bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF PHOTO‐OBJECT MATCHING SKILLS OF SEVERELY RETARDED ADOLESCENTS
Authors: Dixon Lois S.
Published: March 2006

Matching‐to‐sample procedures were used to assess picture representation skills of severely retarded, nonverbal adolescents. Identity matching within the classes of objects and life‐size, full‐color photos of the objects was first used to assess visual discrimination, a necessary condition for picture representation. Picture representation was then assessed through photo‐object matching tasks. Five students demonstrated visual discrimination (identity matching) within the two classes of photos and the objects. Only one student demonstrated photo‐object matching. The results of the four students who failed to demonstrate photo‐object matching suggested that physical properties of photos (flat, rectangular) and depth dimensions of objects may exert more control over matching than the similarities of the objects and images within the photos. An analysis of figure‐ground variables was conducted to provide an empirical basis for program development in the use of pictures. In one series of tests, rectangular shape and background were removed by cutting out the figures in the photos. The edge shape of the photo and the edge shape of the image were then identical. The results suggest that photo‐object matching may be facilitated by using cut‐out figures rather than the complete rectangular photo.
TEACHING LEISURE SKILLS TO SEVERELY HANDICAPPED ADULTS: AN AGE‐APPROPRIATE DARTS GAME
Authors: Schleien Stuart J. , Wehman Paul , Kiernan John
Published: March 2006

This study demonstrates the acquisition and generalization of dart skills by three severely multihandicapped adults. The program took place in a community adult development center. By identifying the motor responses required to play darts, a 7‐step task analysis was generated to facilitate instruction. Systematic training procedures using applied behavior analysis were implemented. A combination multiple baseline across subjects and changing criterion design was used. The results indicated that not only could this supposedly difficult skill be acquired by severely multihandicapped individuals, but that they could also generalize to other appropriate environments. Acquisition of this skill could help optimize their use of free time for leisure pursuits in a variety of settings.
EFFECTS OF SPACED RESPONDING DRL ON THE STEREOTYPED BEHAVIOR OF PROFOUNDLY RETARDED PERSONS
Authors: Singh Nirbhay N. , Dawson Maryan J. , Manning Patrick
Published: March 2006

Stereotypic responding and social behaviors of three profoundly retarded children were measured before and during application of a DRL contingency for stereotypic responding. A variant of the standard DRL procedure, spaced responding DRL, was used, in which reinforcement is delivered following a response if that response has been separated from the previous response by at least a fixed minimum time interval. Three children were treated by using a reversal design. Results showed that: (a) during baseline sessions, the children engaged in high rates of stereotypic responding and very low rates of appropriate social behavior; and (b) during DRL sessions, appropriate behavior increased markedly as stereotypic responding was reduced. The data suggest that spaced responding DRL may be effective in increasing appropriate social behavior as well as in reducing stereotypic responding.
RESPONSE‐REINFORCER RELATIONSHIPS AND IMPROVED LEARNING IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN
Authors: Williams Julie A. , Koegel Robert L. , Egel Andrew L.
Published: March 2006

In order to affect more rapid response acquisition for autistic children, researchers have recently begun to investigate the functional relationships of reinforcers to other components of the operant conditioning paradigm. Previous research suggested that functional relationships between target behaviors and reinforcers might be especially effective. For example, locating a reward inside a container might be a more efficient way to teach a child to open the container than by handing the child a reward for opening an empty container. The present experiment assessed, within a multiple baseline design, the possibility of improving autistic children's learning by changing arbitrary response‐reinforcer relationships (while holding target behaviors and reinforcers constant) so that the target behaviors became functional (i.e., a direct part of the response chain required for the child to procure the reinforcer). The results showed that: (1) arranging functional response‐reinforcer relationships produced immediate improvement in the children's learning, and resulted in rapid acquisition of criterion level responding; and (2) high levels of correct responding initially produced by functional response‐reinforcer relationships were continued even when previously ineffective arbitrary response‐reinforcer conditions were reinstated. The results are discussed in terms of understanding and improving autistic children's learning.
TEACHING THE HANDICAPPED TO EAT IN PUBLIC PLACES: ACQUISITION, GENERALIZATION AND MAINTENANCE OF RESTAURANT SKILLS
Authors: Pol Richard A. van den , Iwata Brian A. , Ivancic Martin T. , Page Terry J. , Neef Nancy A. , Whitley F. Paul
Published: March 2006

