bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A CIRCUIT FOR VIDEO‐TAPE INTERVIEWING AND ITS RECORDING RELIABILTY
Authors: Dinoff Michael , Finch A. J. , Skelton Herbert M.
Published: March 2006

A circuit to automate fully a standardized video‐taped interview (SVTI) is developed. Data are reported demonstrating good instrument reliability.
PROGRAMMING GENERALIZATION AND MAINTENANCE OF TREATMENT EFFECTS ACROSS TIME AND ACROSS SETTINGS1
Authors: Walker Hill M. , Buckley Nancy K.
Published: March 2006

Effects of three experimental and one control strategy were investigated in facilitating generalization and maintenance of treatment effects after two months in a token‐economy classroom. At the conclusion of treatment, subjects were randomly assigned to one of three maintenance strategies or a control group and returned to their regular classrooms. The maintenance strategies were peer reprogramming, equating stimulus conditions between the experimental and regular classrooms, and teacher training in behavior management techniques. The maintenance strategies were implemented in the regular classroom for a two‐month period and then terminated. Results indicated a powerful treatment effect produced by the token economy. Behavior maintenance effects following treatment were also obtained. The mean per cent appropriate behavior for the peer reprogramming and equating stimulus conditions strategies was significantly greater than the mean for the control subjects. The teacher training and control group means were not significantly different.
THE EFFECTS OF TOKEN REINFORCEMENT AND FEEDBACK ON THE DELUSIONAL VERBAL BEHAVIOR OF CHRONIC PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENICS1
Authors: Wincze John P. , Leitenberg Harold , Agras W. Stewart
Published: March 2006

Prior research with token reinforcement in the psychiatric population has been directed at work adjustment, more than at major symptomatic behaviors. The purpose of the present research, on the other hand, was to investigate the effects of feedback and token reinforcement on the modification of delusional verbal behavior in chronic psychotics. Six male and four female paranoid schizophrenic patients participated in the study. The results indicated that the effects of feedback were effective about half the time in reducing percentage delusional talk, but in at least three cases produced adverse reactions. Token reinforcement, however, showed more consistency and reduced the percentage of delusional verbal behavior in seven of the nine subjects exposed to this procedure. The effects of both feedback and token reinforcement were quite specific to the environment in which they were applied and showed little generalization to other situations. It would appear that using token reinforcement can reduce the percentage delusional speech of chronic paranoid schizophrenics.
ACADEMIC RESPONSES AND ATTITUDES ENGENDERED BY A PROGRAMMED COURSE IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT1
Authors: Whitehurst Grover J.
Published: March 2006

Both a small course section and a large course section were taught with methods that involved breaking material down into weekly units that had to be mastered by students as indicated by weekly tests. Attendance at lectures was voluntary and students were not tested on lecture material. In a system in which a student could receive only an A or an F for a course grade, less than 2% of the students receiving credit failed to master all material and received Fs. Students in the large course performed better on weekly tests and received fewer Fs than their counterparts in the small course, even though they rated their experience less favorably. Within the large course, the methods of tutorial interview, group discussion, and written assignment were compared in terms of their effectiveness in preparing students for weekly tests. Tutorials and written assignments were superior to group discussions in this regard. Students rated the effectiveness and enjoyability of these three methods in the reverse order from their actual effectiveness for test preparation. Some consequences of lack of congruity between attitude measures and performance measures were discussed.
BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS: AREAS OF COOPERATIVE RESEARCH BETWEEN ECONOMICS AND APPLIED BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS1
Authors: Kagel John H. , Winkler Robin C.
Published: March 2006

The current research methods of behavioral economics are characterized by inadequate empirical foundations. Psychologists involved in the experimental analysis of behavior with their research strategies and their experimental technology, particularly that of the Token Economy, can assist in providing empirical foundations for behavioral economics. Cooperative research between economists and psychologists to this end should be immediately fruitful and mutually beneficial.
THE TOKEN ECONOMY: AN EVALUATIVE REVIEW1
Authors: Kazdin Alan E. , Bootzin Richard R.
Published: March 2006

Token economies have been applied in a wide range of settings. While there are several advantages to the use of this procedure, there are obstacles that may impede its implementation and therapeutic efficacy. These include: staff training, client resistance, circumvention of the contingencies, and non‐responsiveness of subjects. Studies employing token programs with psychiatric patients, retardates, children in classroom settings, delinquents, and autistic children are reviewed. Although token economies are successful while in operation, the issue of generalization of behavior gains or resistance to extinction has not been given careful consideration. Inasmuch as generalization is perhaps the most crucial issue, several procedures are presented that are designed to facilitate maintenance of performance when reinforcement is withdrawn. Methodological suggestions for investigations on token reinforcement in applied settings are presented.
ITEM PREFERENCE IN A TOKEN ECONOMY WARD STORE
Authors: Ruskin Robert S. , Maley Roger F.
Published: March 2006

