Tantrums Research Articles

Analogue assessment of the replacement behavior.

An experimental methodology for understanding why a behavior problem occurs, in terms of environmental functions, has received extensive attention and development (Bailey & Pyles, 1989; Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982; Iwata, Vollmer, & Zarcone, 1990; Lalli, Browder, Mace, & Brown, 1993; Lerman & Iwata, 1993; Lennox & Miltenberger, 1989; Lerman & Iwata, 1993, Mazelski, Iwata, Vollmer, Zarcone, & Smith, 1993). The efficacy of using functional analysis of behavior paradigms (AKA analogue assessment) to discern consequent controlling variables has received extensive empirical support since the original study in 1982 (Iwata, et.al., 1982). A functional analysis of problem behavior empirically extracts the context conditions under which such a behavior becomes more probable. Its heightened rate can be explained by both the presenting motivational conditions as well as the utility of such a behavior to produce a stimulus change that addresses the client's motivational condition. Cipani & Schock (2007) have designated sub-categories within four major environmental functions, in their classification system (see Table 1). This function-based diagnostic classification system classifies problem behaviors according to their environmental function. Operant behaviors are maintained by either positive or negative reinforcement operations. The manner in which the reinforcers are produced can be either socially mediated (i.e., through the behavior of another) or directly (behavior produces reinforcer). For example, a child throws tantrums in the afternoon before dinner. Such behaviors reliably result in access to food items, under conditions of relative deprivation, by her parent eventually giving the child a small snack. Tantrum behavior resulted in access to snack (positive reinforcement operation), but the result was mediated by her parent (i.e., socially mediated behavior problem or SMA 2.3: access to tangible reinforcers in diagnostic system). Snack items could be obtained by another child under similar motivating conditions by coming home and grabbing some cookies when parent is not watching (i.e., pilfering the cookie jar). The operation is the same, but the manner in which the reinforcer was obtained was not socially mediated. Rather it was directly produced via the chain of behaviors referred to as pilfering. While much is known about why a problem behavior occurs at an unacceptable rate, little to date has been done with developing a methodology to discern why the rate (or lack thereof) of the alternate behavior is relatively low. What would be the utility of such an analysis? An experimental analysis of the problem behavior allows the user to design functional interventions that address the controlling variables of that behavior. The same result could also be achieved from an experimental analysis of the contextual variables of the alternate replacement behavior. Such an analysis could lead to the design of effective interventions prior to any false starts. Consider the following hypothetical example. A client in a residential facility is referred for a functional behavioral assessment for engaging in self-injury. Reports from staff and descriptive data seem to indicate that this behavior is maintained as a result of socially mediated escape from unpleasant social situations (see Cipani & Schock, 2007). When other client's get near him when he is playing with his preferred toy, he screams and begins hitting himself. Such behavior usually brings staff, with the result of being separated from other clients. To test this hypothesis of a socially mediated escape function experimentally, an analogue assessment is set up. In a contrived setting, two test conditions will be implemented in a multi-element design: (1) client is in therapy room with other clients with his preferred toys and (2) client is in room with other clients without his preferred toys. …

Validation of the SSRS-T, Preschool Level as a Measure of Positive Social Behavior and Conduct Problems