This study examined classroom‐based instruction in restauranting skills for handicapped persons. Three male students were taught each of four skill components in sequential order: locating, ordering, paying, and eating and exiting. Training was implemented in a multiple baseline design across subjects and consisted of modeling and role playing in conjunction with photo slide sequences and a simulated ordering counter. The use of a menu containing general item classes and a finger matching procedure for identifying errors in the delivery of change greatly reduced the reading and math skills necessary to enter and complete the program. Periodic probes were conducted in a McDonald's restaurant prior to, during, and up to one‐year following the termination of training. In addition, two probes (overt and covert observation) were conducted in a Burger King restaurant to assess further generalization to a location different from the one depicted throughout training. Results showed that students' performance on restaurant probes improved as a result of training, generalized to novel settings, maintained over an extended period of time, and was comparable to that of a normative sample of nonretarded persons.
IDENTIFYING THE EDUCATIVE AND SUPPRESSIVE EFFECTS OF POSITIVE PRACTICE AND RESTITUTIONAL OVERCORRECTION
Authors: Carey Robert G. , Bucher Bradley
Published: March 2006

Two major features of the overcorrection procedure, restitution and positive practice, were analyzed for their educative and suppressive properties in the treatment of profoundly retarded adults. Positive practice techniques that were topographically similar and dissimilar to the target behavior were studied. Eating behavior and puzzle performance were observed. Restitutional overcorrection and both forms of positive practice were effective for suppressing inappropriate behaviors. Even when appropriate behaviors had been acquired by positive practice, restitution and dissimilar positive practice were generally ineffective for increasing their rate of occurrence. However, topographically similar positive practice was successful as a means of teaching new appropriate behaviors.
EFFECT OF THE GOOD BEHAVIOR GAME ON DISRUPTIVE LIBRARY BEHAVIOR
Authors: Fishbein Jill E. , Wasik Barbara H.
Published: March 2006

A modification of the good behavior game was used to reduce disruptive behaviors during a weekly library period of children in a fourth‐grade class. Modifications included student input in designing rules, attempts to state rules in positive terms, observation of class behavior in the experimental (library) setting as well as in a comparison (classroom) setting, and librarian involvement in instituting the game coupled with teacher involvement in delivering reinforcers. Reinforcers consisted of special classroom activities conducted by the teacher with winning team members. Modification of the good behavior game did not detract from its effectiveness in reducing disruptive and off‐task behavior.
AN EVALUATION OF TEACHING‐FAMILY (ACHIEVEMENT PLACE) GROUP HOMES FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS
Authors: Kirigin Kathryn A. , Braukmann Curtis J. , Atwater Jay D. , Wolf Montrose M.
Published: March 2006

Juvenile crime is a serious problem for which no treatment approach has been found to be reliably effective. This outcome evaluation assessed during and posttreatment effectiveness of Teaching‐Family group home treatment programs for juvenile offenders. The evaluation included the original Achievement Place program, which was the prototype for the development of the Teaching‐Family treatment approach, 12 replications of Achievement Place, and 9 comparison group home programs. Primary dependent measures were retrieved from court and police files and included number of alleged offenses, percentage of youths involved in those alleged offenses, and percentage of youths institutionalized. Other dependent measures were subjective ratings of effectiveness obtained from the program consumers, including the group home residents. The results showed difference during treatment favoring the Teaching‐Family programs on rate of alleged criminal offenses, percentage of youths involved in those offenses, and consumer ratings of the programs. The consumer ratings provided by the youths and their school teachers were found to be inversely and significantly correlated with the reduction of criminal offenses during treatment. There were no significant differences during treatment on measures of noncriminal offenses (e.g., truancy, runaway, and curfew violations). In the posttreatment year, none of the differences between the groups was significant on any of the outcome measures. The results are discussed in terms of measurement and design issues in the evaluation of delinquency treatment programs and in relation to the evaluation of Teaching‐Family group homes by Richard Jones and his colleagues.
COLLATERAL GAINS AND SHORT‐TERM MAINTENANCE IN READING AND ON‐TASK RESPONSES BY INNER‐CITY ADOLESCENTS AS A FUNCTION OF THEIR USE OF SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT WHILE TUTORING
Authors: Greer R. Douglas , Polirstok Susan Rovet
Published: March 2006

Two experiments are reported concerning the effects of the differential use of verbal approval by problematic adolescents serving as tutors in a remedial reading program for an inner‐city school. The experiments, each with 3 tutors and 15 tutees, used a combined multiple baseline and ABCBC design. Data showed that tutors' approvals as well as tutors' and tutees' on‐task and reading responses were low and stable during baseline. Tutors were trained to use verbal approval for tutees' on‐task behavior. Tokens were presented and withdrawn to control the tutors' use of approval. During phases in which tutors' approvals were raised via token dispensation, tutor reading and on‐task scores increased in a nonexperimental setting. Tutee reading scores also increased as a function of tutor approvals. The second experiment replicated these findings and, in addition, (a) tested the validity of changes in reading responses via standardized tests, (b) isolated and compared the covariance between variables in all phases, and (c) provided data on tutee attention to tutors as a possible natural reinforcer for the short‐term maintenance found in both studies. Data are discussed as evidence that tutors had acquired the ability to recruit reinforcement from the classroom for appropriate behavior.
MULTIPLE INCENTIVES IN ENCOURAGING CAR POOL FORMATION ON A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
Authors: Jacobs Harvey E. , Fairbanks David , Poche Cheryl E. , Bailey Jon S.
Published: March 2006

