A group program for the treatment of failing college students

Toward a multimodal theory of academic underachievement

“…In a number of clinical studies, selfreinforcement has been successfully utilized in treating a varied group of behaviors, including hcterosocial anxiety, disruptive classroom behavior, and poor study habits (Best, 1975;Bolstad & Johnson, 1972;Jackson & Van Zoost, 1972;Mahoncy, Moura, & Wade, 1973;Mitchell, Hall, & Piatkowska, 1975;Rehm & Marston, 1968;Richards & Perri, 1978;Richards, Perri, & Gortncy, 1976). Mahoncy (1974) and Thoreson and Mahoney (1974) provide excellent reviews of the use of sclf-rcinforcement in behavior therapy.…”

“…Researchers have felt that the high emotional arousal inherent in school situations can play a major role in the scholastic performance of students (Mitchell, Hall, & Piatkowska, 1975;Mitchell & Ng, 1972). A thorough discussion of the field of academic anxiety has been presented by Tobias (1979)-Tobias described anxiety as an affective state which can mediate the interaction between differences in student aptitudes and types of instructional procedures.…”

“…Groveman, Richards, and Caple (1975) also reviewed a series of experiments, and discussed the importance of facilitating positive change in both scholastic abilities and in self-control processes. Mitchell, Hall, and Piatkowska (1975) argued that for academic underachievement interventions to be effective they should include both skills improvement and anxiety reduction components.…”

The Measurement and Treatment of Test Anxiety

“…Table V presents the outcomes of studies employing study skills. Studies combining study skills with other treatments have reported significant increases in grades over no treatment (Allen, 1971(Allen, , 1973Mitchell, Hall, & Piatkowska, 1975;Mitchell & Ng, 1972). Only three studies found study skills alone to be effective in increasing academic performance (Allen, 1971(Allen, , 1973Home & Matson, 1977), and in one of these studies a combined desensitization and study skills program was more effective in increasing grades than study skills alone (Allen, 1971).…”

“…While a number of studies have taught self-monitoring of study behavior (Allen, 1971(Allen, , 1973Mitchell, et al, 1975;Osterhouse, 1972), Allen's (1973) study, which required Allen (1971). A difficulty associated with the use of study skills counseling is that participants must put the behavior into practice outside the treatment session, while desensitization requires no such external application.…”