In recent years an impressive body of research has accumulated indicating that behavioural management strategies can promote the levels of on-task behaviour of classes of disruptive secondary school pupils. These successes have led to the explicit, self-evident claim that levels of off-task behaviour have concomitantly been reduced—and the implicit claim that levels of disruptive behaviour have also been reduced: for disruptive behaviour constitutes a subset of off-task behaviour. However the promotion of on-task behaviour with a corresponding reduction in off-task behaviour is a necessary but not sufficient outcome to claim that disruptive behaviour has diminished. It may be the case that innocuous off-task behaviours have been reduced but disruptive off-task behaviours remain. From a further data analysis of a previous study (McNamara and Jolly, 1990) it is claimed that when disruptive classroom behaviour is dealt with by the promotion of on-task behaviours the total amount of all types of off-task behaviours, from innocuous to grossly disruptive, is reduced. Analysis of data for individual pupils reveals that the whole class aggregated data conceal considerable inter-pupil variability for low incidence off-task behaviours.

An experiment was conducted to investigate whether deliberate attempts to avoid a thought content have paradoxical effects. Twenty-four Ss received thought suppression instructions, 16 neutral instructions. Thought suppression resulted in an increased number of occurrences of the thought to be suppressed. The contribution of the results to the theory of obsessions is discussed.

Some of the weaknesses and ambiguities of the currently accepted definition of a functional analysis (Owens and Ashcroft, 1982) are outlined. Functional analysis is re-defined in order to try and overcome some of these difficulties. The utility of this new definition is discussed in relation to the assessment and treatment of challenging behaviours. A possible structure for the more general use of a functional analysis in the assessment and treatment of problems is outlined. The implications of this type of approach are discussed.

Ten psychiatric patients with a DMS-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia and persistent auditory hallucinations of at least 12 months' duration entered the study, and nine completed it. Subjects used portable audiocassette players with headphones to listen to two music audiotapes that they had selected, one for relaxing and the other for a stimulating/arousing effect. It was hypothesized that the relaxing music would reduce the frequency of auditory hallucinations more than the stimulating music. Subjects rated the effects of the music on nine scales for seven consecutive mornings. Analysed individually, six subjects reported significant response changes to the music, but the response pattern was heterogeneous, and the results of group analysis did not confirm the experimental hypotheses. Generally, the relaxing tape had more beneficial effects than the stimulating/arousing tape. Five subjects reported overall benefits from the experimental procedure, and in all five the content of their hallucinations was innocuous. One subject was adversely affected by the audiotapes, and three failed to respond; these subjects tended to have unpleasant or frightening hallucinations. It was concluded that headphone music was of some value as a non-pharmacological treatment for schizophrenic patients with persisting auditory hallucinations that were innocuous in content. Overall, the findings justify further research in the area.

A method of teaching coping skills to patients with schizophrenia who experience unremitting psychotic symptoms is described. This method (Coping Strategy Enhancement CSE) is based on a thorough behaviour analysis of each symptom and the assessment of any coping strategy the subject may already employ. The subject is then systematically trained in the use of appropriate coping strategies in response to the occurrence of their psychotic symptoms. Two case studies are described in which CSE was used. Both patients showed considerable improvements over treatment. In one patient improvement continued at 6 month follow-up, in the other there was some deterioration at follow-up. Possible reasons for these results were discussed.

Despite being a long recognized feature of Anorexia Nervosa, exercising has been largely neglected as a topic for research and treatment. An increasing cultural emphasis on fitness has highlighted the dangers of becoming addicted to exercise and its role in the development and maintenance of Anorexia Nervosa. Most estimates of the incidence of exercise addiction in the anorexic population are high, and the behaviour would appear to pre- and post-date the eating disorder.

In view of this, the development of an effective treatment method for this particular problem is needed. One such approach that employs cognitive behavioural techniques, including exposure and response prevention is described and illustrated by case example.

A brief (5 week) multi-component intervention is described which successfully enabled a lady to overcome an intense fear of flying.

This case study describes the use of a multi component behavioural programme in the treatment of a 13-year-old girl with multiple phobias of injections, dental and medical procedures who faced major surgery within 6 months. The treatment involved coping skills training, systematic desensitization, in vivo desensitization with participant modelling and homework assignments. Measures of anxiety via SUDS ratings, behavioural approach tests and self-report measures demonstrated the effectiveness of the treatment program and the subsequent maintenance of treatment effects at 8 months follow-up.