The effects of a combined token economy and reserved parking program were evaluated as a means of increasing car pooling among students on a university campus. Following a baseline period, students in two experimental parking lots were notified of the availability of reserved parking and coupons redeemable for 25 cents in merchandise for each occupant of automobiles containing two or more people. Two control lots also were monitored for a comparison of treatment effects. Results indicated variable increases in car pooling in the two experimental lots and no increase in the control lots. Removal of the 25‐cent coupons from one treatment lot (reserved parking only) did not adversely affect rates of car pooling. An analysis of individual automobile occupancy rates among car poolers indicated distinct patterns of car pooling and underscored the importance of individual subject data analysis in the present situation. A cost‐benefit analysis indicated that even moderately effective car pool programs can be cost‐effective on both a public and personal level.
TRAINING AND GENERALIZATION OF LAUNDRY SKILLS: A MULTIPLE PROBE EVALUATION WITH HANDICAPPED PERSONS
Authors: Thompson Thomas J. , Braam Steven J. , Fuqua R. Wayne
Published: March 2006

An instructional procedure composed of a graded sequence of prompts and token reinforcement was used to train a complex chain of behaviors which included sorting, washing, and drying clothes. A multiple probe design with sequential instruction across seven major components of the laundering routine was used to demonstrate experimental control. Students were taught to launder clothing using machines located in their school and generalization was assessed later on machines located in the public laundromat. A comparison of students' laundry skills with those of normal peers indicated similar levels of proficiency. Follow‐up probes demonstrated maintenance of laundry skills over a 10‐month period.
ASSESSMENT AND TRAINING OF CLINICAL INTERVIEWING SKILLS: ANALOGUE ANALYSIS AND FIELD REPLICATION
Authors: Iwata Brian A. , Wong Stephen E. , Riordan Mary M. , Dorsey Michael F. , Lau Merle M.
Published: March 2006

Two studies were conducted to assess and train clinical interviewing skills. In Experiment 1, eight university practicum students (“therapists”) and either role played or volunteer “clients” were audiotaped during simulated interviews. Following the collection of baseline data on both therapist and client responses, training was provided by way of written materials, classroom instruction and practice, and quizzes. Results of a multiple baseline design across subjects showed improvements in therapists' interviewing skills and subsequent increases in client responding. Experiment 2 replicated and extended the research to a hospital outpatient clinic, in which therapists interviewed the parents of children with behavior problems. In addition, four months following the completion of Experiment 2, follow‐up data collected during a maintenance condition showed continued high levels of therapist and client behavior. Finally, a panel of expert peers indicated that each response category was judged highly relevant to the behavioral assessment process.
NONVOCAL LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN ADOLESCENTS WITH SEVERE PHYSICAL DISABILITIES: BLISSYMBOL VERSUS ICONIC STIMULUS FORMATS
Authors: Hurlbut Bonnie I. , Iwata Brian A. , Green Jack D.
Published: March 2006

This study compared training in two language systems for three severely handicapped, nonvocal adolescents: the Bliss symbol system and an iconic picture system. Following baseline, training and review trials were implemented using an alternating treatments design. Daily probes were conducted to assess maintenance, stimulus generalization, and response generalization, and data were collected on spontaneous usage of either language system throughout the school day. Results showed that students required approximately four times as many trials to acquire Bliss symbols as iconic pictures, and that students maintained a higher percentage of iconic pictures. Stimulus generalization occurred in both language systems, while the number of correct responses during responses generalization probes was much greater for the iconic system. Finally, students almost always showed more iconic responses than Bliss responses in daily spontaneous usage. These results suggest that an iconic system might be more readily acquired, maintained, and generalized to daily situations. Implications of these findings for the newly verbal person were discussed.
SELF‐INSTRUCTIONAL TRAINING TO INCREASE INDEPENDENT WORK PERFORMANCE IN PRESCHOOLERS
Authors: Bryant Lorrie E. , Budd Karen S.
Published: March 2006

The generalized effects of self‐instructional training on the classroom performance of three “impulsive” preschool children were investigated using a multiple‐baseline design across subjects. Measures of child and teacher behavior in the classroom were obtained through direct observations during a daily independent work period. Self‐instructional training followed Meichenbaum and Goodman's (1971) approach, except that training materials consisted of naturalistic task worksheets rather than psychometric test items and training sessions were of shorter duration. For all three children, self‐instructional training resulted in increased levels of accuracy on worksheets in the classroom that were similar to those used in training. Results related to several supplementary measures were less clear; however, they suggested that rates of on‐task behavior may also have improved, and that a mild classroom intervention further strengthened on‐task rates and effected consistent work completion for all three children. The findings suggested that generalized increases in accuracy on classroom worksheets were related to the naturalistic format of the self‐instructional training sessions. The level of teacher attention was controlled to rule out its effect on changes in child behavior.
TREATMENT OF CHILD ABUSE: A REVIEW OF THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS
Authors: Isaacs Christine D.
Published: March 2006

