Behavioral Strategies: An Annotated Bibliography

Barbara Cyr

Brislin, R. ( 1993). Understanding culture's influence on behavior. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.

Brislin discusses the influence culture has on behavior and development. The author goes into depth on the topic of socialization and how our education, gender and personal experiences form us. Brislin compares the behavior patterns of gender in different cultural contexts. This timely book discusses the effects of the current intercultural contact and the possible future outcomes of intercultural mingling ideas, values and behaviors.

Bucher, B. ( 1974). Behavior modification with deviant children. N.J. : Prentice-Hall Inc.

Behavior modification and current dimension of applied behavior analysis are discussed by the author in great detail. The current trends in applied behavior analysis as well as the use of descriptive and experimental fields of study, explain the foundation of this area of research. Bucher reveals methods of building self-help skills as early building blocks for learning. The author also explores methods eliminating children's fears, lessening deviant behaviors at school, control over self-injurious behavior and achievement of self- control.

Elkind, D. ( 1976). Child development and education. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Author Elkind writes about education as it is related to Piaget's theories of development. Jean Piaget developed four stages of development, and proposed a series of cognitive stages that children pass though in sequence. The author uses many examples to explain and discuss his perspective of Piagetian theory. This is an excellent resource for educators who want a better understanding of what adolescents think and feel at different life stages. The author discusses education and motivation as it develops and is cultivated in children.

Fischer, K., & Rose, S. ( 1998). Growth cycles of brain and mind. Educational Leadership, November, 56-60.

Fischer & Rose (1998), discuss their recent research and theory in cognitive neuroscience. They maintain that changes in thinking and learning relates to physical changes in the brain. The authors suggest that the brain has cyclical properties of repeating patterns, they call a developmental levels. These developmental levels or growth cycles are repeated several time between birth and age 30. The authors discuss these cognitive spurts as to how they happen, why they happen and how these cycles reorganize the brain. These concepts and findings have important implications for educators as well as researchers in human cognition.

Foxx, R., M. (1982). Decreasing behaviors of severely retarded and autistic persons. Champaign, IL : Research Press.

Many of the common terms in applied behavior analysis are expounded upon by Foxx. The author believes in the least restrictive treatment model, for increasing the chances of appropriate behavior to reinforce. He also believes this decreases the number of maladaptive behaviors which need correction. Foxx discusses many of the reinforcement and reward procedures used by professionals. He also elaborates on the subject of extinction of behaviors and the extinction burst that is generally seen before the behavior changes. There is also a section on punishment, timeout, and the use of overcorrection.

Gardner, H. ( 1983). Frames of mind. New York, NY : Basic Books.

Gardner discusses his theory of multiple intelligences, arguing that the traditional views of intelligence are too narrow and limiting. In his book, Gardner reveals seven different kinds of intelligence that all people posses in different quantities. He believes that we posses a mathematical intelligence, verbal intelligence, spatial intelligence, musical intelligence, kinetic (movement) intelligence, intelligence for analyzing ourselves and intelligence for analyzing others. The author explores the traditional intelligence test and feel they only tap into a small portion of our collective intelligences; more of the math and verbal abilities. He feels new methods should be investigated that cover a wider range of intelligences.

Jensen, E. ( 1998). How Julie's brain learns. Educational Leadership, November, 41-45.

The author explores how the brain functions by following a typical student through her day at school from the perspective of her brain. Jensen suggests that there are five critical variables in the brain's learning process: neural history ( life experiences), context (physical and emotional environment), acquisition (activating neural networks), elaboration (sifting, sorting, analyzing, testing learning) and encoding (recall of learning). Jensen discusses these five points as Julie passes through her day.

Jenson, W., Rhode, G., & Reavis, K. (1995). The tough kid tool box. Longmont, CO: Sopris Publications.

