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Behavior modification skills. A complete training program
314
BOOK REVIEWS
bchavioural principles. counselling skills. and books that clients could be recommended to read. and a useful bibliography and index. Annon’s book is thus based on common sense rather than behaviour therapq. and is disdppointingly poor in statistical informatIon on the efficacy of his programme. It is refreshmg in ns lack of dogmatism. e.g. on the question of whether clients should attend singly or in couptes. and m the breadth and variety of techniques advocated. There are some rather novelettish descriptions of interviews. and the writing as a whole needs a fair amount of tightening up. but by and large this IS a useful addltlon to the literature on the treatment of sexual problems. and could well hrldge the gap until a more dctinltlve textbook is produced. hl. J. Clout
‘Behavior Modification Skills’ is a “therapeutic package” in a different sense. Research Media Press has issued this training programme in behaviour modification which comprises five I:! m x 6 in hghtweight boxes. with hinged lids. each covered with attractive hessian material of a pleasant coffee colour. lnslde each box. carefully and neatly laid out in foam rubber. are one audiotape cassette and two cartons of shdes. 40 slides m each carton. In addition. two books lie snugly on top: one the Administrator’s manual. the other the Student‘s response book. Each box weighs less than 0.75 kg (1 lb 11 oz) which makes the whole kit easily portable. Some of the best jewellery is less well packaged. and Research Media Press is to be commended. at the very least. for the design and quality of the finished product in what is. to my knowledge. the first comprehensive approach to teachmg behaviour modification in kit form. The Five Units. as they are called. cover the basic skills of observing behaviour (pinpointing. counting. charting and identifving causes): increasing behaviour (identifying and using reinforcers): decreasing behaviour (punishment. extinction. time-out, response cost and over-correction); creating new behaviour (modelling. prompting. fading and shaping); and. finally. implementing the system by means of token reinforcers. The teaching method is audio-visuaf: set up the slides, open the response book. play the cassette and you are away. The tape takes you through examples of behavioural problems in a range of settmgs that varies from the classroom to the hospital ward. from the factory line to the front parlour. The audiovisual teaching method has clearly been carefully organised and works in the following manner. Turning first to the response book a Prc-View section serves as an introduction to the particular skill in question: simple examples are described and multiple choice tests given to assess how well you are following (a common factor throughout). The tape and slides are then brought into operation. All instructions are on the tape. which tells you when to move on to the next slide or when to turn to your response book and do a feu more tests. The Skifl View. as it is calted. covers the de~nition and operation of the skill in question m a variety of enacted situations and is generally fairfy thoroughly hammered home. and interestmgly and rcalistlcall> illustrated. At the end of this section the student returns to the response book for a review of the teaching and further practice at several examples. The Administration manuals contain various suggestions for hou the teaching might be timed and organised for both group and individual admmistratlon. Comprchcnslve and up-to-date reference lists are included in each manual. ‘Behavior Modification Skills’ raises two important questions. Should behaviour modiiication be taught in kit form and. if one accepts that it can be. does this programme teach it well’? In answering the first question I should perhaps state that I approached this review with a distinct bias against programmed teaching of this sort habing had no experience of anything other than personal teaching more or less on a modelling and apprenticeshlp basis. (Lack of experience is the best grounding for prejudice.) A vlslon was conjured up in my mind of thousands of eager students listening to their cassettes. watching their shdes and answering their tests. and. by the end of the programme believing themselves well versed in hchavtoural modification without. of course. ever having modified any behaviour other than their own. In thts lies the danger of all packaged tcachine: one never knows where the package may end up and how it will be used. or rather abused. Research Me&a Press regard their product as parr of teaching course in hehaviour modification not as a replacement for such a course. If it is used in conjunction with other forms of clinical teachin& then I can see nothing wrong with a kit of this sort. and indeed a number of advantages in it. Kits can be seen as merely examples of the use of modern teaching methods to supplement the older traditional ones. Does this programme teach behaviour modification well? It all depends what one means hy ‘behaviour modification’. The type of teaching covered by ‘Behavior Modification Skills’ is fundamentally operant in orientation. and so the emphasis throughout is on the functional analysis of behaviour~~identifyin~ controlling variables and manipulating them. The less operant behaviour therapist might find the programme too restrictive in outlook with little or no awareness of the importance of ‘non-specifics’ in all patient- therapist interactions. However. this is not so much a criticism of the programme but a recognition of Its orientation. Glvcn Modification Skills‘ provides that it represents a strict operant approach to behaviour change, ‘Behavior a thorough. systematic, imagmative and colourful teaching programme. The skills are all clearly illustrated and accurately described. The audiovisual method lends itself well to good teaching and IS easy to follow and learn from. If I were workmg in a setting where large-scale operant programmes were hemg Implemented. then 1 would happily use the kit. along with other teaching methods. to get over the basic opcranl skills to inexperienced personnel. For example. the programme might be used in training nurses on a token economy ward: or m traming teachers to handle behavioural problems at school. Mv mam reservation ahout the programme is its expense, At 9345 it is clearly beyond the reach of most indik’iduals. Traming courses are most likely to invest in it, but it would only suit those who spend a large part of their time on operant work. In these days of economic gloom. a programme such as this may well he regarded as an expenskve luxury. which would be a pity since the audiovisual method cmhodled in the programme adds a new and attractive dimension to the teaching of behaviour modification. JOHN S. MARZILLIER
