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Behavior therapy with hyperactive and learning disabled children
99
BOOKREVIEWS
working with families is convincing and he comes across as an experienced and humane man. His list of things to do before actually starting a programme is another helpful feature of the book covering such topics as organisation. equipment and record keeping. KozlotT is a sociologist and this might explain his broad perspective. He includes. for example. sections on dealing with marital conflicts, depression, attitude change and the problems faced by siblings. This contrasts with the more limited approach taken by many authors writing on a similar topic, BARBARAWILSON
B. B. LAHEY(Editor): Behavior Therapy with Press. New York (1979). ix + 260 pp. f5.75.
Hyperactive
and Learning
Disahkd
Children.
Oxford University
This is a collection of 25 articles, most of which have appeared in American journals since 1976, together with a specially written overview and brief introductory sections. Lahey and his colleagues suggest that the problems subsumed under the headings ‘hyperaction’ and ‘learning disabled’ have undergone a series of reformulations since they emerged from the 1940s views of brain damaged children. Neuropsychological, perceptual and psycholinguistic explanations dominated the 1950s. but little advances in either understanding of the nature of the disorder or effective intervention was evident. The early 1970s saw the development of behavioural approaches to treatment. Early attempts produced equivocal results by concentrating on inappropriate targets. Lahey argues that later studies which concentrated on academic learning and high rates of inappropriate behaviour have had more success. The selection of papers illustrate this sequence of development in research approaches, and the resulting collection is undoubtedly of considerable value for teaching purposes. However, none of the authors adequateI> tackles the vexing issue of how to define either of these categories of problems. Most of the American literature on ‘learning disability’ fails to operationalise the concept, whilst the definition of ‘hyperactive’ is so wide in comparison with European definitions qf ‘hyperkenesis’ as to be over-inclusive. It is clear that there has been an epidemic of hyperactivity and learning disability in America-an epidemic which has all too often been treated with liberal doses of Ritalin. The papers in this collection demonstrate that behavioural interventions are as effective if not more effective than medication. and for this they are welcome. Their impact would have been greater had the issues of classification of the disorders been tackled. WILLIAMYULI
W. E. LAMBERT.J. F. HAMERSand N. FRASURE-SMITH: Child New York (1979). xxii + 430 pp.
Rearing
Values:
A Cross Narional
Study.
Praeger.
In the authors’ words. this is a ‘globe-trotting’ exercise. The book documents a series of comparative studies on child-rearing values of parents from over ten national groups. The authors begin by exploring the similarities and differences between the English-speaking and French-speaking parents in Canada, and subsequently extend the comparison to other groups, including the natives and immigrants from America, England, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Greece and Japan. The account is fascinating to read, as each chapter unfolds new data and the two-, three-nation comparison is finally put into perspective in a ten-nation comparison in the concluding chapter. As an empirical study, the methodology is sound and clearly reported. The data are collected by means of asking parents to respond to a taped recording of a child who presents himself/herself in different situations, and the parent’s responses are coded into several scales by independent raters. The method comes close to a direct behavioural survey, and although the data are not obtained through observation of genuine situations, it permits the observation of behaviour in a wider sample of controlled conditions. The procedure is consistent throughout, which enables interested readers to go through the entire text or consult any particular chapter with equal ease. The results are presented both in statistical tables and graphical forms. Together with the detailed discussion of results, this has met the authors’ aim that readers who are and those who are not statIstIcally oriented have both been catered for. The theoretical discuss&m by comparison is brief, but in relating the findings on child rearing values with McClelland’s studies on motivation. the authors have put forward some interesting and testable hypotheses (see. for example, p. 367). There is also an attempt to consider the practical application of their findings in the understanding of the conflicts in values between parents and teachers in Canada. Readers who have known W. E. Lambert’s work will find this book living up to the high standard of his previous publications. The book will no doubt be of interest to research workers dealing with child-rearing practices and values. The particular merit is that it has also provided a new model for comparative studies across nations or cultures. MONA M. Tsor
J. M. NEALE.G. C. DA~~~CIN and K. P. PRICE(Editors): John Wiley. New York (1978). xi + 463 pp. f5.25.
Contemporary
Reading
in Psychopathology
(2nd Edition).