The three authors are specialists on behavior disorders and discipline. Jenson, Rhode and Reavis (1995), have written a manual that explains behaviors in depth and includes additional information about techniques that can be used in everyday situations by educators or parents. The seven sections of this book are filled with trouble shooting ideas and interventions, with several variations to make them more versatile. Each section begins with a definition, description, troubleshooting, and making it better suggestion, about the behavioral intervention. Implementing the technique is describe in great detail by the authors and easily understood by the reader. This is an excellent resource for any teacher or parent.

Lovaas, I., O. (1981). The me book: Teaching developmentally disabled children. MD: University Press.

This book is a good introduction to Lovaas methods, written by Lovass himself. The author details information about autistic behavior and the common developmental challenges faced by many developmentally disabled children. He describes how this method of instruction should be implemented at home and in schools. Lovaas (1981), describes how to create the proper learning environment that is most productive. He also details, step by step his methods of teaching imitation skills, matching, language and basic self-help skills. This is a good introductory book into teaching learning at its most elementary level.

Magna Systems Inc. The developing child #1. Toddlerhood: Physical and cognitive development (Video).

Toddlerhood is the years between the first birthday through the third birthday. This video explores the physical changes and cognitive changes that mark the milestones in a toddlers life. The first major milestone is the ability to stand upright for walking, thus freeing the hands while on the move and giving the child a new visual perspective. Manipulation of toys, objects, and foods help the toddler learn through sensory experiences. The first two stages, (sensorimotor and preoperational) of Piaget's stages of cognitive development relate to the toddlerhood years. The new sensory sensations change the way the toddler relates to the world and helps him develop new ways of thinking.

The toddlers ability to obtain symbolic representation is another milestone in the second year of life. Symbolic representation means the toddler is able to think about what he is going to do before he does it. This allows imitation from past memories, and the child can pretend in his play. With this new skill the toddler is better able to speak and understand many more words. This video expands on Piaget's pre-operational period with symbolic representation, labeling and the complexity of language. The physical changes the toddler experiences from the age of one through three is covered in the video. The ability to walk comes directly from these changes. The ligaments and muscles are loose so the toddler is flexible. By age 2 the toddler has obtained one half of their adult height. This video contains information that is helpful to new parents or caregivers of children of this age. It also contains topics of interest to students interested in child development or education. The beginning fundamental of cognition and learning are well represented in this video.

Magna Systems Inc. The developing child #2. Preschoolers: Beginnings in cognition (Video).

Around age 4 the preschooler has greater physical abilities and control of their bodies. At this stage there is also a greater increase in their fine motor skills, such as eye to hand coordination and hand to mouth coordination. This video explores the connection of these fine motor skills and their relationship to thinking and learning. Experimentation and cognitive abilities in problem solving emerge at this stage of life. How children problem solve and situations in which this skill can be developed are presented. Work with puzzles, shapes, and blocks help develop math concepts and start the beginnings of classification. The use of symbolic representation in children's play as well as one to one correspondence are explained.

This video examines the important role of environment on the child. In a rich environment the child will examine, explore, think, learn and develop on their own. Ways of playing that increase cognitive abilities are represented in this video. The preschooler needs an environment of freedom for discovery, with activities for exploration, followed by adult guidance for safety. This video covers a lot of information that is helpful for the individual who works or cares for children in this age group.

Magna Systems Inc. The developing child #3. Toddlerhood: Social and emotional development ( Video).

Toddlerhood is a time of greater independence from the parents. Expressions of independence are represented in the common use of the word "no". This video examines the child's new sense of autonomy and their need to have more control over their own bodies. The view that different cultures have toward the child's emerging autonomy is explored. In our culture biological functions such as eating, sleeping and toileting are surrounded by certain expectations that contribute to the type of person the toddler will become. Social interactions develop naturally when the toddler is able to observe table behaviors and will conform to that families cultural values associated with eating. Being at the table allows the toddler a close relationship with the family. In toilet training the child, different cultures and physical readiness are key factors in success. When the toddler ties accomplishment with mastery and self-control he will master this new skill. The toddler works at this new skill to please his parents. Sleeping routines and rituals vary from culture to culture. Many children view bedtime as isolation or punishment and don't want to give up control or being alone. This video goes into these 3 areas and explores them from a social and emotional view point.

