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Child behavior modification: A manual for teachers, nurses and parents
Dssp~tc noting that ‘school pshchslog) has been long on dlagnosls. but short on treatment‘. the ;luthor soIlcIted jchool ps)cholo$sts only in compdm=0 his list of o\er I.000 ‘treatments’ thought to bc applicable to disturbed children. Of the I.350 people :xpproachsd. only I-lb rsplicd. The book consist5 of an uncrtticcll listiny of their juunestions. -ihs book starts with the following self-consciously co> disclaimer---‘It is explicitI> noted that nsithsr ths author nor his sur\e\ contributors in any waq guarantee the effectiveness of the prescriptions contained here In aidrng troubled children.’ It might ha\e been better to snd dt that point 3s ~sll.
Tha title of this slim \olumc is hIghI> misleading
Whilst
it alms at trachiny
principles of behaviour modification
to ;I nidt’ ,~udlcncc. the children it rcfa to are mentall> retarded or autistic. Immcdiatel~. the hook 1s of less vneral appeal than the title implies. -_ Even giLen Its more restricted framework. the book will probably not probe of much value to parents. teachers or nurses. Its style of writing is very brisk, and whilst most of the behnvioural principles arc adequately described. there are insuflicisnt relevant examples of their application for non-psycholo$cal. naive readers to make the big jump from principle to practice. As with alI of these short texts ~rltten b> expsrienced therapists. one or two useful Ideas are presented. For example. the non-bshavioural. common-sense idea of reducin, (1 undesirable behaviour bv first structuring the child’s environment so as to milximizt‘ the posstbllily that his basic needs are met. If this falls, then try behuvioural methods for eliminating the particular undesirable brhaviours which remain. Overall. the text shows some signs of moving away from an exclusive concern with analysing responses toward exploring the realms of stimulus control in more detail. This is seen as a welcome shift wlthin this field. The book ends abruptly. without any sort of rounding-off statement. It would have been better to quote actual examples of the application of the techniques described to betterin, (7 the lives of mental14 retarded children. In addition. some evidence on the ctficacy. both short and long-term. of these approach es might just have persuaded some interested parties to learn the techniques. As it stands, the book cannot br: recommended for the audience for whom it was written.
Tha title of this slim \olumc is hIghI> misleading
Whilst
it alms at trachiny
principles of behaviour modification
to ;I nidt’ ,~udlcncc. the children it rcfa to are mentall> retarded or autistic. Immcdiatel~. the hook 1s of less vneral appeal than the title implies. -_ Even giLen Its more restricted framework. the book will probably not probe of much value to parents. teachers or nurses. Its style of writing is very brisk, and whilst most of the behnvioural principles arc adequately described. there are insuflicisnt relevant examples of their application for non-psycholo$cal. naive readers to make the big jump from principle to practice. As with alI of these short texts ~rltten b> expsrienced therapists. one or two useful Ideas are presented. For example. the non-bshavioural. common-sense idea of reducin, (1 undesirable behaviour bv first structuring the child’s environment so as to milximizt‘ the posstbllily that his basic needs are met. If this falls, then try behuvioural methods for eliminating the particular undesirable brhaviours which remain. Overall. the text shows some signs of moving away from an exclusive concern with analysing responses toward exploring the realms of stimulus control in more detail. This is seen as a welcome shift wlthin this field. The book ends abruptly. without any sort of rounding-off statement. It would have been better to quote actual examples of the application of the techniques described to betterin, (7 the lives of mental14 retarded children. In addition. some evidence on the ctficacy. both short and long-term. of these approach es might just have persuaded some interested parties to learn the techniques. As it stands, the book cannot br: recommended for the audience for whom it was written.