With their well-established predictive power for negative long-term outcomes such as delinquency, poor social functioning, incarceration, substance abuse, violence towards others, and school drop-out, the early identification of social skills deficits and often co-occurring conduct problems is crucial (Coie, 1990; Loeber & Farrington, 2000; Olson & Hoza, 1993; Parker & Asher, 1987; Walker & Sprague, 1999). Antisocial behavior results in antisocial attitudes, lack of school readiness, peer and teacher rejection, lack of emotion regulation skills, difficulty following school rules, and severe tantrum behavior in the short term (Walker & Sprague, 1999). Walker and Sprague's research in the school setting has found that teacher's ratings of social skills are one of three important measures to identify a child at-risk for delinquency, with the other two being the discipline record of the child and negative behavior displayed toward peers during recess. With these three measures, 80% of their sample of antisocial fifth graders were correctly classified as being arrested or not arrested five years later as tenth graders. Certainly there are adolescents who are arrested that do not have this early at-risk background, but these young adults do not tend to have the same severely violent and negative outcomes into adulthood (Walker & Sprague, 1999). These results point to the importance not only of early identification and intervention, but of accurate teacher ratings of social skills deficits. In a review of the literature between 1991 and 2002 on behavior problems in low-income children, Qi and Kaiser (2003) found that behavior problems have been noted in 16-30% of children in Head Start. In a transactional model proposed by the authors, social skills deficits was one of the risk factors associated with behavior problems (Qi & Kaiser, 2003). Likewise, Campbell (1994) found that boys who were "hard-to-manage" during the preschool years also had behavior problems two years later, and that these difficulties were also related to poor social competence according to ratings by mother, father, teacher, and the boys themselves. More recently, Keane and Calkins (2004) found that parent ratings of two-year-olds' externalizing behavior predicted both social skill level and externalizing behavior rated by teachers and peer reports of social behavior in Kindergarten. Clearly, the level of social skills and conduct problems exhibited early on has lasting impact in later school years. Preschoolers, however, present some major assessment obstacles due to their limited ability to provide accurate self- and peer-reports (Foster, Inderbitzen, & Nangle, 1993). Alternate methods are not without their own particular concerns. For instance, the ability of direct observation to gather representative portrayals of low occurrence behaviors such as aggression has been questioned, and analogue measures have come under increasing scrutiny as well (Bierman & Welsh, 2000; Foster et al., 1993). As a result, standardized teacher ratings are commonly recommended measures of social skills and conduct problems with preschoolers. Consequently, comprehensive teacher rating measures, such as the Social Skills Rating System for Teachers, Preschool Level (SSRS-T; Gresham & Elliot, 1990) have generated much research and clinical interest because of their purported ability to assess multiple dimensions of children's social behavior and conduct problems in a cost efficient manner. Our review of the literature found a fair degree of support for the psychometric soundness of the SSRS, but also raised some unanswered questions. In general, the SSRS is considered to be a comprehensive measure of social skills in children (Demaray et al., 1995) that is time-efficient for teachers (Bramlett, Dielmann, & Smithson, 1999). One advantage of the SSRS is that the items are primarily behavioral, requiring a low level of inference on the part of the teacher (Benes, 1994). …

Tempering temper tantrums

“Temper tantrums” are a frequent topic of discussion in the well child visits of preschoolers. An underlying concern in such discussions is whether this behavior represents something which is “typical” and will resolve, or whether it represents some more serious underlying problem. Up until now, the practitioner had little guidance in making this assessment beyond his or her personal experience. In the current issue of The Journal, Belden et al provide us with more guidance. These investigators examined the described features of temper tantrums in a group of preschool children, and compared them with the results of a well-validated child psychiatric assessment instrument. Several characteristics of tantrums were more common in children with depressive or disruptive features on the psychiatric assessment. These included violence during tantrums, more frequent tantrums at school and/or daycare, and self-harmful behavior during tantrums. The practitioner might wish to use this study as a template for obtaining more detailed information from parents regarding their children’s tantrums. This could then be used as an aid in identifying the child whose family can be reassured. Temper Tantrums in Healthy Versus Depressed and Disruptive Preschoolers: Defining Tantrum Behaviors Associated with Clinical ProblemsThe Journal of PediatricsVol. 152Issue 1PreviewTo investigate whether differences in the tantrum behaviors of healthy versus mood and disruptive disordered preschoolers can be detected. Full-Text PDF

Temper Tantrums in Healthy Versus Depressed and Disruptive Preschoolers: Defining Tantrum Behaviors Associated with Clinical Problems