The problem of child abuse has become prominent in the past decade; this has led to increased research on its treatment. This paper describes the behavioral treatment approaches that have been used to alleviate abusive parenting practices, and it also discusses current issues and future directions for research in this area.
PROGRAMMING “LOOSE TRAINING” AS A STRATEGY TO FACILITATE LANGUAGE GENERALIZATION
Authors: Campbell G Robert , Stremel‐Campbell Kathleen
Published: March 2006

This study investigated the generalization of spontaneous complex language behavior across a nontraining setting and the durability of generalization as a result of programming and “loose training” strategy. A within‐subject, across‐behaviors multiple‐baseline design was used to examine the performance of two moderately retarded students in the use of is/are across three syntactic structures (i.e., “wh” questions, “yes/no” reversal questions, and statements). The language training procedure used in this study represented a functional example of programming “loose training.” The procedure involved conducting concurrent language training within the context of an academic training task, and establishing a functional reduction in stimulus control by permitting the student to initiate a language response based on a wide array of naturally occurring stimulus events. Concurrent probes were conducted in the free play setting to assess the immediate generalization and the durability of the language behaviors. The results demonstrated that “loose training” was effective in establishing a specific set of language responses with the participants of this investigation. Further, both students demonstrated spontaneous use of the language behavior in the free play generalization setting and a trend was clearly evident for generalization to continue across time. Thus, the methods used appear to be successful for training the use of is/are in three syntactic structures.
AN OPERANT TRACKING PROCEDURE IN THE AUDITORY ASSESSMENT OF PROFOUNDLY RETARDED INDIVIDUALS
Authors: Woolcock James E. , Alferink Larry A.
Published: March 2006

The present study investigated a discrete‐trials, operant tracking and a descending‐series procedure for the determination of hearing levels with profoundly retarded individuals. These individuals were previously diagnosed as untestable. Following stimulus‐control training with errorless discrimination procedures, hearing levels for each individual were examined with both procedures. For P‐1 and P‐2, the operant tracking procedure was administered following a descending‐series procedure. Both were observed to “track” their own hearing levels. For P‐3, the operant tracking procedure was administered first, followed by the descending‐series procedure. Although P‐3 also “tracked” her own hearing level, more variable responding was observed. Nonetheless, the operant tracking procedure proved quite workable and may provide for improved hearing testing with “difficult‐to‐test” individuals.
TRAINING COUNSELING SKILLS: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS AND SOCIAL VALIDATION
Authors: Whang Paula L. , Fletcher R. Kay , Fawcett Stephen B.
Published: March 2006

A community development perspective suggests the value of using local resources to solve local problems. Two low‐income staff of a community service center served as nonprofessional counselors after receiving a training program consisting of written instructions, practice, and performance feedback. The effects of the 40‐hour training program were positive for both counseling and problem‐solving skills. There was also evidence of generalization of counseling performance across clients, problems, and time. In addition, expert judges' ratings of performance were obtained as a measure of social validity. These findings suggest that the training procedures are effective in enhancing the counseling and problem‐solving skills of low‐income nonprofessionals.
A PROGRAM FOR INCREASING MANUAL SIGNING BY AUTISTIC AND PROFOUNDLY RETARDED YOUTH WITHIN THE DAILY ENVIRONMENT
Authors: Schepis Maureen M. , Reid Dennis H. , Fitzgerald Jeffrey R. , Faw Gerald D. , Pol Richard A. van den , Welty Patricia A.
Published: March 2006

A program was implemented to increase the manual signing of five profoundly retarded and four autistic youth within their daily environment. Each participant was nonvocal or minimally vocal. The program was based on modified incidental teaching strategies and was implemented by direct care personnel under supervision in an institutional setting. Specific components included rearranging the physical environment to prompt signing, altering routine staff‐resident interactions to prompt, manually guide and/or reinforce signing; and conducting mini‐training sessions. Additionally, staff modeled signs intermittently throughout the day. The program was sequentially implemented during two staff work shifts on each of two resident living modules. Observations conducted at four separate time periods during the day indicated that significant increases in signing occurred for all participating youth and that the increases generally maintained during follow‐up checks at 5 and 17 weeks. Differential effects of the increased signing on frequency of vocalizations were noted across residents. A staff acceptability survey indicated favorable staff reports on the usefulness of signing to communicate with the youth. Results are discussed regarding the significance of manual signing for seriously developmentally disabled persons and the importance of ensuring that signing skills are used in the daily environment and not exclusively in formal training sessions. Also, areas for continued research are noted in terms of more refined analyses of client skills and subsequent progress in manual communication programs.
THE TOKEN ECONOMY: A DECADE LATER
Authors: Kazdin Alan E.
Published: March 2006

