Behavior Modification

This article reviews the recent empirical literature on the behavioral treatment of obesity in an attempt to delineate those variables that are most closely related to the posttreatment maintenance of weight loss. Such variables were found to fall into three general categories: adherence to treatment and use of behavioral skills, posttreatment vigilance regarding both weight fluctuation and the skills learned in therapy, and intraindividual physical and emotional factors. An attempt is made to develop a rational understanding of these findings, which appear to be consistent with Kanfer's self-regulation model of self-control. Implications for treatment and future research are discussed.

The present two-experiment study compared the relationship between on-task student behavior and three measures of contingent teacher attention: total amount, contingent amount, and proportion of the total amount contingent on the target behavior. Toward this goal, a real-time observational system was developed for assessing multiple categories of teacher attention contingent upon a variety of student behavior categories. Using this system, observational data were collected in a self-contained classroom for a mentally retarded adolescent (Experiment 1) and in a remedial summer school classroom for a regular first-grade student (Experiment 2). Results from the two experiments showed the proportional measure of contingent teacher attention to account for nearly five times more variance in time on-task than contingent amount. These findings are discussed in terms of the importance of concurrently available teacher attention in the functional analysis of classroom behavior.

Two adolescents with severe disabilities served as participants in a study conducted to train in the use of the public telephone to call home. Participants were trained to complete a 17-step task analysis using a training package which consisted of total task presentation in conjunction with a four-level prompting procedure (i.e., independent, verbal, verbal + gesture, verbal + guidance). All instruction took place in a public setting (e.g., a shopping mall) with generalization probes taken in two alternative settings (e.g., a movie theater and a convenience store). A multiple probe across individuals design demonstrated the training package was successful in teaching participants to use the telephone to call home. In addition, newly acquired skills generalized to the two untrained settings. Implications for community-based training are discussed.

The purpose of the present study into the phenomenon of resistance was twofold. First, the meaning of the concept as conceived by therapists of psychoanalytic and behavioral orientation was investigated. Second, an attempt was made to gain insight into the dynamics of the clinical phenomenon of resistance. The results of the study indicated that both groups of therapists attached virtually the same meaning to the concept of resistance. Both groups viewed the same classes of behaviors as indicative of resistance. Furthermore, it was found, as expected, that analytically oriented therapists reported the occurrence of resistance more frequently. The two groups agreed that "avoiding" and "fighting" behaviors were the most prominent resistances of clients. Therapist behaviors that were most likely to elicit resistance in the client are the "informative" behaviors, such as asking questions about the nature and origin of the complaint. Clinical implications of the research findings are discussed.

The effects of two error-correction procedures on oral reading errors and a control condition were compared in an alternating treatments design with three students who were moderately mentally retarded. The two procedures evaluated were word supply and sentence repeat. The teacher supplied the reader with the correct word immediately after each student error during the word-supply condition. During the sentence-repeat condition, the teacher supplied the correct word immediately after each student error, required the student to repeat the correct word, complete reading the sentence, and then reread the entire sentence. Both word-supply and sentence-repeat procedures were effective in reducing oral reading errors when compared to a no-intervention control condition, but sentence repeat was superior to word supply. In addition, a similar relationship was found between the two procedures when the students were tested for retention on the same reading passages a week later. These results show that sentence repeat is more effective than is the commonly used word-supply procedure in remediating the oral reading errors of students with moderate mental retardation.

Biofeedback training for self-regulation of blood-volume pulse ("BVP") amplitude of the temporal arteries has been used previously with good results in treatment of migraine headaches. In the present study, 23 subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups and given (a) biofeedback training in temporal artery constriction and instructions to apply these skills during headaches; (b) the same training and instructions to apply the skills between headaches, during stress periods, and (c) biofeedback training to dilate the temporal arteries, and instructions to use these skills during stress periods. Clinically meaningful headache reductions were achieved and maintained at follow-up. Furthermore, results indicated that voluntary temporal artery dilatation also leads to headache reductions, and that there is a connection between levels of achieved self-regulation sldll and the clinical effects.