Conceptual and empirical bases of conjoint behavioral consultation.

This article describes "conjoint behavioral consultation," a model of service delivery that addresses the shared responsibility among school personnel, families, and other important systems in educational problem solving. In conjoint behavioral consultation parents and teachers are joined to work together to address the academic, social, or behavioral needs of a child for whom both parties bear some responsibility. The conceptual background (incorporating ecological-systems and behavioral theories) and important features of the model are reviewed briefly. Findings from a number of empirical studies, including outcome studies, case studies, process research, and acceptability research, are reviewed. Directions for future research are also explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Zuni life skills development curriculum: Description and evaluation of a suicide prevention program.

In collaboration with the Zuni pueblo, a culturally tailored intervention program was designed using a model of social cognitive development to remediate the behavioral and cognitive correlates of suicide. The Zuni Life Skills Development curriculum was introduced in the tribal high school and evaluated using a multimethod approach including self-report, behavioral observation, and peer rating. Students exposed to the curriculum scored better than the no-intervention group at posttest on suicide probability and hopelessness. In addition, the intervention group showed greater ability to perform problem-solving and suicide intervention skills in a behavioral assessment. The effectiveness of the program and recommendations for similar prevention programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

University success for Canadian Indians.

Evaluated the effectiveness of the {core} educational model in aiding students to adjust to and succeed in the university environment. On the basis of performance on basic skills test, personality tests, and in selection interviews, 21 status Indians (i.e., Indians who were band members, had treaty numbers, and were eligible for financial assistance from the federal govenment) were enrolled in the {core} program. This program incorporates remedial tutoring and learning skill supports into each of 3 basic course areas (art, social science, and science). Students' progress was evaluated at the end of each academic term. Test results indicate that throughout the year the students made statistically reliable gains in reading and writing skills. A comparison of the achievement levels of 2 groups of native students, {core} and {pre-core,} strikingly demonstrates that the {core} model is an effective and efficient educational method which facilitates academic success among Indian people. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual foundations for school psychology: Perspectives from the development of the school psychology program at Berkeley.

Describes the Berkeley School Psychology Program, instituted in 1965 to prepare doctoral level school psychologists in the cognitive, social, and behavioral sciences and to be skilled in applying this knowledge to educational programs for children and youths. Grounded in a scientific basis for practice and trained in developing applications of this knowledge base to direct and indirect services for children and youths, the school psychologist promotes individual effectiveness and prevents educational failure. The medium through which the school psychologist's knowledge is translated into action by the educators who are responsible for educational programs is school-based consultation. An overview of the history of the program from its inception to the present is provided, and challenges for program and professional development for the remainder of the century are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of a computer-facilitated interactive social skills training program for boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at significant risk for a variety of comorbid conditions, including social skills deficits. Although interventions addressing various aspects of social difficulties with these children have been developed, few researchers have integrated new technology with existing social skills intervention literature and investigated such approaches empirically. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a computer-mediated social skills training program for children diagnosed with ADHD. The program presented specific social skill sequences to four children with ADHD in a variety of computer-facilitated formats with video peer modeling, social problem-solving, and reinforcement components. Participants' abilities to demonstrate specific social problem-solving skills effectively in a behavioral analogue environment were evaluated. The study used a multiple-probe variation of the multiple-baseline design (MBD) across participants. All participants demonstrated improvements in ability to demonstrate effective social problem-solving skills in analogue role-play assessments with live peers. Follow-up data at 3 and 6 week intervals indicated that participants maintained their gains over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristics predicting social functioning and treatment response in clients impaired by extreme shyness: Age of onset and the public/private shyness distinction.

52 adults that were functionally impaired by extreme shyness participated in an interview that assessed factors surrounding shyness onset, social functioning, strategies for coping with shyness, and behavioral skill in social interactions. 34 Ss then participated in an 8-wk behavioral treatment program that provided training in social skills. Ss reporting early onset also described their parents as shy, while Ss reporting later onset had a childhood history of emotional or physical abuse. Ss with observable behavioral deficits were more likely to benefit from the behavioral treatment program than were shy Ss with few overt symptoms. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of programs for teaching personal safety skills to preschoolers.

