mash e.j., hamerlynck l.a., handy l.c.,editors, ,behavior modification and families (1976)...

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308 BOOK REVIEWS modification using music. The Behavioral Glossary contains definitions of 148 terms fre- quently used in behavioral terminology. Finally, the Selected Periodicals section lists 35 periodicals in both psychology and music. In summary, Research in Music Behavior is a useful research in behavior modification using music. book for those interested in further STEVEN CLARFIELD Community Mental Health Center 27 West Street Red Bank, NJ 07701 MASH, E. J., HAMERLYNCK,L. A., & HANDY, L. C. (Eds.). Behavior Modification and Families. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1976. xx + 362 Pp. The edited book is the 1974 edition of papers presented at the Banff International Conference on Behavior Modification. The theme for the conference is the application of behavior modification procedures to family situations. The book contains a Foreword by Cyril M. Franks, an editors' Introduction, and 14 articles by a variety of authors. The text is divided into three sections: Directions and Developments, Generalization and Maintenance, and Problems and Perspectives. Each section contains an introduction by the editors. Among the stated aims of the book are the objectives of extending the behavioral methodology to include families without serious difficulties; employing children as agents of behavior change, thereby determining the youngsters' influence on other family members; investigating means of increasing the development of self-control strategies; and applying behavior modification techniques to nontraditional families, such as one-parent and com- munal families. It is diffficult to see how the book is more than moderately successful in accomplishing its goals. Most articles, presenting data, concentrate on families with serious difficulties; other articles claim that children should be used as change agents, but do not demonstrate procedures toward achieving this end; arguments are made for the importance of employing self-control techniques, but new techniques are not presented; and there is little mention of means for resolving the problems of the nontraditional family. An interesting feature of many of the articles is the heavy use of correlational data-- particularly from a sociological perspective. I found this departure from most behavioral reports a welcome one, but was disappointed that the authors did not use this information as the basis of experimentation. The book is also characterized by a great deal of speculation on means of dealing with family problems, but too few of the articles demonstrate the feasibility of implementing their proposed strategies. The first section, Directions and Developments, begins with an article by Horowitz in which the author reviews the history of research on parenting since the beginning of the present century. She points out that many of the writings talked around the notion of using contingencies, but centered mostly on the use of noncontingent love. Horowitz also pro- vides effective arguments against the claim that the behavioral approach is too simplistic, proposes the introduction of behavioral science in elementary- and high-school curricula, and argues for the establishment of parent-child research stations where families can receive advice on preventing and remediating problems. The Risley, Clark, and Cataldo article points out new sources of stress on families, such as working mothers, moves to suburban areas, and a more transitory life style. The authors do an outstanding job of delineating and solving the problems of setting up a day-care program. As such, they investigate means of assigning staff to different areas, devising appropriate architectural arrangements, and selecting learning materials. They also present effective means of training low-paid, tran- sient, day-care workers. Risley et al. suggest using the mass media as a means for public education. Their ideas, while interesting, are not backed up with data on their effectiveness.

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Page 1: Mash E.J., Hamerlynck L.A., Handy L.C.,Editors, ,Behavior Modification and Families (1976) Brunner/Mazel,New York

308 BOOK REVIEWS

modification using music. The Behavioral Glossary contains definitions of 148 terms fre- quently used in behavioral terminology. Finally, the Selected Periodicals section lists 35 periodicals in both psychology and music.

In summary, Research in Music Behavior is a useful research in behavior modification using music.

book for those interested in further

STEVEN CLARFIELD Community Mental Health Center 27 West Street Red Bank, NJ 07701

MASH, E. J., HAMERLYNCK, L. A., & HANDY, L. C. (Eds.). Behavior Modification and Families. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1976. xx + 362 Pp.

The edited book is the 1974 edition of papers presented at the Banff International Conference on Behavior Modification. The theme for the conference is the application of behavior modification procedures to family situations. The book contains a Foreword by Cyril M. Franks, an editors' Introduction, and 14 articles by a variety of authors. The text is divided into three sections: Directions and Developments, Generalization and Maintenance, and Problems and Perspectives. Each section contains an introduction by the editors.