BOOK REVIEWS
bchavioural principles. counselling skills. and books that clients could be recommended to read. and a useful bibliography and index. Annon’s book is thus based on common sense rather than behaviour therapq. and is disdppointingly poor in statistical informatIon on the efficacy of his programme. It is refreshmg in ns lack of dogmatism. e.g. on the question of whether clients should attend singly or in couptes. and m the breadth and variety of techniques advocated. There are some rather novelettish descriptions of interviews. and the writing as a whole needs a fair amount of tightening up. but by and large this IS a useful addltlon to the literature on the treatment of sexual problems. and could well hrldge the gap until a more dctinltlve textbook is produced. hl. J. Clout
‘Behavior Modification Skills’ is a “therapeutic package” in a different sense. Research Media Press has issued this training programme in behaviour modification which comprises five I:! m x 6 in hghtweight boxes. with hinged lids. each covered with attractive hessian material of a pleasant coffee colour. lnslde each box. carefully and neatly laid out in foam rubber. are one audiotape cassette and two cartons of shdes. 40 slides m each carton. In addition. two books lie snugly on top: one the Administrator’s manual. the other the Student‘s response book. Each box weighs less than 0.75 kg (1 lb 11 oz) which makes the whole kit easily portable. Some of the best jewellery is less well packaged. and Research Media Press is to be commended. at the very least. for the design and quality of the finished product in what is. to my knowledge. the first comprehensive approach to teachmg behaviour modification in kit form. The Five Units. as they are called. cover the basic skills of observing behaviour (pinpointing. counting. charting and identifving causes): increasing behaviour (identifying and using reinforcers): decreasing behaviour (punishment. extinction. time-out, response cost and over-correction); creating new behaviour (modelling. prompting. fading and shaping); and. finally. implementing the system by means of token reinforcers. The teaching method is audio-visuaf: set up the slides, open the response book. play the cassette and you are away. The tape takes you through examples of behavioural problems in a range of settmgs that varies from the classroom to the hospital ward. from the factory line to the front parlour. The audiovisual teaching method has clearly been carefully organised and works in the following manner. Turning first to the response book a Prc-View section serves as an introduction to the particular skill in question: simple examples are described and multiple choice tests given to assess how well you are following (a common factor throughout). The tape and slides are then brought into operation. All instructions are on the tape. which tells you when to move on to the next slide or when to turn to your response book and do a feu more tests. The Skifl View. as it is calted. covers the de~nition and operation of the skill in question m a variety of enacted situations and is generally fairfy thoroughly hammered home. and interestmgly and rcalistlcall> illustrated. At the end of this section the student returns to the response book for a review of the teaching and further practice at several examples. The Administration manuals contain various suggestions for hou the teaching might be timed and organised for both group and individual admmistratlon. Comprchcnslve and up-to-date reference lists are included in each manual. ‘Behavior Modification Skills’ raises two important questions. Should behaviour modiiication be taught in kit form and. if one accepts that it can be. does this programme teach it well’? In answering the first question I should perhaps state that I approached this review with a distinct bias against programmed teaching of this sort habing had no experience of anything other than personal teaching more or less on a modelling and apprenticeshlp basis. (Lack of experience is the best grounding for prejudice.) A vlslon was conjured up in my mind of thousands of eager students listening to their cassettes. watching their shdes and answering their tests. and. by the end of the programme believing themselves well versed in hchavtoural modification without. of course. ever having modified any behaviour other than their own. In thts lies the danger of all packaged tcachine: one never knows where the package may end up and how it will be used. or rather abused. Research Me&a Press regard their product as parr of teaching course in hehaviour modification not as a replacement for such a course. If it is used in conjunction with other forms of clinical teachin& then I can see nothing wrong with a kit of this sort. and indeed a number of advantages in it. Kits can be seen as merely examples of the use of modern teaching methods to supplement the older traditional ones. Does this programme teach behaviour modification well? It all depends what one means hy ‘behaviour modification’. The type of teaching covered by ‘Behavior Modification Skills’ is fundamentally operant in orientation. and so the emphasis throughout is on the functional analysis of behaviour~~identifyin~ controlling variables and manipulating them. The less operant behaviour therapist might find the programme too restrictive in outlook with little or no awareness of the importance of ‘non-specifics’ in all patient- therapist interactions. However. this is not so much a criticism of the programme but a recognition of Its orientation. Glvcn Modification Skills‘ provides that it represents a strict operant approach to behaviour change, ‘Behavior a thorough. systematic, imagmative and colourful teaching programme. The skills are all clearly illustrated and accurately described. The audiovisual method lends itself well to good teaching and IS easy to follow and learn from. If I were workmg in a setting where large-scale operant programmes were hemg Implemented. then 1 would happily use the kit. along with other teaching methods. to get over the basic opcranl skills to inexperienced personnel. For example. the programme might be used in training nurses on a token economy ward: or m traming teachers to handle behavioural problems at school. Mv mam reservation ahout the programme is its expense, At 9345 it is clearly beyond the reach of most indik’iduals. Traming courses are most likely to invest in it, but it would only suit those who spend a large part of their time on operant work. In these days of economic gloom. a programme such as this may well he regarded as an expenskve luxury. which would be a pity since the audiovisual method cmhodled in the programme adds a new and attractive dimension to the teaching of behaviour modification. JOHN S. MARZILLIER