To investigate whether differences in the tantrum behaviors of healthy versus mood and disruptive disordered preschoolers can be detected. Caregivers of 279 preschool children (3 to 6 years old) completed the Preschool-Age Psychiatric Assessment (Egger HL, Ascher B, Angold A. Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA): version1.1. Durham, NC: Center for Developmental Epidemiology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center; 1999), which was used to determine preschoolers' diagnostic classification and to measure tantrum behaviors. Preschoolers were placed in 1 of 4 diagnostic groups, healthy, pure depressed, pure disruptive, and comorbid depressed/disruptive, on the basis of the application of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition algorithms. Parametric and non-parametric analyses were used to examine characteristics of children's tantrums: intensity, frequency, context, and recovery ability. Disruptive preschoolers displayed violence during tantrums significantly more often than the depressed and healthy groups. The disruptive group had significantly more tantrums at school/daycare than the depressed and healthy groups. The disruptive group had a more difficult time recovering from tantrums than healthy preschoolers. In addition, depressed preschoolers were more aggressive toward objects and other people than healthy children. Finally, depressed preschoolers displayed significantly more self-harmful tantrum behaviors than preschoolers in the healthy and disruptive groups. These findings provide preliminary guidelines to parents, teachers, and practitioners in identifying tantrum behaviors that may be markers of a psychiatric disorder and therefore require mental health referral.

Encouraging Positive Behavior with Social Stories

s International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 62(8-B), Mar 2002, pp. 3797. (UMI NO. AAI3024504) Gray, C. (1993). The original social stories book. Austin, TX: Future Horizons. Gray, C. (2000). The new social stories book (illus. ed.). Austin, TX: Future Horizons. Gray C. A., & Garand J. D. (1993). Social sto- ries: Improving responses of students with autism with accurate social information. Focus on Autistic Behavior, 8(1), 1-10. Hagiwara, T., & Myles, B. S. (1999). A multi- media social story intervention: Teaching skills to children with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 14(2), 82-95. Koegel, L. K., Koegel, R. L., & Surratt, A. (1992). Language intervention and disrup- tive behaviors in preschool children with autism. Journal of Autism and Related Disorders, 22, 141-153. Kuttler, S., Myles, B. S., & Carlson, J. K. (1998). The use of social stories to reduce precursors to tantrum behavior in a student with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 13(3), 176-182. Lorimer, P. A., Simpson, R. L., Myles, B. S., & Ganz, J. B. (2002). The use of social sto- ries as a preventative behavioral interven- tion in a home setting with a child with autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 4, 53-60. National Research Council. (2001). Educating children with autism. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Norris, C., & Dattilo, J. (1999). Evaluating effects of a social story intervention on a young girl with autism. Focus on Autism 30 ■ COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN Figure 4. Sample Social Story With Picture Cues