Among the stated aims of the book are the objectives of extending the behavioral methodology to include families without serious difficulties; employing children as agents of behavior change, thereby determining the youngsters' influence on other family members; investigating means of increasing the development of self-control strategies; and applying behavior modification techniques to nontraditional families, such as one-parent and com- munal families. It is diffficult to see how the book is more than moderately successful in accomplishing its goals. Most articles, presenting data, concentrate on families with serious difficulties; other articles claim that children should be used as change agents, but do not demonstrate procedures toward achieving this end; arguments are made for the importance of employing self-control techniques, but new techniques are not presented; and there is little mention of means for resolving the problems of the nontraditional family.

An interesting feature of many of the articles is the heavy use of correlational data-- particularly from a sociological perspective. I found this departure from most behavioral reports a welcome one, but was disappointed that the authors did not use this information as the basis of experimentation. The book is also characterized by a great deal of speculation on means of dealing with family problems, but too few of the articles demonstrate the feasibility of implementing their proposed strategies.

The first section, Directions and Developments, begins with an article by Horowitz in which the author reviews the history of research on parenting since the beginning of the present century. She points out that many of the writings talked around the notion of using contingencies, but centered mostly on the use of noncontingent love. Horowitz also pro- vides effective arguments against the claim that the behavioral approach is too simplistic, proposes the introduction of behavioral science in elementary- and high-school curricula, and argues for the establishment of parent-child research stations where families can receive advice on preventing and remediating problems. The Risley, Clark, and Cataldo article points out new sources of stress on families, such as working mothers, moves to suburban areas, and a more transitory life style. The authors do an outstanding job of delineating and solving the problems of setting up a day-care program. As such, they investigate means of assigning staff to different areas, devising appropriate architectural arrangements, and selecting learning materials. They also present effective means of training low-paid, tran- sient, day-care workers. Risley et al. suggest using the mass media as a means for public education. Their ideas, while interesting, are not backed up with data on their effectiveness.

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BOOK REVIEWS 309

The third article in the section, by Blechman and Manning, analyzes the demographic factors determining the costs of running a single-parent family, Among these factors are the sex of the single parent and the reason for the absence of the missing spouse. The authors use sociological constructs and correlational data to propose models for solving the prob- lems of single-parent families, but their proposals remain at the level of conjecture, due to the lack of experimental validation. The final article of the initial section involves Miller, Lies, Petersen, and FeaUock's research with an experimental living community of 30 unmarried students. The goals of the project were to devise an egalitarian, efficient work- sharing system, to bring about a behavioral culture, and to develop a positive verbal community. Their results indicate a nonsexist, efficient, low-cost living system. Reports of the residents indicated their happiness with the system. The authors demonstrated the feasibility of collecting objective data and performing behavioral analysis research in the community setting.

In the second section, the contributors deal with the question of whether modified behavior generalizes across settings and maintains over time. As was the case with all three sections, the editors provide a thorough integrated preview of the articles they present. In the first chapter, Conway and Bucher make the often-stated point that generalization should be programmed and that attempts to assess generalization must examine the question of which environment should be observed, in order to determine whether generalization has occurred. Among the methods proposed for programming generalization are having several individuals carry out the procedures in different environments, thinning schedules of rein- forcement, and self-control techniques. Although the authors have many helpful sugges- tions, they often depart from the themes of their article and the book by discussing procedures for initial conditioning rather than generalization, and by reviewing studies that do not bear on family problems. The following article by Johnson, Balstad, and Lobitz is, perhaps, the most sobering one in the book. Whereas most behavioral researchers are hoping for generalization of improvement from one setting to another, the authors point out that according to the phenomenon of behavioral contrast, there may be a deterioration of the behavior in the unprogrammed settings. Most of us are aware of the contrast process as reflected in the subhuman literature, but few of us have shown concern about the phenome- non in human research. The authors show, however, that six of seven children who received effective behavioral treatments for school problems, deteriorated at home, where they received no treatment. Johnson et al. are not claiming that contrast invariably occurs, but rather that it is a possibility of which we must be more aware. The authors also demonstrate that many children judged deviant in one setting (e.g., home) are not judged deviant in other settings (e.g., school).