In the last decade, the token economy has been extended widely across populations and behaviors in treatment, rehabilitation, educational, and community settings. Outcome research has expanded as well to include large‐scale program evaluations and comparative and combined treatment studies of the token economy. In a previous review (Kazdin & Bootzin, 1972), several obstacles were identified for the effective application of the token economy. These included identifying procedures to enhance program efficacy, to train staff, to overcome client resistance, and to promote long‐term maintenance and transfer of training. The present paper discusses recent advances in research and reviews progress on the major issues identified previously. New issues have become salient in the last decade that pertain to the extension of the token economy to institutional settings. The demands for maintaining the integrity of treatment, the ability to integrate token economies within existing institutional constraints, and the disseminability of the procedures on a large scale are major issues that may dictate the future of the token economy.
CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING WITH DISADVANTAGED YOUTHS: IMPROVING CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE
Authors: Kelley Mary Lou , Stokes Trevor F.
Published: March 2006

This study evaluated the effects of a student‐teacher contracting procedure on adolescent students' academic productivity. Participants were 13 youths enrolled in a vocational training program for disadvantaged youth and their classroom teacher. During the baseline conditions students were paid contingent on attendance alone, the system operating in the program prior to this research. During contracting conditions students were paid contingent on contract fulfillment of academic productivity goals set by mutual agreement between the student and teacher. Contracting and contingent pay procedures were developed with, and implemented by, the classroom teacher. A reversal experimental design showed that student's productivity more than doubled during contracting conditions as compared with their productivity during baseline.
CONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT FOR BENZODIAZEPINE‐FREE URINES: EVALUATION OF A DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT INTERVENTION
Authors: Stitzer Maxine L. , Bigelow George E. , Liebson Ira A. , Hawthorne James W.
Published: March 2006

This study evaluated contingent reinforcement for benzodiazepine‐free urines as a therapeutic intervention for promoting reduced use of supplemental benzodiazepine drugs among methadone maintenance outpatients. Ten methadone maintenance patients were selected for participation on the basis of positive urinalysis results. During a 12‐week intervention period these patients were offered clinic privileges, including monetary payments or methadone take‐home doses, contingent on benzodiazepine negative urinalysis test results. Eight of ten participants responded to the intervention with at least 2.5 weeks of consecutive clean urines. An increase in benzodiazepine‐negative tests during the contingent reinforcement period was significant for the group as a whole. The results suggest that more widespread application of contingent reinforcement procedures may be warranted in drug abuse treatment clinics.
EVALUATING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE CAREPROVIDER PERFORMANCE ON HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS IN AN INFANT CARE FACILITY
Authors: Kunz George G. R. , Lutzker John R. , Cuvo Anthony J. , Eddleman Jacquie , Lutzker Sandra Z. , Megson Deborah , Gulley Beverly
Published: March 2006

Responding to administrative staff and parental concerns, using modified reversal and withdrawal designs, two experiments evaluated a staff‐managed feedback system to improve the hygiene and developmental skills of children in an infant/toddler center. Experiment 1 examined feedback designed to increase staff performance in checking and changing diapers, and recording those changes. A chart plus supervisory feedback produced increases in and maintenance of staff performance. Experiment 2 compared an existing staff management system with a “playchart” plus feedback in increasing careprovider‐infant stimulation. The data (with follow‐up on a new staff) supported the use of the new feedback system. Questionnaire data further supported the utility of the playchart system.
IMPROVING CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR IN MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN THROUGH CORRESPONDENCE TRAINING
Authors: Whitman Thomas L. , Scibak John W. , Butler Kevin M. , Richter Rich , Johnson Moses R.
Published: March 2006

Except for a few studies, most research investigating correspondence training procedures has been more analogue in nature. The purpose of the present set of studies was to examine whether a “say‐do” correspondence training technique could be used with children in special education classes to improve classroom behavior. The specific behaviors targeted for change included: out‐of‐seat behavior (Experiment 1), sitting posture (Experiment 2), and on‐task behavior (Experiment 3). The say‐do procedure used in Experiment 1 resembled that of previous studies, whereas that in Experiment 2 was more elaborate in the specificity of verbal statements required from the children and the feedback given them. The training procedure in Experiment 3 used a format similar to the say‐do approach, but stressed visual rather than verbal cuing because it was used with nonverbal children. All three studies used single‐subject designs and examined maintenance and/or generalization questions. Experiments 2 and 3 also evaluated whether concomitant changes in performance on academic tasks occurred. The results of the three studies provide strong evidence that correspondence training can be effectively used with educationally handicapped children. Moreover, the successful modification of the “say‐do” to a “show‐do” procedure in Experiment 3 points out the flexibility of the correspondence training approach.
TOKEN REINFORCEMENT DURING THE INSTATEMENT AND SHAPING OF FLUENCY IN THE TREATMENT OF STUTTERING
Authors: Howie Pauline M. , Woods C. Lee
Published: March 2006

