Review of Behavioral analysis of drug dependence.

Reviews the book, Behavioral analysis of drug dependence edited by Steven R. Goldberg and Ian P. Stolerman (1986). This volume brings together the main findings of basic research in behavioral pharmacology that have direct relevance to issues in drug dependence. As the editors note, the book is unique in being organized around behavioral principles rather than specific drug classes. It is also unique in making accessible a series of clearly written, well-edited summaries of the experimental literature to professionals and students who have no special background in behavioral pharmacology. I would recommend the Goldberg and Stolerman collection to researchers as well as substance abuse professionals and I think any student of substance abuse will find much of value here. The book will make a wonderful seminar at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level. Goldberg and Stolerman have succeeded in making an excellent overview of the behavioral pharmacology literature on drug dependence available to us in a single volume. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral Assessment of Childhood Disorders.

Reviews the book, Behavioral Assessment of Childhood Disorders by Eric J. Mash and Leif G. Terdal (Eds.) (1981). Behavioral Assessment of Childhood Disorders will be the standard against which any future volumes on behavioural assessment of children will be compared. Eric Mash and Lief Terdal have covered a broad range of childhood problems in 16 chapters by well-known psychologists. The major strengths of the volume are its broad scope and the clinical and research expertise of the individual contributors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral approaches to cardiovascular disease.

Reviews the book, Behavioral approaches to cardiovascular disease by Richard S. Surwit, Redford B. Williams Jr., and David Shapiro (1982). The authors' stated purpose in this book is to provide a complete and critical review of the state of knowledge in cardiovascular behavioral medicine (as of 1982). The organization of this volume includes four introductory chapters on the conceptual bases of behavioral medicine, summaries of cardiovascular regulation and psychophysiology, and principles of conditioning as they pertain to modifying cardiovascular functions. The core of the book consists of the next four chapters on specific disorders: coronary heart disease, hypertension, Raynaud's phenomenon, and migraine/vascular headache. A final chapter deals with selected clinical issues in the application of behavioral medicine technology. This book is generally clear and well-written, with a consistent style maintained throughout. The authors' message is presented in a manner that is likely to be accepted by physicians as well as psychologists. Unfortunately, the text occasionally presupposes a degree of knowledge of physiology and anatomy that some psychologists may lack (e.g., "attenuation of the baroreceptor-mediated inhibition of sympathetic outflow" —p. 27). This volume is likely to prove most useful to cardiovascular researchers and practitioners in cardiovascular rehabilitation programs or general medical hospitals who employ biofeedback, relaxation techniques, and life style modification procedures. Although it is no longer the "timely review" it was when first published, this book will remain a valuable reference work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral Medicine: Changing Health Lifestyles.

Reviews the book, Behavioral Medicine: Changing Health Lifestyles by Park O. Davidson and Sheena M. Davidson (1980). Since 1969, the Banff International Conferences have served as a "window" on the future applications of behaviour modification principles and techniques. Behavioral Medicine: Changing Health Lifestyles is the "report" of that conference. (the reviewer hastens to point out, however, that the Banff Conference reports are much more than a collection of papers presented at the conference itself. They are chapters written specially for publication.) For a number of years there has been an increasing awareness of and concern with the fact that "lifestyle" plays an important role in health and ill health alike. Faulty habits and behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption, overeating, lack of exercise, overwork, etc., may play a critical causal role in the development of physical disorders. At the same time, however, changing these behaviours, and maintaining the changes, has quite often proven to be beyond the skills of even the most talented clinician. The present volume addresses this challenge: the application of behavioural principles to the problems of physical health and illness. The chapters are well written and the usual vagaries of an edited book (such as stylistic differences between authors) have been minimized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral scientists in courts and corrections.

Reviews the book, Behavioral scientists in courts and corrections by James T. Ziegenfuss Jr. (1985). Ziegenfuss has put together a systematic account of the activities of behavioural scientists in courts and corrections in a manner that is both coherent and impressive. The book succeeds in its goal of linking law and behavioural science largely because Ziegenfuss provides powerful examples and numerous case studies that illustrate concretely the applications that are possible in the psychology/law interface. Ziegenfuss had three main objectives for the book: to define the functions of behavioural scientists in courts and corrections, to illustrate how these functions contribute meaningfully to court and correctional organizations, and to provide behavioural scientists with an understanding of their potential contributions. Generally, these three objectives are well met. Nevertheless, there are some omissions that are surprising. Although there are several things that I would like to have seen in this book (e.g., a discussion of the law and economics movement), the most conspicuously absent features are discussions of training and discussions of ethics. In fairness to Ziegenfuss, training and ethical issues were not a part of his explicitly stated purposes in the book. I recommend this book for behavioural scientists who are working or intend to work in the legal system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A primer of drug action.

Reviews the book, A primer of drug action (4th ed.) by Robert M. Julien (see record 1985-97568-000). This volume, which is the fourth edition of this text to appear in the last decade, provides an excellent introduction to drugs that affect the central nervous system. The author begins with basic pharmacology--how drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated--and then discusses specific pharmacological agents by grouping them into five major categories. This book can be understood easily by those with no background in the biological sciences. Students who are deficient in such knowledge can pick up what they need to know from the appendices, which are as thoughtfully prepared as the remainder of the text. Another nice feature of this book is that its content is not overly Americanized and thus it is unlikely to alienate Canadian students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral methods for chronic pain and illness: A reconsideration and appreciation.