We compared the relative effectiveness of two educational approaches for teaching personal safety skills with 100 preschoolers. A behavioral skills training program was compared with a feelings-based program, which instructs children to trust their feelings when making safety decisions. Children's abilities to discriminate between appropriate- and inappropriate-touch requests, their prevention skills, and levels of emotional distress were assessed before, immediately, and one month after program participation. Parents and teachers were surveyed regarding children's reactions. Compared with a control presentation, both programs were effective in enhancing children's knowledge and prevention skills without making them fearful, suggesting that preschool children can benefit from such programs. However, children in the feelings-based program had difficulty recognizing the appropriateness of certain touch requests, suggesting that this approach may have limited utility with preschool-age children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The parent-therapist program: an innovative approach to treating emotionally disturbed children

The authors describe the parent-therapist program, an innovative alternative to residential treatment for emotionally disturbed children. In the program, which is based on the extended family model, couples not only provide a residential milieu for a child placed with them, but also are trained to be therapists who can deal with specific emotional and behavioral problems. The parent-therapists work together in three treatment teams, each consisting of five couples. Education and supervision are ongoing. A total of 27 children have been treated in the program since it got under way in May 1972. Clinical impressions indicate that the children have made substantial gains in developing social and interpersonal skills and in their academic acievement.     

Treatment of aggression for an adult diagnosed with schizophrenia at a public psychiatric hospital.

The effectiveness of a behavioral program to treat chronic aggression in an adult male individual diagnosed with schizophrenia at a public psychiatric hospital was evaluated. A behavioral plan was developed to provide the client with positive social interactions, social skills training, and positive reinforcement for prosocial behavior; no negative consequences were implemented. The number of aggressive acts declined with the introduction of the behavioral plan and ultimately remitted even without ongoing reinforcers. This article demonstrates the value of psychological intervention in treating aggression with a treatment-resistant client in an in-patient setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching personal safety skills for potential prevention of sexual abuse: A comparison of treatments.

71 children from 2 grade groups (kindergarten and 1st grade and 5th and 6th grades) participated in either (a) a filmed program ("Touch"; Illusion Theater Co. & Media Ventures, Inc., 1984); (b) a behavioral skills training (BST) program in which modeling, behavioral rehearsal, and social reinforcement were used to teach safety skills; (c) a combination of the two; or (d) a no-treatment control presentation. In comparison with the control presentation, the BST program, alone or in combination with the film, was more effective than the film alone in enhancing knowledge about sexual abuse. Posttreatment group comparisons suggested the superiority of the BST program for enhancing personal safety skills. The treatments were not differentially effective across gender or age, but older Ss performed significantly better than did younger Ss. The knowledge and skill gains made directly after treatment were maintained for the 3 mo between posttest and follow-up assessments. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Educational psychologists on the high frontier.

Educational psychologists can make a significant contribution to the success of the national space program. This fact may surprise many professionals in public schools or universities who are occupied with the traditional tasks of student evaluation, textbook and computer-based training courseware development, cognitive and behavioral research, task analyses, or test design and validation. These same skills, modified slightly, are of critical importance in supporting the shuttle payload community and the astronauts who have to operate a variety of payloads on orbit. The complex, earth-based training and research preparations that educational psychologists can direct set the stage for successful task performance on each of the shuttle's missions to the high frontier. In this article, examples are given that provide a glimpse into the contributions that educational psychologists are making to the space program. When space shuttles begin to fly again in 1987, a sizable number of human factors and program design/evaluation experts (i.e., educational psychologists) should be on hand to assist with the numerous tasks involved in preparing the crews, customers, flight controllers, and engineers to support each mission. The Challenger disaster serves as a reminder that insightful, thorough research into all aspects of each mission must be conducted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The professional nonpsychology graduate program for psychologists.

Describes a graduate program designed to train people for public affairs careers that maximizes the effective use of psychological skills and knowledge. The program covers such areas as community structure and social systems; interorganizational relations; social forecasting and intervention; and research methods and qualitative skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introducing cognitive-behavioral training into a self-help drug treatment program.

Describes the mechanics of introducing cognitive-behavioral training into a self-help drug treatment program. Issues that emerged in developing such a paradigm in an outpatient clinic treatment program for cocaine users included incorporating coping techniques into a therapeutic community (TC) milieu, professional leadership vs self-help, and theoretical incompatibilities between 12-step programs and psychological models emphasizing self-control. Although cognitive-behavioral training shares the TC emphasis on self-help, a systematic approach was needed for it to achieve acceptance within the intense cohesiveness of the TC. Examples of applicable behavioral skills training included overcoming social anxieties, dealing with nonverbal experience, and anger management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis of the extremities

Working on a Nursing Home Demonstration Project seeking alternative forms of care for this "abandoned" population, and testing the cost-effectiveness of these forms, is the vantage point from which the social worker involved assessed how her professional skills meshed with patient needs. How patients' levels of functioning and behavior were improved through the exercise of administrative, educational and practice skills is defined.     