The value of token reinforcement in the instatement and shaping of fluency was examined in an intensive treatment program for adult stutterers. Experiment 1 examined the effect of removing the tangible back‐up reinforcers for the token system and found that clients' performance in the program was equally good with or without these back‐up reinforcers, suggesting that a strict token economy may not be crucial to rapid progress through treatment. Experiment 2 compared contingent and noncontingent token reinforcement, while controlling for some variables that may have confounded the results of earlier research, and found no difference in clients' performance. Experiment 3 examined the effect of the entire removal of token reinforcement. Performance was found to be no worse under a “no tokens” system than under a system of tokens with back‐up reinforcers. It is argued that in a highly structured treatment program where many other reinforcers are operating, token reinforcement may be largely redundant. Clinical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.
INCREASING PARTICIPATION AND IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF DISCUSSIONS IN SEVENTH‐GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSES
Authors: Smith Burleigh M. , Schumaker Jean B. , Schaeffer Janae , Sherman James A.
Published: March 2006

An experiment was conducted to evaluate procedures to improve classroom discussions in seventh‐grade social studies classes. An increased number of students participated in discussions when rules were stated for discussions, students were praised for their contributions, the teacher restated or paraphrased students' contributions aloud or on the blackboard, the teacher planned an outline of discussion questions, student contributions to discussions were recorded and were used to determine part of the students' grades for the class, and discussion grades were publicly posted.

The second part of the study focused on procedures designed to improve quality of classroom discussions. Students were taught to participate in discussions by providing reasons for their statements, comparisons between different points, or examples supporting their statements. As each type of contribution was taught, recorded, and counted toward part of the students' classroom grades, each type of contribution increased. Ratings of discussions by outside judges consisting of junior high school teachers, junior high school students, and persons experienced in conducting discussions, indicated that the training increased the overall quality of the discussions. Use of the quality training procedures, however, resulted in decreased levels of overall participation in discussion, a decrease that was reversed by the use of a group contingency for participation. Finally, the discussions after training seemed to be preferred by both the teacher and the students.
THE EFFECTS OF ECHOLALIA ON ACQUISITION AND GENERALIZATION OF RECEPTIVE LABELING IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN
Authors: Charlop Marjorie H.
Published: March 2006

This investigation, consisting of two experiments, was designed to assess the effects of autistic immediate echolalia on acquisition and generalization of receptive labeling tasks. Experiment 1 addressed whether autistic children could use their echolalia to facilitate acquisition. The results indicated that incorporating echolalia (echo of the requested object's label) into the task before manual response (handing the requested object to the experimenter) facilitated receptive labeling. Experiment 2 was designed to determine the effects of incorporating echolalia into task response on acquisition and subsequent generalization. These results indicated that echolalia facilitated generalization for echolalic autistic children but not for functionally mute autistic children. The results of the experiments are discussed in terms of stimulus control. Additionally, it is proposed that perhaps in certain cases, echolalia should not be eliminated, but used to advantage in receptive responding.
PEER TRAINING OF SAFETY‐RELATED SKILLS TO INSTITUTIONAL STAFF: BENEFITS FOR TRAINERS AND TRAINEES
Authors: Pol Richard A. van den , Reid Dennis H. , Fuqua R. Wayne
Published: March 2006

A peer training program, in which experienced staff trained new staff, was evaluated as a method for teaching and maintaining safety‐related caregiver skills in an institutional setting for the developmentally disabled. Three sets of safety‐type skills were assessed in simulated emergency situations: responding to facility fires, managing aggressive attacks by residents, and assisting residents during convulsive seizures. Using a multiple‐baseline research design, results indicated that the peer training program was an effective method of training the three types of emergency skills to new direct care staff. The program also appeared effective in improving the skills of the peer trainers. Perhaps most importantly, results indicated that if experienced staff functioned as peer trainers for particular emergency skills, then their proficiency in those skills maintained over time whereas their proficiency declined in emergency skills for which they did not act as peer trainers. Social validity information collected from available staff 23 months after the program was completed supported the utility of the training in terms of staff responses during actual emergencies. Also, acceptability measures indicated that staff liked participating in the program. However, some inconsistencies between staff verbal reports and performance‐based measures of acceptability were noted. Results are discussed regarding the overall effectiveness of the peer training program, the importance of maintenance strategies for safety‐related skills, and the need for multidimensional analyses of staff acceptability in staff training/management research.
STACKING THE DECK: TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS TO RETARDED ADULTS WITH A MODIFIED TABLE GAME
Authors: Foxx R. M. , McMorrow Martin J. , Schloss Cynthia N.
Published: March 2006