Behavioral Methods for Chronic Pain and Illness was written by W. E. Fordyce (1976) at a time when psychological contributions to pain were poorly understood, much less the applications of nonpharmacologic methods for addressing this substantial problem. Fordyce's work created a new paradigm for treating pain and other chronic medical problems and spawned operant approaches to chronic pain, in which exercise and adaptive behaviors are reinforced and pain behaviors are extinguished. The quota system for increasing activity, solicitous behavior as reinforcement for chronic pain, and fear of movement as a barrier to patient improvement are all ideas that had their genesis in Fordyce's work. Behavioral Methods will long be remembered as one of the most significant contributions to the field of pain control, behavioral medicine, and rehabilitation psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral psychology in rehabilitation medicine: Clinical applications.

Reviews the book, Behavioral psychology in rehabilitation medicine: Clinical applications by Laurence P. Ince (1980). This book summarizes, illustrates, and stimulates the application of behavioral psychology to the solution of motoric, cognitive, perceptual, communicative, pain-related, and self-management problems admirably. Overall, this is a book that deserves a prominent place in the preparatory and continuing education of rehabilitation personnel in all of the psychosocial, medical, and engineering disciplines. The volume illustrates the gap that exists between already available technologies and typical programs in rehabilitation centers, programs that, in Friedlander's words, "have barely emerged from the 19th century" (p. 62). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Drugs and behavior: An introduction to behavioral pharmacology.

Reviews the book, Drugs and behavior: An introduction to behavioral pharmacology by William A. McKim (1986). This book effectively describes in 14 chapters the diverse aspects of behavioural pharmacology. The structure of the chapters ensures that a continuity of basic principles in behavioural pharmacology will emerge, and the reader will be able to understand the behavioural consequences of drugs with respect to their physiology and pharmacology in each chapter. This book covers the material well, and in my opinion its greatest strength is its readability. The author produced a book that will not only give undergraduate and graduate students a solid foundation in behavioural pharmacology, but will also provide an enjoyable reading experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral approaches to medicine: Application and analysis.

Reviews the book, Behavioral approaches to medicine: Application and analysis edited by J. Regis McNamara (1979). In this book, McNamara has taken a different perspective, emphasizing the content of behavioral assessment and treatment as it applies to the activities of psychologists and other health professionals in medical settings. McNamara speaks of the interpenetration of behavior modification into medicine, much as one might speak of the use of behavior therapy in schools or of the application of behavioral psychology in prisons. Instead of involving the reader in a discussion of the nuances of definitions of fields such as health psychology or behavioral medicine, McNamara sticks with the idea of applying principles from a familiar area to particular problems that arise in a different area. Thus, the focus of the book is on practical problem-solving and on developing a behavioral conceptualization of health care problems. This book is very useful to the extent that it consistently presents this point of view. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral assessment and rehabilitation of the traumatically brain-damaged.

Reviews the book, Behavioral assessment and rehabilitation of the traumatically brain-damaged by Barry A. Edelstein and Eugene T. Couture (1984). Over the last decade or so, advances in assessment and management within clinical neuropsychology have had a profound impact on rehabilitation psychology. Barry Edelstein and Eugene Couture have edited this book out of a "long-standing interest in the retraining of traumatically brain-damaged adults and the management of their behavior by family members." The editors want to provide a reference that moves from standard neuropsychological assessment to issues of retraining of skill deficits. They hope that this volume will be useful to clinical psychologists, clinical neuropsychologists, rehabilitation medicine specialists, physical therapists, speech pathologists, and other rehabilitation disciplines involved in the treatment and rehabilitation of the traumatically brain-damaged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral health: A handbook of health enhancement and disease prevention.

Reviews the book, Behavioral health: A handbook of health enhancement and disease prevention edited by Joseph D. Matarazzo, Sharlene M. Weiss, J. Alan Herd, Neal E. Miller, and Stephen M. Weiss (1984). The term "behavioral health" is defined in this book as an interdisciplinary field dedicated to promoting a philosophy of health that stresses individual responsibility in the application of behavioral and biomedical science knowledge and techniques to the maintenance of health and the prevention of illness and dysfunction by a variety of self-initiated or shared activities. Overall, this book is a superb contribution to the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral and emotional disorders in adolescents: Nature, assessment and treatments.