Token spending by 20 schizophrenic patients was monitored over a six‐month period. It was found that: (1) token expenditures for cigarettes and “edibles” far surpassed other store item categories; and (2) percentage increases in token expenditures were greatest for categories of items relating to appearance and grooming, strongly suggesting that store purchasing patterns over time may provide an index of program effectiveness.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF SELF‐STIMULATION TO LEARNING IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN1
Authors: Koegel Robert L. , Covert Andrea
Published: March 2006

The acquisition of discriminative behavior was studied in three autistic children with high‐frequency self‐stimulatory behavior. It was found that: (a) the children did not acquire the discrimination while engaged in self‐stimulation; (b) suppression of self‐stimulation produced an increase in correct responding, with eventual acquisition of the discrimination; (c) successful discrimination learning was always associated with a reduction in self‐stimulatory behavior, even when aversive stimuli were not used for suppression.
DEVELOPING PROPER MEALTIME BEHAVIORS OF THE INSTITUTIONALIZED RETARDED1
Authors: O'Brien F. , Azrin N. H.
Published: March 2006

The institutionalized mentally retarded display a variety of unsanitary, disruptive, and improper table manners. A program was developed that included (1) acquisition‐training of a high standard of proper table manners and (2) maintenance procedures to provide continued motivation to maintain proper mealtime behaviors and decrease improper skills. Twelve retardates received acquisition training, individually, by a combination of verbal instruction, imitation, and manual guidance. The students then ate in their group dining arrangement where the staff supervisor provided continuing approval for proper manners and verbal correction and timeout for improper manners. The results were: (1) the trained retardates showed significant improvement, whereas those untrained did not; (2) the trained retardates ate as well in the institution as non‐retarded customers did in a public restaurant; (3) proper eating was maintained in the group dining setting; (4) timeout was rarely needed; (5) the program was easily administered by regular staff in a regular dining setting. The rapidity, feasibility, and effectiveness of the program suggests the program as a solution to improper mealtime behaviors by the institutionalized mentally retarded.
THE ORGANIZATION OF DAY‐CARE ENVIRONMENTS: REQUIRED VS. OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES1
Authors: Doke Larry A. , Risley Todd R.
Published: March 2006

Measures of group participation were used in an experimental analysis of the effects of two preschool activity schedules. Children's participation in preschool activities remained as high when children were allowed no options but were required to follow a schedule of activities in sequence, as when they were free to choose between several optional activities. However, this was only true: (1) when a child was not forced to wait until all other children had finished, but could start the next required activity individually as soon as he had finished the preceding one, and (2) when there was an abundance of materials in each required activity. When there were not adequate materials in each activity, children's participation was disrupted unless they were free to choose among several optional activities. Thus, in order to maintain high levels of participation in preschool play activities, it is not necessary to allow children to choose among several alternative activities. High participation may be more efficiently maintained by providing a supply of materials that is adequate to occupy all children in each of a sequence of required activities and staffing by at least two teachers, so that while one teacher is supervising children still finishing one activity another teacher can supervise children who are ready to start the next
ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF SEQUENTIAL REINFORCEMENT CONTINGENCIES ON ASPECTS OF COMPOSITION1
Authors: Brigham Thomas A. , Graubard Paul S. , Stans Aileen
Published: March 2006

The procedures of manipulating consequent events were applied to the problems of teaching composition in a fifth‐grade remedial classroom. Three objective aspects of composition, total number of words, number of different words, and number of new words, were selected for manipulation and reinforcement contingencies were sequentially applied to these components. The writing output of all subjects was greatly increased.
SELF‐REGULATION IN THE MODIFICATION OF DISRUPTIVE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR1
Authors: Bolstad Orin D. , Johnson Stephen M.
Published: March 2006

This study compared self‐regulation and external regulation procedures in the treatment of children's disruptive classroom behavior. After baseline data were collected, three of the four most disruptive children in each of 10 first‐ and second‐grade classrooms received reinforcement for achieving low rates of disruptive behavior. The fourth child served as a control subject throughout the experiment. Two of the three experimental subjects were then taught to self‐observe their own disruptive behavior. In the final reinforcement period, these subjects were given control over dispensing reinforcers to themselves, based on their self‐collected behavioral data while subjects in the other experimental group continued with the externally managed reinforcement In extinction, reinforcement was discontinued for all subjects, but one of the self‐regulation subjects in each classroom continued overtly to self‐observe. Results indicated that both reinforcement programs reduced disruptive behavior. The self‐regulation procedures were slightly more effective in reducing disruptiveness than was the external regulation procedure, and this advantage persisted into extinction. These results suggest that self‐regulation procedures provide a practical, inexpensive, and powerful alternative in dealing with disruptive behavior in children.
THE EFFECT OF INCONGRUENT INSTRUCTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES ON IMITATION IN RETARDED CHILDREN1
Authors: Martin Jerry A.
Published: March 2006

