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Biomedical subjects

E L Phillips

Publications and source records attributed to E L Phillips.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1973

Achievement Place: experiments in self-government with pre-delinquents.

One of the goals of many treatment programs for pre-delinquent youths is the development of the skills involved in the democratic decision-making process. At Achievement Place, one aspect of the treatment program is a semi-self-government system whereby the seven pre-delinquent youths can democratically establish many of their own rules of behavior, monitor their peers' behavior to detect violations of their rules, and conduct a "trial" to determine a rule violator's guilt or innocence, and to determine the consequences for a youth who violates a rule. Two experiments were carried out to determine the role of some of the procedures in the boys' participation in the self-government system. Experiment I showed that more boys participated in the discussion of consequences for a rule violation when they had complete responsibility for setting the consequence during the trials than when the teaching-parents set the consequence for each rule violation before the trial. An analysis of the rule violations in this experiment indicated that the boys in Achievement Place reported more of the rule violations that resulted in trials than reported by the teaching-parents or school personnel. The boys reported rule violations that occurred in the community and school as well as at Achievement Place, including most of the serious rule violations that came to the attention of the teaching-parents. In Experiment II, the results indicated that more trials were called when the teaching-parents were responsible for calling trials on rule violations reported by the peers than when the boys were responsible for calling trials. When the youths earned points for calling trials the average number of trials per day increased, but more trivial rule violations were reported. These results suggest that aspects of the democratic decision-making process in a small group of pre-delinquents can be studied and variables that affect participation can be identified and evaluated.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1973

Achievement Place: development of the elected manager system.

A series of experiments was carried out to compare several administrative systems at Achievement Place, a family style behavior modification program for pre-delinquent boys. One aspect of the motivation system at Achievement Place was the token economy in which the youths could earn or lose points that could be exchanged for privileges. Several arrangements for assigning routine tasks and for providing token consequences for task performance were compared for their effectiveness in accomplishing the tasks and for their preference by the boys. The independent variables studied included: (1) individually assigned tasks versus group assigned tasks; (2) consequences for individual performance versus consequences for group performance; (3) a peer managership that could be earned by the highest bidder versus a peer managership that could be determined democratically by the peers. The results suggested that among those systems studied the system that best met the criteria of effectiveness and preference involved a democratically elected peer manager who had the authority both to give and to take away points for his peers' performances.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1972

Achievement Place: the reliability of self-reporting and peer-reporting and their effects on behavior.

The reliability of the boys reporting their own behavior of their peers was measured in two experiments at Achievement Place, a community based, family style, behavior modification program for delinquents based on a token (point) economy. The results of these experiments indicated that; (a) the boys were not "naturally" reliable observers, (b) the reliability of peer-reporting could be improved by providing training on the behavioral definitions and by making points contingent on agreement between each boy's peer-report and an independent adult observers' report, (c) the reliability of self-reporting could be improved by making points contingent on agreement between the self-report and the trained peer's report, and (d) giving self-reports and peer-reports did not produce a systematic effect on the boys' room-cleaning behavior as measured by an independent observer.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1971

Modification of articulation errors of pre-delinquents by their peers.

Pre-delinquent peers in Achievement Place (a community based family style rehabilitation program based on a token economy) were given points (token reinforcement) to modify the articulation errors of two boys. In Experiment I, using a multiple baseline experimental design, error words involving the /l/, /r/, /th/, and /ting/ sounds were successfully treated by both a group of peers and by individual peers. Also, generalization occurred to words that were not trained. The speech correction procedure used by the peers involved a number of variables including modelling, peer approval, contingent points, and feedback. The individual role of each of these variables was not experimentally analyzed, but it was demonstrated that peers could function as speech therapists without instructions, feedback, or the presence of an adult. It was also found that payment of points to peers for detecting correct articulations produced closer agreement with the experimenter than when they were paid points for finding incorrect articulations. The results were replicated in a second experiment with another subject who had similar articulation errors. In addition, the second experiment showed that peer speech correction procedures resulted in some generalization to the correct use of target words in sentences and significant improvements on standard tests of articulation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1971

Achievement Place: modification of the behaviors of pre-delinquent boys within a token economy.