In the third article of the section, Martin, Johnson, Johansson, and Wahl deal with the comparability of data on parent-child interaction in laboratory settings with data obtained in natural settings. The study involved 33 families in which the parents first interacted with children (not their own) in laboratory situations and later with their own children in their homes. Little, or no, positive correlation between the parents use of contingencies in the different settings was noted. In fact, in many cases, the correlation was negative. Thus, there is the need to be cautious in generalizing from the laboratory to the natural environ- ment. Bernal, Delfini, North, and Kreutzer did a thorough investigation of the tran- situationality of problems from one setting to another. In agreement with Johnson et al. the authors reported little intersetting correlation. The following chapter by Delfini, Bernal, and Rosen presents data on kindergarten and first-grade boys judged deviant by their parents. The authors indicate that about half of the boys do not differ from normals. These results should caution all of us not to leap into situations when called upon for consultation on childhood problems, since we might be dealing with intolerant parents rather than problem youngsters. The data collection techniques characteristic of behavior analysis research are ideal for reaching appropriate decisions when such referrals are made. In contrast to some

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310 BOOK REVIEWS

previous articles, Terdal, Jackson, and Garner support the use of laboratory settings for behavior modification programs. The authors claim that when deviant behavior pervades a youngster's behavioral repertoire, it is reasonable to develop effective treatment programs entirely in laboratory settings. Under some conditions (unclear to me), transformation of improvement to the home may develop.

Overall, the second section makes several contributions to behavior modification re- search. The authors make unique use of measurement techniques to rank children as deviant or nondeviant, and they caution researchers to take more account of such factors as contrast and poorly diagnosed referrals. The editing of this section is exceptionally well done, with the authors taking each other's articles into account and with the nonrepetition of the same themes from one article to the next.

The final section, Problems and Perspectives, begins with an article by Patterson in which the author concerns himself with the determinants of coercive behavior in children. Patter- son proposes a system of interaction in which aggressive youngsters and their families are involved in a cycle which mutually shapes coercive behavior. The author attempts to integrate numerous correlational findings in support of his propositions. For the most part I found it difficult to follow the logical development of his arguments. Later in the article, Patterson proposes his strategy for remediation. The intervention he recommends seems to bear no particular relationship to his prior arguments and consists of standard behavioral practices such as observing, measuring, and consequating behavior. In the next article, Corson quotes Skinner's statement that social organizations are mutual control systems, with control being exercised upon, and by, each individual in the organization. He points out that such systems have implicit contracts setting forth the responsibilities and privileges of each member of the group. Corson states that the implied, rather than clearly stated nature of these responsibilities and privileges, accounts for much confusion and difficulty. He further be- lieves that Skinnerian type societies have not worked out for normal populations because of the high cost of positive reinforcement, the eventual necessity to use negative reinforcement, and the lack of rich schedules of positive reinforcement in real world settings. As was the case with the previous study, Corson's solutions to family problems are standard behavioral practices.

Benassi and Larson repeat the notion that an understanding of the interactions that occur in families must include the child's contributions to the process. Nevertheless, they point out that few studies have manipulated child behavior to determine its effects on parents. They further claim that those studies which have used child behavior as an independent variable have not presented objective data. The authors are presently conducting such studies, but the results are not yet available. It is therefore difficult to understand why the article is included. In the final article, Peterson discusses concerns with overcontrol of child behavior. Such problems arise when a child is not motivated to perform in a certain manner, but a parent desires that she/he do so. In some cases the parents' enforcement of the contingency is necessary. In other cases it is arbitrary. As alternatives to overcontrol, Peterson proposes the increased use of antecedent setting events, letting children experi- ence natural consequences when feasible, and implementing more self-control techniques.

As is the case in any edited text, the quality and usefulness of the articles varies. The reader who is satisfied with a 50% batting average will be more than pleased with the present text. My main argument with the book is that it fails to satisfy its stated goals. On the other hand, it satisfies other unique, unstated goals and, on balance, I consider it worthwhile reading.

SAUL AXELROD

Department of Special Education Temple University Philadelphia, PA 19122