Three retarded boys served as subjects in a 13‐phase experiment. In eight of these phases, the instructions administered by the experimenter before demonstrating a behavior and the consequences for imitative behavior were incongruent (the consequences were not those indicated by the instructions). Consequences rather than instructions controlled imitative behavior when (a) subjects were instructed not to imitate but received reinforcers if they imitated; (b) subjects were instructed to imitate but were differentially reinforced for other behavior; (c) subjects were instructed to imitate but were verbally reprimanded for imitation. Although subjects were highly imitative at the beginning of the study, when there was no reinforcement for imitation subjects gradually stopped imitating when instructed not to imitate. Instructions seemed to control imitative behavior when there was no reinforcement for imitation and subjects were instructed to imitate. These results indicated a need for further investigation of antecedent and consequent variables in imitation experiments and pointed out that certain techniques may be more efficient than others in eliminating well‐established responses.
EFFECTS OF REINFORCEMENT ON STANDARDIZED TEST PERFORMANCE1
Authors: Ayllon Teodoro , Kelly Kathy
Published: March 2006

The effects of two different motivational conditions upon standardized test performance were explored for two student populations. The first study involving 12 trainable retardates showed a significant increase in score on the Metropolitan Readiness Test given under reinforcement conditions when these results were compared with scores taken under standard testing conditions. In a second study, these same results were obtained with a group of 30 normal fourth‐graders. An additional study was conducted to determine the effect of different experiences with token reinforcement procedures on test performance. It was found that a group of children with six weeks' exposure to reinforcement for daily academic performance scored higher under both conditions of test administration (standard and reinforcement) than a control group. However, in a single exposure to token reinforcement for correct performance on the Metropolitan Test, both the experimental group and its match control showed a parallel increase in test performance. These findings offer a procedure that yields a more representative assessment of a student's academic achievement than does testing under standard conditions.
CURRENT BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION IN THE CLASSROOM: BE STILL, BE QUIET, BE DOCILE
Authors: Winett Richard A. , Winkler Robin C.
Published: March 2006

Classrooms have recently been criticized as total institutions where there is a rigid preoccupation with order and control, and where children are required to be still, to be silent, and to obey. Behavior modification has been described as a major source of change in the classroom. A review of this journal's papers on behavior modification in the classroom indicated that inappropriate behavior has been consistently defined as behavior that interferes with order, quiet, and stillness. It is argued therefore, that behavior modification has supported rather than changed the questionable status quo. Alternative areas for behavior modification in traditional classrooms and the role of behavior modification in the development of open classrooms are discussed.
MODIFICATION OF BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN THE HOME WITH A PARENT AS OBSERVER AND EXPERIMENTER1
Authors: Hall R. Vance , Axelrod Saul , Tyler Lucille , Grief Ellen , Jones Fowler C. , Robertson Roberta
Published: March 2006

Four parents enrolled in a Responsive Teaching class carried out experiments using procedures they had devised for alleviating their children's problem behaviors. The techniques used involved different types of reinforcement, extinction, and punishment. One parent increased the frequency of the wearing of an orthodontic device during five daily time checks by making an immediate monetary payoff contingent on wearing the device. A second parent increased the number of points earned for doing daily household tasks by providing back‐ups for which the points could be exchanged. The parents of a 4‐yr‐old boy decreased the frequency of whines, cries, and complaints by removing social attention when such behavior occurred. A mother decreased the duration of time it took for her 5‐yr‐old daughter to get dressed by making permission to watch television contingent on dressing within 30 min of the time she got up in the morning. Brief reversals of contingencies were used to show causal relationships between the procedures used and the changes in behavior. Checks on the reliability of measurement were made by persons present in the home.
THE NONEFFECTS OF CONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT FOR ATTENDING BEHAVIOR ON WORK ACCOMPLISHED1
Authors: Ferritor D. E. , Buckholdt D. , Hamblin R. L. , Smith L.
Published: March 2006

Past studies have shown that disruptive behavior can be eliminated and attending behavior accelerated in an academic setting. The relationship between these behaviors and academic performance is not well understood. The effects of behavioral and performance contingencies on classroom behavior and on academic performance were investigated. The subjects, third‐grade students from an inner city elementary school, were exposed to a series of conditions including baseline, behavior contingencies, performance contingencies, and a mix of behavior and performance contingencies using a reversal design. The students worked 100 randomly selected mathematics problems for 20 minutes each day during each period. Behavioral contingencies improved attending and decreased disruptions but did not improve performance. Performance contingencies increased per cent correct problems but attending declined and disruptions increased. The combined contingencies increased both performance and attending. The experiment was replicated with another class of children varying the sequence of conditions and the amount of token reinforcement that could be earned. The findings emphasized the importance of designing specific contingencies for specific target behaviors. Behavioral contingencies did not have the positive effect on performance often implied, nor were performance contingencies alone able to maintain acceptable classroom behavior.
FIXED‐INTERVAL WORK HABITS OF CONGRESS
Authors: Weisberg Paul , Waldrop Phillip B.
Published: March 2006