Egocentrism is the way, a child of this age sees his world, and his place in it. The video explains the "ego" concept and why a toddler can't share or think about others feelings. Toddlers can feel aggression, hostility, anger or distress toward a new sibling. They can feel displaced by a new brother or sister and need much reassurance from parents. This video explains the emotional state of toddlers at different stages and milestone in their development. Much attention is given to the social and cultural changes the toddlers encounters. This video does a good job of explaining a child's behavior based on the circumstances and situation they encounter.

Magna Systems Inc. The developing child #4. Preschoolers: Social and emotional development (Video).

Preschoolers learn and gain social skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives, as this video demonstrates. Most 4 year olds will emerge as social beings with friends and friendships becoming an important part of the preschool years. Children of this age can demonstrate such social skills as "please" and "thank-you", settling squabbles, turn taking, and sharing. They have emerged from the egocentrism of the past and now can learn to negotiate and compromise. Some preschooler have the ability to show compassion for their playmates.

Maurice, C., Green, G., & Luce, S., C. ( 1996). Behavioral intervention for young children with autism. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Maurice and colleagues explore and evaluate the many treatment models for autism. They examine what the latest researcher tell us about autism. One of the treatments that is explained in great detail is the discrete trial instruction model. This book has information on how to set up a program and how to get started. They discuss the behavioral intervention and who is qualified to implement such a program. The author's describe teaching skills, motivation, dealing with resistant children and involving parent's at home. This book includes many examples of discrete trial instruction for speech, language, communication, pragmatics and symbolic play. The author's also include a section on many of the most asked questions and answers.

Ninness, H., A. & Glenn., S. (1988). Applied behavior analysis and school psychology: A research guide to principles and procedures. CN: Greenwood Press.

Ninness and Glenn ( 1998), have compiled a book that is helpful for the school psychologist as well as the classroom teacher. This book contains a teachers guide to behavior modification in the classroom. This guide lists behavioral principles in a school setting and how they work. Ninness and Glenn address such topics as teacher burnout, aggression of students, token economies, hyperactivity, depression and suicide. The authors also discuss evaluation and assessing the behaviors as to their function for the student.

Sulzer-Azaroff, B. and Mayer, G., R. ( 1986). Achieving educational excellence: Using behavioral strategies. New York, NY: College Publishing.

Authors Sulzer-Azaroff and Mayer (1986), have compiled an important book explaining the terminology, procedures and teaching practices of using behavioral strategies. The author's describe the assessing process of behavior examination. They stress the importance of being accountable for the tracking and recording of baseline behaviors along with having a functional assessments done before implementing any new interventions. This book reviews the ABC methods of using ascendant, behavior, and consequence as a behavioral strategies. Then the ABC method is discussed at length, exploring possible way of incorporating this method into the school day. The author's explain way of using this technique for improving social skills and daily living skills. There is also a section on staff development and how to use the book with educators.

Sweet, S. (1998). A lesson learned about multiple intelligence. Educational Leadership, November, 50-51.

Sweet (1998) writes about a classroom in which the teacher is a believer in Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence. The teacher in this classroom, assigns projects and lets the individual student demonstrate their understanding of the topic in a way that best suits their learning style. Some students with good linguistic skills will write reports, other with kinesthetic intelligences might build working models. Those with spatial intelligence could use blocks or Legos to represent atoms or isotopes. Sweet agrees with this teachers methods believing she instills confidence and motivation in her students.

The author's Tomlinson and Kalbfleish (1998) discuss the idea of the one-size fit all classroom education that some children are receiving. They suggest that not only is this approach ineffective to classroom teaching but might even be detrimental to some. The author's prefer a differentiated classroom that is responsive to the different level of reading readiness and interests of the students. Tomlinson and Kalbfleish list three things they feel is important for children to learn, an emotionally safe environment, experiencing appropriate levels of challenge and make ideas and skills meaningful for the student.

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