The "pre-delinquent" behaviors of six boys at Achievement Place, a community based family style behavior modification center for delinquents, were modified using token (points) reinforcement procedures. In Exp. I, point losses contingent on each minute late were effective in producing promptness at the evening meal. During the reversal phase, threats (which were not backed up with point losses) to reinstate the point consequences initially improved promptness but the last two of five threats were ineffective. In Exp. II, point consequences effectively maintained the boys' room-cleaning behavior and, during a fading condition where the percentage of days when the contingency occurred was decreased, the point consequences remained effective for over six months, even when they were delivered on only 8% of the days. Experiment III showed that the boys saved considerable amounts of money when point consequences were available for deposits but saved little money when no points were available. Also, when points were given only for deposits that occurred on specific days the boys deposited their money almost exclusively on those days. In Exp. IV, point consequences contingent on the number of correct answers on a news quiz produced the greatest increase in the percentage of boys who watched the news and, to a lesser extent, increased the percentage of correct answers for the boys who watched the news. The results indicate that "pre-delinquent" behaviors are amenable to modification procedures and that a token reinforcement system provides a practical means of modifying these behaviors.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1970

Home-based reinforcement and the modification of pre-delinquents' classroom behavior.

In Exp. I, five pre-delinquents from Achievement Place attended a special summer school math class where study behavior and rule violations were measured daily for each boy. The boys were required to take a "report card" for the teacher to mark. The teacher simply marked yes or no whether a boy had "studied the whole period" and "obeyed the class rules." All yeses earned privileges in the home that day but a no lost all the privileges. Using a reversal design, it was shown that privileges dispensed remotely could significantly improve classroom performance. In Exp. II and III, home-based reinforcement was also shown to be effective in improving the study behavior of two youths in public school classrooms. In addition, data from Exp. III suggest that the daily feedback and reinforcement may be faded without much loss in study behavior. Home-based reinforcement was demonstrated to be a very effective and practical classroom behavior modification technique.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1968

Achievement Place: token reinforcement procedures in a home-style rehabilitation setting for "pre-delinquent" boys.

Token reinforcement procedures were designed to modify the behavior of "pre-delinquent" boys residing in a community-based, home-style rehabilitation setting. Points (the tokens) were redeemable for various privileges such as visiting their families, watching TV, and riding bicycles. Points were given by the house-parents contingent upon specified appropriate behavior and taken away for specified inappropriate behavior. The frequencies of aggressive statements and poor grammar decreased while tidiness, punctuality, and amount of homework completed increased. It was concluded that a token reinforcement procedure, entirely dependent upon back-up reinforcers naturally available in a home-style treatment setting, could contribute to an effective and economical rehabilitation program for pre-delinquents.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Eating disorders.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are primarily psychiatric disorders characterized by severe disturbances of eating behaviour. Anorexia nervosa has been well documented in pre-pubertal children. Eating disorders are most prevalent in the Western cultures where food is in abundance and for females attractiveness is equated with thinness. Eating disorders are rare in countries like India. As Western sociocultural ideals become more widespread one may expect to see an increase in number of cases of eating disorders in non-Western societies. Etiological theories suggest a complex interaction among psychological, sociocultural, and biological factors. Patients with anorexia nervosa manifest weight loss, fear of becoming fat, and disturbances in how they experience their body weight and shape. Patients with bulimia nervosa present with recurrent episodes of binge eating and inappropriate methods of weight control such as self-induced vomiting, and abuse of diuretics and laxatives. Major complications of eating disorders include severe fluid and electrolyte disturbances and cardiac arrhythmias. The most common cause of death in anorexia nervosa is suicide. Management requires a team approach in which different professionals work together. Individual and family psychotherapy are effective in patients with anorexia nervosa and cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective in bulimia nervosa. Pharmacotherapy is not universally effective by itself. Patients with eating disorders suffer a chronic course of illness. The pediatrician plays important role in early diagnosis, management of medical complications, and psychological support to the patient and the family.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioural assessment of children and adolescents.

This article is an overview for pediatricians who conduct behavioural assessments of children and adolescents. It identifies the most common behavioural problems encountered by pediatricians and brief descriptions of selected tests that are administered by psychologists and other trained mental health professionals. Also covered are suggestions for the pediatrician on conducting diagnostic interviews and information regarding referral decision making.

Adolescent↗