Structured forms of social behaviour: Colleague relations in the real estate business.

Notes that behavioral sociologists and psychologists have been concerned mainly with explaining elementary forms of social behavior and with building towards macrolevel from microlevel social processes. The present article attempts to add to behavioral sociology by showing how reward and cost opportunities at the microlevel are "structured by" wider social systems for most complex forms of social behavior. An analysis of colleague relations among residential real estate agents illustrates the argument. Their role as middlemen in a wider system of property exchange, and the commission system through which they are rewarded, force agents into a situation of "structural ambivalence" in their colleague relations. This structural ambivalence is dealt with by a set of collective defense mechanisms which account for the dynamics of emergent daily interaction among colleagues. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating behavioral technology into public schools.

Suggests 7 measures behavioral educators can take to make effective educational procedures available in public schools. Suggestions include making the 1st priority of behavioral educators the dissemination of effective technology, developing comprehensive educational systems, simplifying and beautifying existing effective procedures, creating a market for effective educational technology, obtaining new measures of educational success, beginning a program of educational activism, and foraging in new fields. These measures are offered in light of the fact that many urban youth face bleak futures, even though the educational technology to correct this problem has existed since the 1970s. Part of the problem is that public school teachers have the right to reject educational procedures that are unappealing to them, that are labor intensive, or that are seen as stifling their creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social decision-making and life skills development: a critical thinking approach to health promotion in the middle school

This article discusses a classroom-based social decision-making intervention for health promotion and prevention of problem behaviors. The social decision-making approach brings together social-cognitive, affective, behavioral, and social relationship areas with critical thinking skills important for academic achievement. These skills are the same ones needed to promote children's health and prevent substance abuse and related health-compromising behaviors. Key components of this program, its development, and theoretical background are discussed, focusing on implications for school-based health promotion. As such, social decision-making provides an approach to health promotion that enhances coordination among classroom and health education personnel. The middle school years, a time of increasing risk for negative health-related outcomes, are examined as a key period for intervention. Finally, empirical evidence supporting use of social decision-making and related approaches is discussed.     

Pretesting effects in the evaluation of social skills training.

Evaluated the effects of pretesting in conjunction with a group social skills training program, using a wide variety of outcome measures. Half of the 46 undergraduate Ss were self-referred, while the other half were volunteers from an introductory psychology class. A Solomon 4-groups design was used to evaluate the effects of pretesting, the skills training program, and their interaction. Strong evidence of pretesting effects was found for measures associated with a behavioral forced interaction task. Implications of the results for selection of outcome measures are discussed. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist as change agent.

Given the press of contemporary social problems, psychologists are confronted with opportunities to become agents for social change. The academic, research-oriented training of psychologists does not equip him with the relevant values, knowledge, or skills to become an effective change agent and predisposes: him to reject the role as unscientific or unprofessional. This is true for the clinical, educational, and industrial psychologist as well as for the experimental and comparative psychologist. Professionals are being trained in management schools and departments of applied behavioral science who possess the requisite values, interdisciplinary knowledge, and consultative skills to be effective change agents in large organizations. Their general strategy is to transmit their knowledge and skills to non-professionals in the organization who share their values. Psychologists have typically viewed this activity by non-psychologists as a threat and their response has been characterized more by a defence of the discipline than by a concern for solving problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classic Kaposi''s sarcoma: low-dose interferon alfa treatment

Using process evaluation data, this paper compares the "recovery" planning process of the social model programs with the "treatment" planning process in a comparison medical model program. We consider how the planning process is actually conducted, the role of staff versus clients in the planning process, and how the implementation of the planning process is monitored and evaluated at the programs. Results point to major differences in the actual process of treatment planning and recovery planning. Professional staff at medical model programs generally direct and control the planning process and its implementation. In social model programs, clients are directly responsible for developing their own recovery plans, within a context of help from peers and recovering staff; the latter oversee the process. We conclude that both treatment planning and recovery planning are distinct and defining features of medical and social model philosophies. Treatment planning in medical model programs and recovery planning in social model programs serve similar administrative and programmatic functions. However, the impact on patients/residents is likely to be significantly different. Recovery planning becomes a skill acquired by clients, part of the experiential education characterizing social model programs. Future research is needed to assess whether these planning skills actually aid social model clients in structuring a sober lifestyle in aftercare, and whether differences are obtained by the more passive client role in planning taken at the medical model program.