The editors were sufficiently encouraged by the response of both students and teachers to their first offering (1974) to embark on a second one only 4 years later. The nu’mber of articles has risen from 28 to 36. and
BOOKREVIEWS
working with families is convincing and he comes across as an experienced and humane man. His list of things to do before actually starting a programme is another helpful feature of the book covering such topics as organisation. equipment and record keeping. KozlotT is a sociologist and this might explain his broad perspective. He includes. for example. sections on dealing with marital conflicts, depression, attitude change and the problems faced by siblings. This contrasts with the more limited approach taken by many authors writing on a similar topic, BARBARAWILSON
B. B. LAHEY(Editor): Behavior Therapy with Press. New York (1979). ix + 260 pp. f5.75.
Hyperactive
and Learning
Disahkd
Children.
Oxford University
This is a collection of 25 articles, most of which have appeared in American journals since 1976, together with a specially written overview and brief introductory sections. Lahey and his colleagues suggest that the problems subsumed under the headings ‘hyperaction’ and ‘learning disabled’ have undergone a series of reformulations since they emerged from the 1940s views of brain damaged children. Neuropsychological, perceptual and psycholinguistic explanations dominated the 1950s. but little advances in either understanding of the nature of the disorder or effective intervention was evident. The early 1970s saw the development of behavioural approaches to treatment. Early attempts produced equivocal results by concentrating on inappropriate targets. Lahey argues that later studies which concentrated on academic learning and high rates of inappropriate behaviour have had more success. The selection of papers illustrate this sequence of development in research approaches, and the resulting collection is undoubtedly of considerable value for teaching purposes. However, none of the authors adequateI> tackles the vexing issue of how to define either of these categories of problems. Most of the American literature on ‘learning disability’ fails to operationalise the concept, whilst the definition of ‘hyperactive’ is so wide in comparison with European definitions qf ‘hyperkenesis’ as to be over-inclusive. It is clear that there has been an epidemic of hyperactivity and learning disability in America-an epidemic which has all too often been treated with liberal doses of Ritalin. The papers in this collection demonstrate that behavioural interventions are as effective if not more effective than medication. and for this they are welcome. Their impact would have been greater had the issues of classification of the disorders been tackled. WILLIAMYULI
W. E. LAMBERT.J. F. HAMERSand N. FRASURE-SMITH: Child New York (1979). xxii + 430 pp.
Rearing
Values:
A Cross Narional
Study.
Praeger.
In the authors’ words. this is a ‘globe-trotting’ exercise. The book documents a series of comparative studies on child-rearing values of parents from over ten national groups. The authors begin by exploring the similarities and differences between the English-speaking and French-speaking parents in Canada, and subsequently extend the comparison to other groups, including the natives and immigrants from America, England, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Greece and Japan. The account is fascinating to read, as each chapter unfolds new data and the two-, three-nation comparison is finally put into perspective in a ten-nation comparison in the concluding chapter. As an empirical study, the methodology is sound and clearly reported. The data are collected by means of asking parents to respond to a taped recording of a child who presents himself/herself in different situations, and the parent’s responses are coded into several scales by independent raters. The method comes close to a direct behavioural survey, and although the data are not obtained through observation of genuine situations, it permits the observation of behaviour in a wider sample of controlled conditions. The procedure is consistent throughout, which enables interested readers to go through the entire text or consult any particular chapter with equal ease. The results are presented both in statistical tables and graphical forms. Together with the detailed discussion of results, this has met the authors’ aim that readers who are and those who are not statIstIcally oriented have both been catered for. The theoretical discuss&m by comparison is brief, but in relating the findings on child rearing values with McClelland’s studies on motivation. the authors have put forward some interesting and testable hypotheses (see. for example, p. 367). There is also an attempt to consider the practical application of their findings in the understanding of the conflicts in values between parents and teachers in Canada. Readers who have known W. E. Lambert’s work will find this book living up to the high standard of his previous publications. The book will no doubt be of interest to research workers dealing with child-rearing practices and values. The particular merit is that it has also provided a new model for comparative studies across nations or cultures. MONA M. Tsor
J. M. NEALE.G. C. DA~~~CIN and K. P. PRICE(Editors): John Wiley. New York (1978). xi + 463 pp. f5.25.
Contemporary
Reading
in Psychopathology
(2nd Edition).
The editors were sufficiently encouraged by the response of both students and teachers to their first offering (1974) to embark on a second one only 4 years later. The nu’mber of articles has risen from 28 to 36. and