-reported physiological symptoms after listening to emotion-inducing music than after neutral mood induction. Further, GAD participants had more difficulty managing their emotional reactions. Implications for GAD and psychopathology in general are discussed.     

The role of negative affectivity in pay-at-risk reactions: a longitudinal study

In this article, the authors examine the moderating role of negative and positive affectivity on the relationship of bonus size with bonus satisfaction and distributive justice in a company that had installed an unpopular pay-at-risk (PAR) compensation system. Extending the met expectations hypothesis, the authors predict that those low in negative affectivity will show a more pronounced positive relationship between size of PAR bonus and bonus reactions than those high in negative affectivity. Conversely, the authors expect positive affectivity to be unrelated to pay reactions. The results support their hypotheses. Implications are discussed.     

Variations in unconditioned stimulus processing in unblocking

Three experiments examined the mechanisms by which downward shifts in reinforcer value influence learning in appetitive unblocking procedures. The downward shift was accomplished by omitting the 2nd of a 2-reinforcer sequence (food-food or food-sucrose). Performance of normal rats was compared with that of rats with lesions of the central nucleus of the amygdala, which are thought to interfere with surprise-induced enhancements of event processing. The results suggested that, in normal rats, omission of the 2nd reinforcer enhanced processing of the 1st reinforcer rather than processing of the conditioned stimuli and that lesions of the central nucleus eliminated this enhancement. The roles of reinforcement error signals in conditioning are discussed.     

Development of selective attention: perceptual load influences early versus late attentional selection in children and adults

The moderating effect of perceptual load on visual selective attention was examined in 2 studies. In Study 1, children and young adults searched displays of varying set size flanked by irrelevant distractors. Children's performance was as efficient as adults' under conditions of high but not low loads, suggesting that early selection engages rapidly maturing neural systems and late selection engages later-maturing systems. In Study 2, 4 age groups were tested, and place markers were set at empty locations to examine perceptual grouping effects. Study 1's pattem was replicated in all age groups, with onset of early selection occurring at lower loads for younger children. Overall, children initiated early selection at lower loads to compensate for immature anterior-system interference control processes.     

Tainted love: content analysis of documents written by accused spousal abusers to their victims

This study analyzed themes in documents written by 22 male accused spousal abusers to their female victims. Using Pence's Power and Equity model (1998), 86% of the themes denied equity and expressed power and control in the relation. Of these, 28% minimized or denied the abuse, 24% used the children to manipulate the victim, 16% showed disrespect for the victim, and 14% invoked male privilege (including God's ordination of the abusive relation). These hallmarks of tainted love are rooted in the desire of the accused abuser to maintain power and control over the victim.     

The role of graded category structure in imaginative thought

Participants generated lists of exemplars from the categories of animals, tools, and fruit, and their lists were used to determine the relative accessibility of individual exemplars. Measures of accessibility included output dominance (the number of participants who listed an exemplar), rank (how early instances were listed), and two scores that reflect their combination-output precedence and dominance/rank. Other participants drew and described novel exemplars of those categories that might exist on an imaginary planet and reported on the factors that influenced their creations. References to Earth animals, tools, or fruit were used to determine imagination frequency (the number of participants who mentioned relying on particular Earth exemplars). Items high in accessibility were also high in imagination frequency, implying that those items that come to mind most readily are the ones most likely to serve as starting points for the development of novel ideas. This result held even when task constraints weighed against the use of such items (Experiment 2) and when participants were encouraged to be as creative as possible (Experiment 4), suggesting that it is difficult to avoid the influence of highly accessible category exemplars. Other measures of category structure, including the rated typicality, familiarity, and frequency of exemplars, did not predict imagination frequency as well. The results are discussed in terms of expanding concept boundaries and the inadvertent application of knowledge that is readily accessible.