The Violence of the Lambs

I Fairy tales are violent. In most tales still told or read today, the is punitive, as Maria Tatar and others have shown us. Violence in the tales (with its obverse, a system of rewards) often educates and disciplines children in what Tatar calls a pedagogy of fear in one of her chapter titles. For example, the Grimms love to end their Marchen with violent retribution for the wicked deeds of their anti-heroes and, particularly, anti-heroines: the wicked stepmother in Snow White, who must dance in iron shoes; the wicked stepsisters in Aschenputtel or Cinderella, whose eyes are pecked out by doves; the wicked stepmother in Jumper Tree, who is squashed by a falling millstone; the witch shoved into the oven in Hansel and Gretel, who, in Anne Sexton's sardonic version, turned as red as the Jap flag. Her blood began to boil up like Coca-Cola. Her eyes began to melt. She was done for. Altogether a memorable incident. (105) Sexton's description of the witch's punishment oozes itself: the fizzing blood, the melting eyes. In many fairy tales, the bad get the they deserve, or even more than they deserve-most spectacularly in Disney versions, but even in Tom Davenports sensitive films based on classic tales. (In Willa, his 1996 film based on Snow White set in rural Virginia in the 1920s, for example, the wicked stepmother burns to death in front of a flickering film of Willa's sinuous dance.) Punitive or disciplinary violence, however-designed to caution children or to give the world a moral spin-is not the only form of we see in fairy tales. In some there is a pervasive, almost random violence: inanimate objects become malicious, animals turn hostile. (One critic, James Twitchell, has called this preposterous violence because of its unmotivated, ritual character.) In some there is a kind of insidious, coercive often designed to force young girls into submission. (Think here of fathers' attempts to maneuver their daughters into incestuous relationships in tales like Maiden without Hands or Catskin.) Recently I've become interested in another, rather unusual kind of fairytale violence, the I'm calling Violence of the Lambs. It usually occurs in tales of metamorphosis or transformation from beast to human form. The motif of shape-shifting has of course been crucial in European myth and fantasy from the very beginning: the Circe episode in the Odyssey, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and Apuleius's Golden Ass are just a few early examples.1 But in the tales I'm worrying over here, a previously innocent and gentle character must commit an act of sacrificial in order to help restore a beloved animal to its human shape. This kind of return to human form and this kind of do not seem to occur in classical myth at all. (In Homer, Odysseus's crew remain pigs after Circe has cast her spell.2 Ovid's characters never resume their human forms. Lucius in Apuleius's Golden Ass does regain his human shape at the end, but in a mystical, nonviolent process that involves no other character as an agent of transformation.) This violent return may have roots in medieval ballads like Tarn Lin, where the heroine must hold the hero as he goes through a series of transformations-from ice to fire to an adder to a snake to a swan to a red-hot glaive-until he can become a mother-naked man again (Jacobs 297).3 In the fairy tales I'm considering, however, restoration to human form depends on sudden and innocent violence, often decapitation. In the well-known Grimm tale Frog Prince, sometimes known as Iron Heinrich (KHM 1), the petulant princess, in a fit of pique (or perhaps sexual angst), throws the frog against the wall and (to quote Anne Sexton again): Kaboom! Like a genie coming out of a samovar, a handsome prince arose in the corner of her royal bedroom. …

Attitudes towards the use of hand over mouth (HOM) and physical restraint amongst paediatric specialist practitioners in the UK

To assess the views of paediatric specialist dental practitioners in the United Kingdom of the use of the hand over mouth technique and physical restraint. Questionnaire survey of all specialist dental practitioners in paediatric dentistry in the United Kingdom (n = 216). Replies were received from 179 individuals (82.8%). The majority of the sample (over 80%) described HOM as having three components, broadly mirroring the description of the technique in clinical textbooks. Approximately 60% of the respondents reported that HOM should never be used (106 individuals, 59.2%). Those who endorsed the use of HOM suggested it should be used with cases of hysterical, tantrum behaviour (57 respondents, 32%). The use of physical restraint was endorsed for certain disabled patients by 110 individuals (62%); for very young patients by 69 respondents (39%); premedicated patients by 35 respondents (20%); physically resistive patients by 25 respondents (14%). Forty-three respondents (24%) felt there were no psychological consequences of the use of HOM or physical restraint; 91 (51%) felt that HOM would result in the child fearing dental treatment. Specialist paediatric dental practitioners in the UK are familiar with the technique of HOM although they also feel that this technique should never be used. A large proportion of practitioners felt that the use of physical restraint was appropriate with certain disabled patients. The most commonly anticipated psychological sequeala which may accompany the use of these techniques was subsequent fear of dental treatment.

