Abstract
It was hypothesized that siblings could function as effective behavior change agents for their behaviorally disturbed brothers and sisters within the home environment. Further, it was predicted that parents could be trained to be reliable observers of their children's performance under these circumstances. The results of the study supported both predictions with siblings in two separate families demonstrating their ability to work with their brother or sister within the context of an ABAB reversal design. Parents were also shown to obtain consistently high reliability ratings when compared to outside observers. The judicious use of siblings as behavior modification aides is recommended as a treatment procedure.
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Brown, N., & Guilani, B.Siblings as behavior modifiers. Paper presented at AABT Sixth Annual Meeting, New York, October 1972.
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Richard Rowe and Jose Rodriguez were faithful observers. Thanks also to the parents and children who were the subjects of this study. Peter E. Nathan, Steve Kopel, Glen Salows, and Steve Gordon made helpful comments on the manuscript. Support for this research came in part from a grant from the Charles and Johanna Busch Memorial Fund of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, to the second author.
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Colletti, G., Harris, S.L. Behavior modification in the home: Siblings as behavior modifiers, parents as observers. J Abnorm Child Psychol 5, 21–30 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00915757
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00915757