This study developed and evaluated a social skills training program for institutionalized mildly or moderately retarded and dually diagnosed individuals. Social skills were conceptualized as requiring an action or reaction within six skill areas: compliments, social interactions, politeness, criticism, social confrontation, and questions/answers. The program taught social skills using a commercially available table game, Sorry, and a specially designed card deck. Each card represented one of the skill areas and was designed to train either an actor or reactor response. The program featured response specific feedback, self‐monitoring, individualized reinforcers, and individualized performance criterion levels. A multiple baseline across two groups (N = 3 per group) revealed that the game contingencies increased social skills in all targeted areas. After training, the subjects displayed their newly learned skills at or above their trained levels in two different settings with novel persons present. Although untargeted, the complexity of the subjects' responses increased across conditions, since there was a steady increase in the number of words they used per response. The program appears to be a viable means of training social skills since it uses standardized training procedures, requires only one facilitator, and is in itself a social situation that may encourage interactions with peers, cooperation, competition, and politeness.
REWARDING SAFETY BELT USAGE AT AN INDUSTRIAL SETTING: TESTS OF TREATMENT GENERALITY AND RESPONSE MAINTENANCE
Authors: Geller E. Scott
Published: March 2006

An incentive program to motivate seat belt use was implemented at a large munitions plant. Seat belt usage was assessed daily at an entrance/exit gate of the industrial complex when employees arrived for work in the morning and departed in the afternoon. During treatment incentive fliers, which prompted seat belt usage and gave belt wearers opportunities to win prizes, were distributed only in the afternoon. Seat belt wearing increased from baseline means of 20.4% and 17.3% during the morning and afternoon, respectively, to averages of 55.5% during afternoon departures and 31.1% during morning arrivals. During follow‐up, mean belt use dropped almost to baseline levels. Categorizing vehicles according to driver sex and license plate number enabled a study of belt wearing practices of individuals, and revealed that the incentive program influenced some drivers to wear their seat belts during morning arrival when incentives were not distributed (i.e., treatment generalization) and during a follow‐up period after the incentives were withdrawn (i.e., response maintenance).
UTILIZATION ANALYSIS OF A PEDESTRIAN SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAM
Authors: Yeaton William H. , Bailey Jon S.
Published: March 2006

A previously developed and analyzed pedestrian safety training program was used to teach appropriate street‐crossing behaviors to kindergarteners and first graders. Adult crossing guards were trained to provide pedestrian safety instruction. Trained observers monitored the quality of instructions given by crossing guards and the pedestrian behavior of young children as they crossed the street. A multiple‐baseline analysis of the effects of two training programs indicated that guards were able to deliver the pedestrian safety program to several groups of children with a high degree of competence after receiving a single videotape and role playing training session. Furthermore, children's level of appropriate street crossing increased contemporaneous to the change in guard behavior both on the street where training was delivered and on a second street where no training was previously delivered. Utilization analysis of the guard training program indicated that one cannot expect to produce consistently high levels of street‐crossing behavior by implementing only the “show and tell” portions of the training package. Similarly, results suggested that one is unlikely to produce consistently high quality guard training behavior by only giving written instructions describing how pedestrian training should be administered.
INCREASING VERBAL INTERACTION AMONG ELDERLY SOCIALLY ISOLATED MENTALLY RETARDED ADULTS: A GROUP LANGUAGE TRAINING PROCEDURE
Authors: Kleitsch Edward C. , Whitman Thomas L. , Santos John
Published: March 2006

The present study examined the effectiveness of a group language training procedure for directly increasing and generalizing the rate of verbal interaction among four elderly, socially isolated, moderately mentally retarded men. A withdrawal of treatment design was used to examine the effect of the procedure that used verbal prompts, behavioral rehearsal, and contingent social praise. Changes in behavior were examined in two generalization settings, one similiar to the training environment (Generalization I) and the other arranged as part of the subjects' daily routine (Generalization II). Baseline data indicated no verbal interaction among the subjects. During treatment the training procedure increased the rate of subjects' verbal interactions not only in the training situation, but also in the two generalization settings. An analysis of the data obtained during the Generalization II situation indicated that subjects' verbal interaction increased not only among themselves, but with nonsubject peers present in this setting. Follow‐up data showed that increases in rates of verbal interaction were maintained four months after the cessation of training. The implications of the results for program generalization and work with the language deficient individual is discussed.
FEEDBACK INTERVENTIONS AND DRIVING SPEED: A PARAMETRIC AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Authors: Van Houten Ron , Nau Paul A.
Published: March 2006