Managing Temper Tantrums

Temper tantrums are a frequent occurrence in the developing child. As a child starts to establish his or her independence from parents and caretakers and attempts more complex tasks, the child is likely to have episodes of being overwhelmed emotionally to the point of a tantrum. Pediatricians often are consulted about how to manage the tantrum.First and foremost, it is critical to determine that there is no organic cause of the tantrums. A thorough history and evaluation for developmental, psychological, and physiological explanations for the tantrums are necessary. The frequency of the tantrums and the causal factors are critical to determine whether the parents are placing unreasonable expectations on the child. This can be especially true for children who have developmental delays or for children who are large for their age.Regardless of the cause, the pediatrician should work with the family to develop a plan on which all persons involved in the care of the child can agree. Today, children have many different caretakers, who have different expectations in different environments, which can lead to tantrums due to a child’s lack of understanding of differing rules. The easiest step is to standardize the expectations placed on the child, thus allowing the child to “learn the rules.” In addition, families need to prioritize what rules are important to them and develop consequences that are reasonable for the child’s developmental level.Once the basic steps of managing tantrums have been put in place, the challenge becomes how to deter the tantrums from continuing. Parents may employ multiple possibilities to extinguish tantrums: positive reinforcement, planned ignoring, negative reinforcement, or punishment.Positive reinforcements during time periods without tantrums are important to extinguish the behavior. Positive reinforcements can range from time alone with a parent to material objects. In general, the key to its success is ensuring that the reward is developmentally appropriate.Planned ignoring will not yield instantaneous changes in the child’s behavior. It requires all caretakers to be consistent in their response to the tantrums. It is particularly difficult for families to maintain this practice if they are not warned that the tantrums initially may worsen.Negative reinforcement may result in an increase in tantrum frequency, especially if the caretaker is providing the negative reinforcement by giving into the child or threatening or hitting the child. However, a parent may use negative reinforcement to avoid a battle with a child who insists on wearing a summer dress in the middle of winter, thereby allowing the cold to reinforce more appropriate choices in the future. Most behavior specialists try to avoid the use of punishments and recommend use of positive reinforcement as a primary toolOverall, the critical factors for pediatricians to emphasize to any caretaker are the need for consistency and developmentally appropriate expectations and rewards. With the support and guidance of the pediatrician, most parents will not require referral to a behavioral therapist for tantrums.Tantrums are nearly universal between 12 and 36 months of age. When the caregiver’s story points to recognizable reasons for tantrums and there are not more than about two per day, no medical evaluation is needed beyond screening of developmental skills for gaps. The most likely “medical” reasons for excessive tantrums are inadequate sleep and immediate need for food. Fortunately for us all, children tend to adapt to the rules of each setting. Thus, although consistency among caregivers is ideal in decreasing confusion and testing by the child, it is not essential to managing tantrums. Instead, the focus should be on consistency for each caregiver or, at the very least, avoidance of giving in as a result of tantrums. Probably the most important points for pediatricians coaching parents about tantrums is to empathize and let the parents know how uniformly hard this is, acknowledge how upset it makes them feel, and help them to find some way not to let those feelings show to the child or lead them to either give in or punish in anger.

Managing temper tantrums.

1. Nathaniel S. Beers, MD, MPA 1. Washington, DC 1. Infancy and Toddler Years. Zuckerman BS, Frank DA, Augustyn M. In: Levine MD, Carey WB, Crocker AC, eds. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics . 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 1999 2. Functional Equivalence as a Mechanism of Response in Generalization. Carr E. In: Horner R, Koegel R, Dunlap G, eds. Generalization and Maintenance: Life-Style Changes in Applied Settings. Baltimore, Md: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co; 1988 3. Child Behavior Management. Parrish JM. In: Levine MD, Carey WB, Crocker AC, eds. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics . 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 1999 4. Behavior Modification: What It Is and How to Do It. Martin G, Pear J. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 1996 Temper tantrums are a frequent occurrence in the developing child. As a child starts to establish his or her independence from parents and caretakers and attempts more complex tasks, the child is likely to have episodes of being overwhelmed emotionally to the point of a tantrum. Pediatricians often are consulted about how to manage the tantrum. First and foremost, it is critical to determine that there is no organic cause of the tantrums. A thorough history and evaluation for developmental, psychological, and physiological explanations for the tantrums are necessary. The frequency of the tantrums and the causal factors are critical to determine whether the parents are placing unreasonable expectations on the child. This can be especially true for children who have developmental delays or for children who are large for their age. …

Bridges to Iran

Until Alexander the Great burned it down in a fit of pique, Persepolis was a capital of the ancient Persian empire. It was built by paid workmen not slaves. The Achaemenian dynasty, besides being innovative in irrigation, roads, the sciences, and banking, were tolerant even liberal rulers, at least for the age in which they lived. Even those sceptical of US President George Bush's placement of today's Islamic Republic of Iran near the top of his “axis of evil” list might see Iran's government as intolerant.

