THE TREATMENT OF SEVERE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN SCHOOL SETTINGS USING A TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MODEL

We evaluated the feasibility of local school personnel conducting functional analysis and reinforcement-based treatment procedures within actual classroom settings. Following an initial in-service workshop on functional assessment and differential reinforcement procedures, on-site technical assistance was provided two to four times per month to local school personnel working in transdisciplinary teams. Overall results suggest that local school personnel were able to implement all procedures adequately with periodic technical assistance. In addition, functional analysis was effective in identifying individual maintaining contingencies, the derived treatments were effective, and the results were maintained throughout the approximate 18 months of this investigation.     

Detection of gender-related categories by 10-month-old infants

Thirty-two 10-month-olds completed an habituation procedure where a male or female face was paired with a specific object. Results reveal 10-month-olds can form categories based on correlations among attributes of social information. Basic processes involved in gender role formation are present in 10-month-olds.     

Meta-monitoring: Case illustrations of a potential “Slump-Buster” for self-regulatory problems

Meta-monitoring has been defined as a secondary feedback system in which people monitor their rates of progress in attaining their primary self-regulatory goals. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of adding an explicit version of meta-monitoring to a long-term cognitive-behavioral treatment program for obesity. It was expected that meta-monitoring in this therapeutic context might increase positive affect and, thereby, improve self-regulated cognitive and behavioral changes. Four obese women who were in treatment for 1 to 2 years prior to the study served as subjects. They meta-monitored by rating their self-monitoring, affect, and eating and thinking patterns for each of 34 weeks. Weight changes and measures of self-monitoring, affect, and eating/thinking patterns suggested some initially positive effects (during the first 2 weeks, especially). While the duration of the impact of meta-monitoring in this clinical trial seemed modest, the approach may have promise as a means of reenergizing self-regulatory efforts during lapses or slumps. Experiments on various methods of operationalizing meta-monitoring, examining its effects on different problems, and testing its hypothesized mechanisms seem warranted.     

A Scorekeeping Error

Philosophical Studies -     

Coping and Disputing with Neighbors1

A model based on the disputing process is discussed in the context of annoyances with neighbors. Results of a telephone survey (n= 198) which examined the cognitive and behavioral reactions of respondents to neighbor annoyances are presented. Most respondents handled neighbor annoyances through cognitive coping mechanisms. The intensity of annoyance and the cognitions reported in response to the annoyance, were related to whether respondents actively reacted to the annoyance (complained or disputed).     

The common beliefs survey III and its subscales: Discriminant validity in clinical and nonclinical subjects

Scores on irrational beliefs inventories usually correlate well with scores on questionnaires about emotional feeling states, consistent with central tenets of RET and cognitive therapy. However, without specific demonstrations of beliefs inventories' discriminant validity, it is possible that they would correlate well withany questionnaire about negative states or events, thus limiting conclusions about links between thoughts and feelings. In a test of the discriminant validity of the Common Beliefs Survey (CBS), we examined responses to a battery of questionnaires on beliefs and emotional states that had been administered to 151 subjects drawn from samples of college students, hospital staff members, mental health center outpatients, and state hospital inpatients. Results were that the CBS shows (a) satisfactory internal consistency; (b) discriminant validity in that its subscales on self-criticism and perfectionism clearly differentiate clinical from nonclinical subjects; (c) the predicted strong correlations with questionnaires on emotional feeling states; (d) convergent validity in showing a strong correlation with another beliefs inventory; and (e) discriminant validity in correlating more strongly with the other beliefs inventory than with most of the questionnaires on feeling states. The CBS thus shows some respectable psychometric properties that justify its further refinement as a clinical instrument.Geoffrey L. Thorpe is associate professor and Director of Clinical Training in the psychology department of the University of Maine.Jefferson D. Parker is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Maine.ary S. Barnes received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Maine in 1989.     

Artificial legal standards in mental/emotional injury litigation

The courts historically have viewed mental and emotional injuries with suspicion. In attempting to ensure the genuineness of those claims that are brought to trial, most courts require that plaintiffs meet standards that go beyond those that are imposed for claims of physical injury, even though the value and validity of these additional standards have not been empirically assessed. Although the development of legal standards in the absence of empirical data is troubling, of particular concern is the fact that some of the imposed standards are artificial in that they refer to factors not directly related to the injury claimed. This study explores the impact of these standards on the litigation of claims for emotional injuries. The paper discusses the effects that artificial standards had upon claims pursued at the trial court level. According to these data, artificial standards are not warranted.     

Counsellors and Organisational Change: Egan's Systems Model as a Tool in Organisational Consulting

The increasing involvement of counsellors as consultants to effect organisational change is considered. The value of Egan's systems model, 'Model A', for use in this work, is promoted. A case example is presented to demonstrate how Egan's model can be applied effectively both for the development of a consultation relationship and for organisational change. In the example a counsellor acted as an external consultant to a helping-service agency, using Egan's Model A as the primary tool.