The rate at which Congress passes bills during its legislative session exhibits a fixed‐interval pattern: the rate of passage is extremely low three to four months after commencement followed by a positively accelerated growth rate that continues until the time of adjournment. This scalloped configuration appears uniformly in each of the eight Congresses sampled, from 1947 to 1968, and in both sessions of each Congress.
THE BEHAVIOR‐THERAPEUTIC USE OF CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING TO CONTROL AN ADULT BEHAVIOR PROBLEM: WEIGHT CONTROL1
Authors: Mann Ronald A.
Published: March 2006

Items considered valuable by the subject and originally his property were surrendered to the researcher and incorporated into a contractual system of prearranged contingencies. Each subject signed a legal contract that prescribed the manner in which he could earn back or permanently lose his valuables. Specifically, a portion of each subject's valuables were returned to him contingent upon both specified weight losses and losing weight at an agreed‐upon rate. Furthermore, each subject permanently lost a portion of his valuables contingent upon both specified weight gains and losing weight at a rate below the agreed‐upon rate. Single‐subject reversal designs were employed to determine the effectiveness of the treatment contingencies. This study demonstrated that items considered valuable by the subject and originally his property, could be used successfully to modify the subject's weight when these items were used procedurally both as reinforcing and as punishing consequences. In addition, a systematic analysis of the contingencies indicated that punishing or aversive consequences presumably were a necessary component of the treatment procedure.
SOME GENERALIZATION AND FOLLOW‐UP MEASURES ON AUTISTIC CHILDREN IN BEHAVIOR THERAPY1
Authors: Lovaas O. Ivar , Koegel Robert , Simmons James Q. , Long Judith Stevens
Published: March 2006

We have treated 20 autistic children with behavior therapy. At intake, most of the children were severely disturbed, having symptoms indicating an extremely poor prognosis. The children were treated in separate groups, and some were treated more than once, allowing for within‐ and between‐subject replications of treatment effects. We have employed reliable measures of generalization across situations and behaviors as well as across time (follow‐up). The findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Inappropriate behaviors (self‐stimulation and echolalia) decreased during treatment, and appropriate behaviors (appropriate speech, appropriate play, and social non‐verbal behaviors) increased. (2) Spontaneous social interactions and the spontaneous use of language occurred about eight months into treatment for some of the children. (3) IQs and social quotients reflected improvement during treatment. (4) There were no exceptions to the improvement, however, some of the children improved more than others. (5) Follow‐up measures recorded 1 to 4 yr after treatment showed that large differences between groups of children depended upon the post‐treatment environment (those groups whose parents were trained to carry out behavior therapy continued to improve, while children who were institutionalized regressed). (6) A brief reinstatement of behavior therapy could temporarily re‐establish some of the original therapeutic gains made by the children who were subsequently institutionalized.
ADVERSE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENTIAL PARENTAL ATTENTION1
Authors: Herbert Emily W. , Pinkston Elsie M. , Hayden M. Loeman , Sajwaj Thomas E. , Pinkston Susan , Cordua Glenn , Jackson Carolyn
Published: March 2006

In two independent parent training projects (Kansas and Mississippi), mothers of deviant young children were observed to follow almost all child behaviors with attention. The mothers were then trained to use differential attention procedures to increase their child's appropriate behaviors and to decrease deviant behaviors. Contrary to expectations, the differential attention procedure produced substantial increases in deviant behavior for four of the children. This adverse effect was maintained over many sessions and was replicated in single organism, reversal designs. A fifth child showed no change. A sixth child showed some improvement. However, this effect was not recovered in a second application of differential attention, and the child became worse. The results underline the importance of subject generality in applied behavior analysis and strongly suggest that service programs using operant techniques must carefully evaluate their effects on behavior.
REINFORCED RACIAL INTEGRATION IN THE FIRST GRADE: A STUDY IN GENERALIZATION1
Authors: Hauserman Norma , Walen Susan R. , Behling Maxine
Published: March 2006

This study investigated possible factors in promoting racial integration, a matter of practical concern in schools today. Specifically, the effect of social and tangible reinforcement was studied on the social integration of five black children in a predominantly white classroom. “Sitting and seating with a new friend” in the school cafeteria was manipulated by (a) teacher directive combined with reinforcement and (b) by positive reinforcement alone. Treatment effectiveness was studied in the cafeteria and as generalization effects to a free‐play period. The results indicated that reinforcement produced significant generalization to integrated free play, although intersubject variability was present. Evidence suggests that reinforcement techniques can be used effectively to promote social integration.
AN ANALYSIS OF A TOKEN ECONOMY IN STUTTERING THERAPY1
Authors: Ingham Roger J. , Andrews Gavin
Published: March 2006