The Use of Social Stories as a Preventative Behavioral Intervention in a Home Setting with a Child with Autism

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a social story intervention implemented in a home setting to decrease precursors to tantrum behavior in a 5-year-old boy with autism. Using an ABAB design, two social stories were presented and withdrawn while using an event recording procedure in which interrupting verbalizations, determined to be precursors to tantrum behavior, were tallied. Data revealed a decrease in interrupting verbalizations and tantrums when the social stories were available and an increase in these behaviors when the social stories were withdrawn.

Temper Tantrums, Impulsivity, and Aggression in a Preschool-Aged Boy

CASE. James is a 4-year-old boy whose parents had become increasingly concerned about his behavior since age 12 months. His mother described him as a high-needs infant since birth. He was colicky as a young infant, cried frequently, and was difficult to settle. His mother brought him to play groups after his first birthday; she had to leave early approximately half of the time because of James' aggressive behavior. James would often walk up to another child and punch him in the face for no reason. He also had problems with pulling hair and exhibiting long temper tantrums. James was the first child of parents with a stable marriage and a loving home. His mother chose to stay at home to care for James and was well informed about parenting techniques. At age 2 years, she discussed James' behavior problems with his pediatrician who suggested that she enroll in a parenting course. She complied with this suggestion, although she had already read many parenting books in her attempt to better understand and manage James' behaviors. At age 2.5 years, James' mother brought him to the pediatrician again, described his behaviors, and stated that she could not understand the reasons for his patterns of behavior. She told the pediatrician that there was no modeling for aggressive or abusive behavior in the home and that neither parent ever used physical punishment. She described periods of intense anger over relatively minor events during which James would clench his fists or shake with rage and strike out at those around him. Once again, she was encouraged to read parenting books, attend parenting classes, and use time outs for disciplining his behaviors. Between ages 2 and 3 years, James developed an attachment to dolls and carried a favorite Barbie doll with him everywhere he went. During this time, he also began frequent masturbation. He continued to strike out at playmates, often with no provocation. In frustration, James' parents took him to a child psychologist, who suggested that he had psychological issues that needed to be addressed and recommended three-times-weekly psychotherapy. The parents did not follow his recommendation. At age 3 years, he began preschool and was sent home nine times during the year for hitting others or for other unacceptable behaviors. His parents consulted a new pediatrician, who also suggested a parenting class. The family took James to another psychologist who performed a battery of psychometric tests. She told the parents that James had above-average intelligence, but problems with fine motor control, socialization, and sensory-motor integration, which would likely require treatment by an occupational therapist. She also recommended a structured behavior modification system, which the family found to be helpful. James was enrolled in a new preschool, where he was placed in a class with older children. A strict-but-loving teacher and consistent use of behavior modification techniques helped to decrease his unacceptable behaviors. James' behavior at home continued to be characterized by excessive crying and sudden outbursts of anger. James was taken back to his pediatriciar at age 4 years and was tested for allergies at the mother's request to find a medical explanation for his behavior. His physical examination was described as normal. His height was plotted at the 95th percentile for his age, and his weight was plotted at the 75th percentile. His relatively tall stature was attributed to the fact that his father is 6 feet, 3 inches tall. His allergy evaluation was normal. The pediatrician asked the parents to complete a questionnaire to screen James for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a possible explanation for his impulsive behavior. After reviewing the results of the questionnaire, neither James' mother nor his pediatrician believed that James met the criteria for the diagnosis of ADHD. James' parents were instructed to continue using behavior modification and were tol

Temper Tantrums Impulsivity, and Aggression in a Preschool-Aged Boy

Temper Tantrums Impulsivity, and Aggression in a Preschool-Aged Boy

Toward a fuller appreciation of codeswitching

Psychologists today concur that the mind actively reconstitutes experience. A child's cognitive processes will, thus, take in and actively rework the experience of a bilingual environment. This paper analyzes the codeswitching that occurred in a Chinese-English 4-year-old's temper tantrum behaviour. In one example, he is observed to switch from the unmarked Chinese normally used with his grandmother to English in what seems to be an attempt to gain control of the situation by using what he seems to perceive as the language of power. It would seem, then that early on, a bilingual child is already a ‘rational actor’ (cf. Myers-Scotton, this issue), able to make pragmatic language choices in accordance with how he attributes power to one or the other of his languages.