Reviews the book, Behavioral and emotional disorders in adolescents: Nature, assessment and treatment by David A. Wolfe and Eric J. Mash (see record 2005-16249-000). The primary goal of this edited volume is to capture the current state of knowledge about the important behavioural and emotional adjustment problems and disorders of adolescence. Through 20 chapters by foremost experts, the reader is apprised of the unique features of these disorders in adolescents in comparison with children and adults, and of the importance of developmental issues and a developmental perspective. Any thought that adolescent disorders are adequately addressed by upward extension of knowledge of child disorders and downward extension of knowledge of adult disorders is compellingly dispelled. The unique compilation of empirical findings specifically for adolescents is a boon to those pursuing research, teaching or evidence- based practice with this age group. This book will be mandatory reading for any mental health professional, including academics, graduate students, and clinicians working with or teaching about troubled adolescents. As a text, it is excellent for a graduate course on the subject, and an essential reference source for those teaching abnormal development at the undergraduate level or providing clinical service to adolescents and their families. The book will be a classic in the field and a mandatory starting point for any professional interested in a detailed overview of the state of the art in Western societies, including researchers interested in an overview of areas outside their own specific expertise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavior Modification: What It Is And How To Do It (Second Edition).

Reviews the book, Behavior Modification: What It Is And How To Do It (Second Edition) by Garry Martin and Joseph Pear. Behavior Modification: What It Is And How To Do It is a very accurate title. The text is not a survey of the many different kinds of problems to which behavioural technology has been applied. Rather, it teaches the basic concepts of operant and respondent behaviour within the confines of specific areas of application with children and adults. The reviewer highly recommends Behavior Modification: What It Is And How To Do It as an excellent, rigorous, flexible, and reportedly very readable text for both undergraduate and graduate student courses for which the content is appropriate. I would hope, however, that the authors would consider offering a test bank of multiple-choice questions (preferably on microcomputer diskettes, which are becoming increasingly common) so that the text could be more easily adapted to Mastery Learning techniques which do require very frequent examinations. An already excellent textbook, with this additional capability, could make what is now a significant contribution into a classic contribution to the teaching of the concepts and techniques of behaviour analysis! (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Parent-child interaction therapy.

Reviews the book, Parent-child interaction therapy by Tom L. Hembree-Kigin and Cheryl Bodiford McNeil (see record 1995-98294-000). This book outlines an important, relatively new behavior therapy method with children called Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). PCIT is a technique that explicitly aims at developing mutual parent and child skills in an affectionate relationship, while retaining the traditional emphasis upon positive social behaviors and (mostly) noncoercive disciplinary efforts. According to the reviewer, the authors have done a very sound job of producing a helpful manual that points in advance to the resolution of common problems in dealing with behaviorally disturbed children and their parents. Although there are some caveats, this book important contribution to the child treatment literature will be beneficial to psychotherapists of all persuasions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Drugs and Drug Abuse: A Reference Text.

Reviews the book, Drugs and Drug Abuse: A Reference Text by T. C. Cox, M. R. Jacobs, A. E. LeBlanc, and J. A. Marshman (1983). This reference book was written at the request of County Court judges "to provide judges, lawyers and other concerned professionals, such as physicians and social workers, with a guide to many issues and pertinent facts associated with psychoactive drug use and abuse." This stated purpose has been effectively accomplished. It is timely, because the intended users of this book are deeply involved in dealing with drug use. It is reasonable to expect that the above-mentioned professionals operate on the basis of factual knowledge rather than myths and ignorance. For this reason I regard this an important reference book. Pharmacology is the main theme of this book; however, psychology, medicine, chemistry, epidemiology, and a number of other disciplines which have made significant contributions to the understanding of drug use are also incorporated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Challenges in clinical practice.

Reviews the book, Challenges in clinical practice edited by Pollack, Otto, and Rosenbau (see record 1996-97898-000). This textbook addresses the interface of pharmacological and psychological approaches to treating human behavior. It seems to strike the difficult balance between providing sufficient scientific and clinical underpinnings in a "reader friendly" format, without speaking down to the audience. In general, this book is sufficiently comprehensive and written in a clear style. It may be helpful for psychiatrists as well as psychologists, though general practitioners might have some difficulty keeping up. However, an attempt to further dilute it would probably have detracted from its strengths. This was an ambitious effort by the authors. One hopes that such work will enhance future efforts to bridge the gap between two fields that are in need of a new training model that will help in the development of a much more powerful model for the comprehensive delivery of mental health services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behaviour Therapy in Clinical Psychiatry.

Reviews the book, Behaviour Therapy in Clinical Psychiatry by V. Meyer and Edward S. Chesser (see record 1970-21119-000). This is a Penguin paperback psychology series book of 288 pages. It deals mainly with principles. In some sense, it is an annotated review and represents a thorough search of the recent literature. As such, this book has the fault of being both too telegramatic and a bit pedantic. Its major value would seem to be for students of behavioural sciences, thesis writers, and other academics. The contents of the book involve initially a review of psychiatric disorders and learning theories. A second major section reviews principles of conditioning and learning, followed by specific learning theory formulations of psychiatric disorders. A later section covers the theory and methods of treatment, and finally, onto the efficacy of behaviour therapy, current research studies, clinical applications and a consideration of the present status and prospects for behaviour therapy. The general value of this book for "clinical psychiatry" would, I think, be limited. One can imagine that some editor has imposed the title "Behaviour Therapy in Clinical Psychiatry" with a view more to the marketplace than out of respect for the quite commendable research goals and content of the text. In summary, this is a thorough review of the state of the science (but not of the art) and, I would judge, worth the money. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)