A stuttering therapy program in which adult stutterers were hospitalized and treated in small groups (n = 4) under token economy conditions is described. The Token System reinforced reductions and penalized increases in stuttering during conversation. The therapy program was divided into three stages. Initially, subjects were treated by the token system, which was then integrated with a delayed auditory feedback schedule designed to instate and shape a prolonged speech pattern into normal fluent speech. Finally, subjects passed through a speech situation hierarchy while under token control conditions. Experiments conducted in the first two stages of treatment are described. The first‐stage experiments examined the design of the token system; the second‐stage experiment assessed the effect of a contingent punishment schedule integrated with the delayed auditory feedback procedure in order to shape rate of speaking as well as fluency.
EFFECTS OF REINFORCEMENT ON CHILDREN'S ACADEMIC BEHAVIOR AS A FUNCTION OF SELF‐DETERMINED AND EXTERNALLY IMPOSED CONTINGENCIES1
Authors: Felixbrod Jeffrey J. , O'Leary K. Daniel
Published: March 2006

This experiment was designed to compare the effects of contingent reinforcement under conditions of self‐determined and externally imposed performance standards. A major purpose was to examine the maintenance of self‐imposed performance standards over time. Children in one contingent reinforcement condition self‐determined their academic performance standards. The same performance standards were externally imposed upon children in a second contingent reinforcement condition who were yoked to subjects in the first condition. Children in a no‐reinforcement control condition performed in the absence of external reward. Behavioral productivity of the self‐determination condition was greater than that of the no‐reinforcement condition. Further, no attenuation of the efficacy of contingent reinforcement occurred when performance standards were self‐determined rather than externally imposed. Over six sessions, children became progressively more lenient in their self‐imposed performance demands in the absence of social surveillance.
THE ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE CRITERIA DEFINING COURSE GRADES AS A DETERMINANT OF COLLEGE STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE1
Authors: Johnston James M. , O'Neill George
Published: March 2006

A series of five experimental conditions were designed to investigate the influence of minimum performance criteria and grade labels on college student academic performance. A college course in abnormal psychology was taught in an individualized manner so that each student could perform on each unit of subject matter in individual performance sessions whenever he wished. In each of the five experiments the minimum performance criteria that had to be attained before progressing to the next unit were varied during the quarter and the resulting changes in performance were recorded. In Experiment I there were no criteria; in Experiments II, III, and IV three levels of criteria (High, Medium, and Low) were varied but all of the criteria defined a course grade of “A”. In Experiment V, the three criteria defined course grades of A, B, and C. The results showed that the criteria controlled performance to a high degree, so that regardless of what quality of performance had been demonstrated previously or was being produced currently, performance was immediately changed to attain new criteria put into effect. Students in Experiment I produced very poor performance compared to the other conditions.
SELF‐EVALUATION BY ADOLESCENTS IN A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL SCHOOL TOKEN PROGRAM1
Authors: Santogrossi David A. , O'Leary K. Daniel , Romanczyk Raymond G. , Kaufman Kenneth F.
Published: March 2006

Nine adolescent boys with a history of high rates of disruptive classroom behavior were selected from a psychiatric hospital school and placed in a remedial reading class after school in which various factors in a token reinforcement program involving self‐evaluation were investigated. The effects of self‐evaluation, in the form of a rating the students gave themselves about the appropriateness of their classroom behavior, were first assessed. While the students' ratings of their own behavior correlated highly with the teacher's ratings and evaluations made by independent observers, the self‐evaluations did not lead to a reduction in disruptive behavior. A token reinforcement program, in which the teacher rated the students' level of appropriate behavior and in which the students traded earned rating points for prizes, clearly led to a reduction of disruptive behavior. When the students were given the opportunity to evaluate their own behavior and to receive rewards in exchange for the evaluation, they returned to their former rates of disruptive behavior.
AN ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN GENERALIZATION BETWEEN RECEPTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE LANGUAGE IN RETARDED CHILDREN1
Authors: Guess Doug , Baer Donald M.
Published: March 2006

Retarded subjects were taught generative pluralization rules concurrently in both the receptive and productive modalities of language. Receptive training established correct pointing to either one or a pair of objects, in response to a spoken singular or plural label of the object(s); productive training established correct spoken labels of one or a pair of objects presented visually. However, these pluralization rules were established in each modality only for a specific class of plurals: those ending in ‐s for one modality, those ending in ‐es for the other modality. This training was successful in establishing generative, or rule‐governed behaviors, such that untrained examples of singulars and plurals were usually responded to correctly. Nevertheless, despite this concurrent, generative behavior, probes revealed little generalization between modalities: three of four subjects did not generalize clearly from receptive training with one class of plurals to correct productive use of that class, nor did they generalize from productive training of the other class of plurals to correct receptive response to that class. The fourth subject, however, did show strong generalization of both these types. It was concluded that automatic generalization between receptive and productive language is not necessarily an inevitable result of language training in such subjects, and therefore may require explicit, if temporary, programming, such as by direct reinforcement.
CODING PROCEDURE FOR TEACHERS1
Authors: Kubany Edward S. , Sloggett Barbara B.
Published: March 2006