Are Baboon Infants Sir Phillip Sydney's Offspring?

Data on mother‐offspring interactions in chacma baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) were used to test predictions arising from Bateson's (1994) dynamic assessment model of mammalian weaning conflicts. The results provide preliminary support for this model. Infants, rather than mothers, controlled the amount of investment received in the early postnatal period and infants were motivated to begin foraging in the absence of maternal rejection. Furthermore, seven out of 10 infants did not display any tantrum behaviour during observations throughout the first year of life. Only those infants considered to be vulnerable to a seasonal reduction in weaning foods displayed high level tantrum behaviour that was accompanied by an increase in the amount of investment received from their mothers. Habitat quality is suggested to be critical in determining the success of a transition to independent foraging both within and between habitats, with mothers being sensitive to this and responding appropriately to infants who require increased investment. The high intensity tantrum behaviour is necessary to convey unambiguous information to a mother with imperfect knowledge of the offspring's state, and to convey the urgency of need, enabling infants to break into maternal schedules.

Dealing with temper tantrums ... a lesson from home.

Dealing with temper tantrums ... a lesson from home.

Using the Mystery Motivator to Improve Child Bedtime Compliance

ABSTRACT Child bedtime problems are commonly reported by parents. A number of behavioral techniques, including extinction of tantrum behaviors, reinforcement of compliant bedtime, and implementation of consistent bedtime routines have been successful in improving bedtime compliance. The present study examined the effects of the “Mystery Motivator” (MM), a behavioral contract designed to remediate bedtime problems by delivering random reinforcement. Emphasis was placed on the optimal use of clinical intervention by enlisting parents as primary change agents in the home setting. Three adults and their four children, aged 3–5 years, participated. Three of the four children showed substantial changes in both time out of bed and bedtime noncompliance between baseline and treatment phases. A fourth child showed less improvement. Parent participants demonstrated understanding of the materials and successfully implemented the home program. Both parent and child participants rated the Mystery Motivator reinforcement system as an acceptable intervention.

The 1999 Election and South Africa’s Postapartheid Political Culture

The result of South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994 had something in common with a successful children’s birthday party. It was clear from the beginning whose day it was and where the bulk of the spoils would go, but the failure of the African National Congress (ANC) to win a two-thirds majority consoled the others. And those guests who might have spoiled the occasion with tears and tantrums were rewarded too, with control of provincial parliaments in Kwa-Zulu-Natal and the Western Cape, as well as positions in a government of national unity. These factors helped to make the 1994 election an occasion for general, not just partisan, rejoicing. Divorced from the euphoria and sense of relief that attended the 1994 poll and robbed of any uncertainty about the outcome, observers of 1999’s election have had to work much harder to read its significance.

The Use of Social Stories to Reduce Precursors to Tantrum Behavior in a Student with Autism

This study analyzed the effects of social stories in reducing precursors to tantrum behavior in two social environments, morning work time and lunchtime. The student was a 12-year-old boy diagnosed with autism, Fragile X syndrome, and intermittent explosive disorder. Using an ABAB design, two social stories were implemented and withdrawn as data were collected to determine the frequency of two behaviors, inappropriate vocalizations and dropping to the floor, which served as precursors to tantrum behavior. The data revealed a decrease in precursors to tantrum behavior when the social stories were available to the student and an increase in targeted behavior when the intervention was withdrawn.

Tantrums and epiphanies

Tantrums and epiphanies