Five experiments were conducted to assess the effects of several variables on the efficacy of feedback in reducing driving speed. Experiment 1 systematically varied the criterion used to define speeding, and results showed that the use of a lenient criterion (20 km/hr over the speed limit), which allowed for the posting of high percentages of drivers not speeding, was more effective in reducing speeding than the use of a stringent criterion (10 km/hr over the speed limit). In Experiment 2 an analysis revealed that posting feedback reduced speeding on a limited access highway and the effects persisted to some degree up to 6 km. Experiments 3 and 4 compared the effectiveness of an unmanned parked police vehicle (Experiment 3) and a police air patrol speeding program (Experiment 4) with the feedback sign and determined whether the presence of either of these enforcement variables could potentiate the efficacy of the sign. The results of both experiments demonstrated that although the two enforcement programs initially produced larger effects than the feedback sign, the magnitude of their effect attenuated over time. Experiment 5 compared the effectiveness of a traditional enforcement program with a warning program which included handing out a flier providing feedback on the number and types of accidents occurring on the road during the past year. This experiment demonstrated that the warning program produced a marked reduction in speeding and the traditional enforcement program did not. Furthermore, the warning program and a feedback sign together produced an even greater reduction in speeding than either alone.
THE NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS OF REWARD
Authors: Balsam Peter D. , Bondy Andrew S.
Published: March 2006

The negative side effects of aversive control have been extensively discussed in clinical literature and textbooks. The symmetry between aversive and appetitive control in basic experimental research implies that parallel negative side effects of reward exist. These negative side effects are described and their implications for clinical practice and research are discussed.
BEHAVIORAL SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY GOES OUTDOORS: THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZED GAMES ON PLAYGOUND AGGRESSION
Authors: Murphy H. Allen , Hutchison J. Michael , Bailey Jon S.
Published: March 2006

This research focuses on the inappropriate, largely aggressive, behaviors of 344 K‐2 children assigned to a playground prior to the beginning of the school day. Initially, a system for observing large numbers of children freely roaming over a large, open area was developed. This observational method was then used to determine the effectiveness of providing organized games for reducing potentially dangerous playground behaviors. Using a reversal (ABAB) design, it was found that the games, rope jumping, and foot racing, along with an infrequently used time‐out procedure, significantly reduced the frequency of inappropriate incidents. It is suggested that when dealing with large groups, antecedent environmental manipulations may be more practical than providing consequences for the behaviors exhibited by identified individuals.
OPERANT PROCEDURES AND THE COMATOSE PATIENT
Authors: Boyle Mary Elinor , Greer R. Douglas
Published: March 2006

Operant procedures were tested on three patients who had been in vegetative coma for 6 months, 10 months, and 38 months. A discrete trial procedure was used to test compliance to verbal requests for three behaviors for each patient, including lateral head movement or finger movement, eye focus or eye squeeze, and mouth movement. The design for each patient consisted of multiple baselines across three behaviors with a withdrawal phase and a reinstatement phase (ABAB) for one behavior. Baseline phases were followed by contingent music phases in which 15‐second taped excerpts of patients' preferred music sounded immediately following the emission of targeted behaviors. The contingent music treatment affected all three behaviors for Patient 1, but was less effective for two out of three behaviors for the second and third patients who had been in coma for more extensive periods of time. Results are discussed in terms of the potential contributions of the use of operant assessment and treatment procedures in an area of medicine where they have not been used before.
AN ALTERNATING TREATMENT COMPARISON OF ORAL AND TOTAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING PROGRAMS WITH ECHOLALIC AUTISTIC CHILDREN
Authors: Barrera Ricardo D. , Sulzer‐Azaroff Beth
Published: March 2006

An alternating treatment comparison was conducted of the relative effectiveness of oral and total communication training models for teaching expressive labeling skills to three echolalic autistic children. The results of this comparison demonstrated that total communication proved to be the most successful approach with each of the subjects. In addition, the replication of these findings both within and across subjects suggest that total communication may be, in general, the most effective of these two training models for teaching basic vocal language skills to echolalic children. A number of hypotheses are presented that may provide a basis for the demonstrated effect.
EFFECTS OF PICTURE PROMPTS ON THE ACQUISITION OF COMPLEX VOCATIONAL TASKS BY MENTALLY RETARDED ADOLESCENTS
Authors: Wacker David P. , Berg Wendy K.
Published: March 2006

The effects of using picture prompts on the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of complex vocational tasks were evaluated within a multiple baseline design across subjects and tasks. Five moderately and severely mentally retarded adolescents were first trained to use picture prompts to guide their performance on one or more complex tasks. Following training, posttesting with and without the picture prompts was conducted to evaluate the effects of training and to determine maintenance effects over a 2‐ to 4‐week interval. Generalization of performance across tasks was assessed with three of the students who were provided novel tasks (with and without picture prompts) without training. Results indicated that picture prompts can be successfully used to promote both acquisition and generalization of performance, and that subsequent training time on a novel task was reduced when the use of picture prompts had been previously trained.