BOOK REMEWS 95

GEORGE SPIVACK and MYRNA B. SHURE: Social Adjustment of Young Children: A Cognitive Approach to Solving Real-Life Problems. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1974. xii + 212 pp. E4.95.

This book is a valuable addition to that growing literature in the Behaviour Therapy field, which is concerned with improving children’s cognitive problem-solving skills, so as to produce behavioural change in the direction of effective social adjustment. The authors, after a review of the literature on problem-solving and mental health, go on to describe an approach to pre-school children’s personal and interpersonal problems, using a carefully researched training programme. The detailed programme script contains a day-by-day unfolding of specific procedures, including dialogues, ways to conduct games and stories, cues to the therapist about techniques of presentation, advice about materials for visual aids, and so on. The programme takes about 20 min per day, spread over 46 days.

Evidence is presented to support the claim that it alters cognitive and behavioural adjustment in a favourable direction. Before and after evaluative measures are included for use by the therapist. It is impossible to summarize adequately all the skills covered. However, they include: basic concepts necessary for seeing altema- tive solutions and their consequences as well as for understanding the meaning of a particular problem; skills involved in identifying people’s emotions and developing an awareness of the multiplicity of attributes in other persons; concepts of causality and individual preference; methods of thinking about consequences that ensue from acts; lessons in fairness; and others. The book should be of interest to clinicians working with children as it offers a reasonably validated programme applicable to young children in special schools. clinics and home-situations.

MARTIN HERBERT

J. MOSER: Problems and Programmes Related to Alcohol and Drug Dependence in 33 Countries. World Health Organization, Geneva, 1974. iii + 106 pp. Sw.fr.20.

This book contains international statistical information that would otherwise be quite difficult to obtain on the following topics: extent of problems of abnormal alcohol consumption; availability and consumption of alcoholic beverages; extent of dependence on other drugs; availability and consumption of drugs (excluding alcohol); national policy regarding persons dependent on alcohol and other drugs; responsibilities and activi- ties of national bodies; treatment and after-care services; prevention programmes and education of the public; professional education and training; involvement of professional medical bodies in prevention and treatment; research; and tobacco smoking. This list of contents seems to be the only ‘review’ needed for this useful brief compilation.

H. BLUMBERG

W. J. DERISI and G. BUTZ. Utiting Behavioral Contracts: A Case Simulation Practice Manual. Research Press: Champaign, Illinois. 87 pp. 53.50.

This is the latest in the series of very practical manuals published by Research Press in recent years. The reader is led through a series of decisions in drawing up behavioural contracts. Firstly, a problem is presented. Next, a target behaviour has to be selected. Depending on the selection the reader is directed to the appropriate baseline data, on the basis of which the next step is taken. The reader is forced into constant interaction with data, and should learn to evaluate the sorts of difficulties which are met in real life. The short book ends with a series of case examples drawn from a wide variety of clinical settings. In all, this is a valuable addition to the growing library of behaviour manuals. It can be recommended not only to psychologists, but also to teachers, nurses, probation officers and all others who have responsibility for young adults.

WILLIAM YULE

J. DURAC: A Matter of Taste. Deutsch & Co., London, 1975. 256 pp. f3.50.

The main subject of this book is sensory discrimination training. It contains useful and interesting information about, and analyses of, olfaction and gustation. It also contains a course for self-administered instruction designed to increase one’s sensitivity. Although no controlled clinical trials of the method are reported here, its therapeutic value seems assured.

Much of the work rests on Durac’s specially-constructed sensory scales and while they undoubtedly are of face validity, doubts about the reliability and validity of the scales will remain until the required standatdiza- tion research has been completed. Users of the scales will also need reassurance that the measures are uni-polar and the intervals equal.

No doubt some critics will complain that the book is not within the mainstream of learning theory but I cannot attach any importance to such criticism, particularly as one can trace a direct link with Sutherland’s classical work on discrimination learning in octopuses. It is also of interest that client-centred therapists will be able to re-construe parts of Durac’s work in terms of the Rogerian concept of self-exploration and it is certainly the case that successful completion of the self-administered training programme should lead to increased awareness. On the other hand, the writer does not seem to appreciate the importance of cognitive factors.

Although the presentation of the book is not my style, it is pleasant and easy reading.

S. RACHMAN