This study examined the effect of tic‐related talk on the vocal and motor tics of 2 boys with Tourette's syndrome. Using ABAB withdrawal designs, the boys were alternately exposed to conditions with and without talk of their tics. For both boys, vocal tics markedly increased when talk pertained to tics and decreased when talk did not pertain to tics, but motor tic covariance was less consistent.
A key concept in the continuum-of-care model is matching the restrictiveness of treatment to the level of youth behavior problems. Restrictiveness refers to the degree that treatment and setting constrains choices and limits freedoms of patients. Only a few investigators have examined this relationship, and the findings have been equivocal. Extending our initial study of the relationship between youth behavior problems and program restrictiveness, we examined the relationship across seven programs spanning the continuum of care: parent training program, outpatient clinic, family preservation program, treatment foster care, residential group home, acute-care shelter, and inpatient psychiatric hospital. Results indicated a high level of correspondence between restrictiveness and youth behavior problems, with the least restrictive programs serving children with fewer behavior problems and highly restrictive programs serving children with more behavior problems.
Early basic research showed that increases in required response effort (or force) produced effects that resembled those produced by punishment. A recent study by Alling and Poling determined some subtle differences between the two behavior-change strategies, but also confirmed that increasing required effort is an effective response-reduction procedure with enduring effects. In this paper we summarize basic research on response effort and explore the role of effort in diverse applied areas including deceleration of aberrant behavior, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oral habits, health care appointment keeping, littering, indexes of functional disability, and problem solving. We conclude that renewed interest in response effort as an independent variable is justified because of its potent effects and because the political constraints imposed on punishment- and reinforcement-based procedures have yet to be imposed on procedures that entail manipulations of response effort.
Pediatricians are often asked to advise parents who are having difficulty managing the oppositional behaviors of their toddlers and preschool-age children. A large number of articles provide advice to pediatricians and parents on effective disciplinary strategies. However, despite the fact that verbal explanations, reasoning, and instructions are commonly used by parents, few articles directly address the use of these strategies to affect children's behavior. In this paper, we review studies that explicitly investigate the ability of adults' verbal explanations or instructions to alter the behavior of young children. These studies suggest that under most circumstances, verbal explanations and instructions are not effective in changing young children's problem behaviors. We then discuss how theories in developmental and behavioral psychology help explain the limitations of using verbal reasoning and instructions to change young children's problem behaviors. Finally, we provide some recommendations for parents on the use of verbal explanations and instructions in disciplining young children.
Objective: To evaluate a novel intervention for bedtime problems. Design:We used an ABAB withdrawal-type experimental design.Setting: The intervention was prescribed in an outpatient primary health care context and evaluated in the home setting.Participants: Two normally developing boys aged 3 and 10 years were the primary participants.Twenty parents and 23 practicing pediatricians rated the acceptability of the intervention.Intervention: A bedtime pass, exchangeable for 1 excused departure from the bedroom after bedtime.Main Outcome Measures: For both primary participants, instances of crying and/or coming out from the