An observational technique for reliably estimating the per cent of time a student engages in appropriate and inappropriate classroom behavior is described. The regular classroom teacher can utilize the procedure without deviating from regular routine, and the obtained data can serve as a basis for dispensing token reinforcement.
PROMPTING A CONSUMER BEHAVIOR FOR POLLUTION CONTROL1
Authors: Geller E. Scott , Farris John C. , Post David S.
Published: March 2006

A field application of behavior modification studied the relative effectiveness of different prompting procedures for increasing the probability that customers entering a grocery store would select their soft drinks in returnable rather than nonreturnable containers. Six different 2‐hr experimental conditions during which bottle purchases were recorded were (1) No Prompt (i.e., control), (2) one student gave incoming customers a handbill urging the purchase of soft drinks in returnable bottles, (3) distribution of the handbill by one student and public charting of each customer's bottle purchases by another student, (4) handbill distribution and charting by a five‐member group, (5) handbills distributed and purchases charted by three females. The variant prompting techniques were equally effective, and in general increased the percentage of returnable‐bottle customers by an average of 25%.
USE AND ANALYSIS OF THE “GOOD BEHAVIOR GAME” TO REDUCE DISRUPTIVE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR1
Authors: Harris V. William , Sherman James A.
Published: March 2006

A recent study reported procedures (the “good behavior game”) for reducing disruptive classroom behavior. Replication of the procedures of the “good behavior game” in two classrooms showed it to be an effective technique for reducing disruptive talking and out‐of‐seat behavior. Further experimental analysis indicated that the effective components of the game were division of the class into teams, consequences for a team winning the game, and criteria set for winning the game. Although disruptive behavior was markedly reduced by the game, the reductions were correlated with only slightly improved accuracy of academic performance in the one classroom where academic performance was measured.
THE MODIFICATION OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SUBJECTIVE JUDGEMENTS OF CREATIVITY IN WRITING1
Authors: Maloney Karen Blase , Hopkins B. L.
Published: March 2006

The present study objectively defined and manipulated some compositional variables in 10‐sentence stories written by fourth‐, fifth‐, and sixth‐grade students, and related these operationally defined variables to subjective judgements of creativity. Points, exchangeable for candy and extra recess, were given to members of two teams contingent upon their using different adjectives, different action verbs, and different sentence beginnings. The students' use of these selected parts of speech was modified and the independent subjective ratings indicated that stories written during contingency conditions were generally rated as more creative than those written during baseline conditions. Operational definitions that specify non‐repetition or variety of responses, and contingencies that require response diversity may provide a beginning basis for defining writing creativity and the conditions that maximize its occurrence.
DECREASING CLASSROOM MISBEHAVIOR THROUGH THE USE OF DRL SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT1
Authors: Dietz Samuel M. , Repp Alan C.
Published: March 2006

In three studies, reinforcing low rates of responding reduced inappropriate behaviors. In the first study, the talking‐out behavior of one TMR student was reduced when the teacher allowed 5 min of free time for a talk‐out rate less than 0.06 per minute. In a second study, the talking‐out behavior of an entire TMR class was reduced when reinforcement was delivered for a response rate less than 0.10 per minute. In a third study, successively decreasing DRL limits were used to reduce off‐task verbalizations of an entire high school business class. In each case, the DRL procedure proved manageable for the teacher and successful in reducing misbehavior.
PEER REINFORCEMENT CONTROL OF CLASSROOM PROBLEM BEHAVIOR1
Authors: Solomon Robert W. , Wahler Robert G.
Published: March 2006

Peer and teacher interactions with five “disruptive” children were studied in an elementary school classroom. The intent of the study was to analyze experimentally peer reinforcement control of the disruptive children's problem behaviors. Social attention provided by all peers was found to be directed exclusively to the problem behaviors during baseline. Following baseline, several manipulations of selected peer social attention demonstrated the reinforcement function of this stimulus class.
REDUCING DELUSIONAL SPEECH IN CHRONIC, PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENICS1
Authors: Liberman Robert Paul , Teigen James , Patterson Roger , Baker Val
Published: March 2006

