In 1622 William Gouge published an early treatise on education written in English. In it he warned parents about the many “vices” of children, of which one is “stubbornnesse, when children pout, swell, and give no answer at all to their parents. This is too common a fault in children, and many parents are much offended and grieved thereat” (p. 248).

It obviously did not take social scientists to discover that oppositional, defiant, or otherwise coercive behaviors can be a major source of stress for parents of young children. Descriptive studies of family interactions have shown that mothers commonly attempt to manage their preschoolers by commanding or disapproving once every 3 to 4 minutes and that instances of child noncompliance or defiance, which are very common at that age, tend to elicit more parental attention than instances of positive behavior (Forehand, King, Peed, & Yoder, 1975; Johnson, Wahl, Martin, & Johansson, 1973). Clinical and laboratory evidence suggests that such increases in attention are commonly associated with corresponding increases in both aversive and indiscriminate responding on the part of parents and play a key role in differentiating between functional and dysfunctional family interactions (e.g., Dumas & Wahler, 1985; Patterson, 1982; Sawin & Parke, 1979; Snyder, 1977).