Four schizophrenic patients with paranoid and grandiose delusions who had been hospitalized for an average of 17 yr were exposed to social reinforcement contingencies in a multiple baseline design. During the baseline period, each patient was interviewed for four 10‐min sessions each day. The elapsed time from onset of conversation to onset of delusional talk was recorded. At the end of each day, the patients engaged in a 30‐min informal chat with a nurse‐therapist while relaxing with coffee, snacks, and cigarettes. The intervention introduced two contingencies: (1) The 10‐min interviews were terminated as soon as the patient began talking delusionally; (2) The patients earned time for their evening chat by talking rationally during their daytime interviews. Increases of from 200 to 600% in the amount of rational talk exhibited during the interviews occurred as the contingencies were introduced for each patient sequentially over time. These increases were maintained in three patients when the amount of reinforcement was halved, but declined when the patients were confronted directly with their delusional ideas. A modest amount of generalization occurred from the day‐time interviews to the evening chats but did not extend to the behavior of the patients on the ward.
THE EFFECTS OF PLAY MATERIALS ON SOCIAL PLAY1
Authors: Quilitch H. Robert , Risley Todd R.
Published: March 2006

To increase cooperative and social behaviors in children, contingency management programs have been successfully employed. This study examined the possibility that children's social behavior might also be significantly influenced by the nature of the available play materials. Children in an urban recreation center were systematically provided with toys designed for social or isolate play. It was found that social play occurred only 16% of the time when the children were provided with “isolate” toys, whereas social play occurred 78% of the time when children were provided with “social” toys. Thus, the selection of play materials should be an important consideration in any effort to teach children social behaviors.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT OF LITTER REMOVAL IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT1,2
Authors: Powers Richard B. , Osborne J. Grayson , Anderson Emmett G.
Published: March 2006

Litter is an especially large and costly problem in unsupervised high‐use recreational areas. This study investigated procedures to induce visitors to remove litter from an unsupervised U.S. Forest Service area in which signs attached to two litter stations instructed people to pick up and deposit litter. A small sum of money or chances on a larger sum given for participation usually resulted in more bags of litter being picked up per week. Although only a small proportion of the area's users participated in the project, ground surveys indicated the areas sampled were somewhat freer of litter during the payment condition. The results suggest that small monetary rewards may be a promising approach to litter control in unsupervised as well as supervised areas.
A COMPARISON OF TWO COLLEGE CLASSROOM TESTING PROCEDURES: REQUIRED REMEDIATION VERSUS NO REMEDIATION1
Authors: Bostow Darrel E. , O'Connor Roderick J.
Published: March 2006

Forty one subjects from a 10‐week introductory course in Educational Psychology were randomly divided into two experimental groups. All students took weekly quizzes over content material. Members of one group received little or no academic credit if they performed at less than 90% on a weekly quiz, but could earn additional credit by taking a weekly remedial quiz. Members of the second group also took the initial weekly quizzes, but retained their raw scores and were not permitted to take the weekly remedial quizzes. Performance on a 100‐item multiple‐choice comprehensive final revealed a statistically significant and educationally important difference between the two groups, the required‐remediation group scoring an average of one‐half letter grade higher.
INCREASING MENTALLY RETARDED ADOLESCENTS' VERBALIZATIONS ABOUT CURRENT EVENTS1
Authors: Keilitz Ingo , Tucker Dennis J. , Horner R. Don
Published: March 2006

The effects of antecedent and consequent events on the verbal behavior of three institutionalized mentally retarded adolescents were examined. Verbal statements, related to current national and international events, were recorded after exposures to television news programs. The study examined the accuracy of verbalizations as a function of: (1) exposures to television news presentations in massed (i.e., viewing the entire news program before an opportunity to describe it) versus distributed form (i.e., viewing each news item separately with each followed by an opportunity to describe it), and (2) contingent tokens and social praise for correct verbal responses (i.e., statements corresponding to news items presented). Both the temporal distribution of news presentations and the reinforcement procedures improved the accuracy of verbal statements emitted by the subjects.
THE EFFECTS OF STUDY QUESTIONS AND GRADES ON STUDENT TEST PERFORMANCE IN A COLLEGE COURSE1
Authors: Semb George , Hopkins B. L. , Hursh Daniel E.
Published: March 2006

Two experiments demonstrated the effects of study questions on student test performance in an introductory college course. Students in both experiments correctly answered study question items 20 to 30% more frequently than non‐study question probes. Furthermore, mean performance on study question items was better than 90% during all phases of both experiments. The present experiments were also designed to study the effects of grades on test performance, and the relationship between long and short sets of study questions. The results of Experiment I clearly illustrated the importance of using grades to maintain high levels of student test performance. The results of Experiment II suggested that long sets of study questions may produce better performance on probe items than do short sets of study questions, but the effect was small.
INSTRUCTION‐FOLLOWING BEHAVIOR OF A RETARDED CHILD AND ITS CONTROLLING STIMULI1
Authors: Striefel Sebastian , Wetherby Bruce
Published: March 2006

A combination of positive reinforcement and fading of physical guidance was used to teach a profoundly retarded boy specific responses to specific verbal instructions. The design consisted of a multiple baseline of probe data across different verbal instructions. The subject started responding correctly to each verbal instruction as that item was trained in a multiple‐baseline order. Generalization did not occur to items that had not yet been trained, nor did it occur to items included to assess generalization. Probes of variations in the verbal instructions, conducted after training was completed, revealed that generalization was minimal except in those cases where the variation consisted of the verb only, the noun only, the noun plus preposition, or where the verb of the instruction was presented last. Training a profoundly retarded 11‐yr‐old subject to respond to specific verbal instructions did not adequately facilitate the development of a generative instruction‐following capability, nor did all verbal elements of the instruction control a specific response.
NATURALISTIC TREATMENT OF AN AUTISTIC CHILD
Authors: Nordquist Vey Michael , Wahler Robert G.
Published: March 2006

The present research experimentally evaluated a “naturalistic” treatment program for an autistic child administered by the parents over a 2‐yr period. Operant reinforcement techniques previously developed and tested in laboratory settings were initially assessed in a clinic and eventually in the family's home. Experimental manipulations were performed in both settings on rituals, crying and whining, compliance, non‐verbal imitation, and verbal imitation. The results clearly indicated that parents can effectively treat autistic behaviors provided that they receive adequate training and supervision in operant reinforcement therapy, and provided that sufficiently potent reinforcers are available to maintain behavior.
TRAINING ELEMENTARY AGED PEER‐BEHAVIOR MANAGERS TO CONTROL SMALL GROUP PROGRAMMED MATHEMATICS1
Authors: Greenwood Charles R. , Sloane Howard N. , Baskin Arlene
Published: March 2006

The effects of a training procedure and two maintenance contingencies on consequence‐dispensing behavior were investigated. Four peer behavior managers were trained to supervise small groups of subjects (four to six per group) working in programmed math materials and were compared with a teacher skilled in the use of social and point reinforcement and response cost. Manager training was differentially effective in accelerating manager's rates of appropriate social and point dispensing. Having manager reinforcement contingent upon manager consequence‐dispensing resulted in moderately higher rates of appropriate social and point dispensing for three of four subjects than did having manager reinforcement contingent upon group study behavior. Two managers exposed to the group performance contingency before the manager performance contingency increased inappropriate social and point‐dispensing behaviors to pretraining baseline levels. Subsequent change to the manager performance contingency was effective in reducing the inappropriate dispensing behavior of only one of the two managers.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF STUDENT BEHAVIOR ON TEACHER BEHAVIOR
Authors: Sherman Thomas M. , Cormier William H.
Published: March 2006

The relationship between student behavior change and teacher reactions to the change was investigated. One fifth‐grade teacher served as the subject and two students in her class were employed as teacher change agents. In a multiple baseline design, the students' disruptive behavior (the independent variable) was modified without the teacher's knowledge. The teacher's reactions toward the students (the dependent variable) was monitored on several dimensions including: teacher behavior, teacher attitude toward students, and the quality of teacher verbal statements. Results indicated that student behavior change influenced the teacher's behavior. Implications are that students possess potent reinforcing properties for teachers and that students should be trained to be effective students.
TRANSFER OF STIMULUS CONTROL FROM MOTOR TO VERBAL STIMULI1
Authors: Striefel Sebastian , Bryan Karen S. , Aikins Dale A.
Published: March 2006

A transfer of stimulus control procedure was used to teach three profoundly retarded adolescents a series of specific responses to specific verbal instructions. After imitative control of a behavior was established, a verbal instruction was presented immediately before the behavior was modelled. Each correct response was followed on the next trial by inserting a delay between the verbal instruction and the modelling of the behavior. The delays increased from trial to trial. Transfer of stimulus control was indicated when a subject responded correctly on five consecutive trials before the behavior was modelled. All three subjects responded correctly to each verbal instruction after that item was trained in a multiple‐baseline order. Generalization did not occur to items that had not been trained. Probe data revealed that some variations of the verbal instructions controlled responses after training was completed.
THE TRAINING AND GENERALIZATION OF A CONVERSATIONAL SPEECH FORM IN NONVERBAL RETARDATES1
Authors: Garcia Eugene
Published: March 2006

Differential reinforcement and imitation were used with two retarded children to train three sequential verbal responses associated with the display of a picture and questions related to that picture. Each response consisted of a three‐word chain in sentence form; combined with verbal responses from the experimenter, this trained sequence formed a short conversational unit. Three experimenters measured the use of each sentence in settings different than the one in which training took place, and with pictures different than those used during training. Two types of generalization sessions were used: (1) General sessions, during which 10 pictures never used during training were displayed to the subject with reinforcement delivered on a noncontingent basis, and (2) Intermixed sessions, during which 10 pictures never used during training were displayed to the subject, but a picture having received training was also displayed, and correct responses to this picture were reinforced on a variable schedule. Both subjects learned the sentences being trained. However, little generalization was evident from this training when all experimenters conducted General probe sessions. Generalization occurred with one experimenter only after that experimenter conducted Intermixed probe sessions. Generalization to a third experimenter was then observed (i.e., after the first two experimenters had conducted Intermixed probe sessions) without the use of Intermixed probe sessions by this third experimenter.