Safety signals provide "relief" through predicting the absence of an aversive event. At issue is whether these signals also act as instrumental reinforcers. Four experiments were conducted using a free-operant lever-press avoidance paradigm in which each press avoided shock and was followed by the presentation of a 5-sec auditory safety…

Contingency management (CM) treatments have been shown to be effective in reducing substance use. This manuscript illustrates how the experience sampling method (ESM) can depict behavior and behavior change and can be used to explore CM treatment mechanisms. ESM characterizes idiosyncratic patterns of behavior and offers the potential to determine…

This study tested the effects of post-session wheel running on within-session changes in operant responding. Lever-pressing by six rats was reinforced by a food pellet under a continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedule in 30-min sessions. Two different flavored food pellets were used as reinforcers. In the wheel conditions, 30-min operant-sessions…

Conditional rates of problem behavior for weeks that followed medication decreases and no medication changes were compared for 12 individuals who exhibited severe problem behavior (e.g., self-injury, aggression). The results indicate that conditional rates of problem behavior were higher following medication decreases than following no changes in…

The research reported in this document was an attempt to replicate the study by Wish, Cautela, and Steffen, and to test the effects of covert reinforcement on overt behavior. The subjects were 50 college students who were presented the task of estimating the diameter of each circle in a series presented by slide projector. Pre- and post-treatment…

Two punishment procedures were compared to determine their effectiveness in reducing rates of noncompliance in a class of 11 educable mentally retarded elementary school students. (Author/DLS)

The treatment appeared to be functionally related to significant reduction in the self-stimulatory behavior in the treatment setting. In addition, a functional relationship was indicated between treatment conditions in one setting and changes in behavior rates in two other nontreatment settings. (Author/DLS)

Proposed is a means of modifying soiling behavior of students (in grades K-3) in a regular classroom. Outlined are daily measurement, baseline, contingency, and teacher training procedures for the system involving verbal praise and activity time rewards. Also described are the evaluation design, special learning materials, and generalization and…

A 10-year-old boy with inappropriate social behavior was placed in a program of positive reinforcement and response cost. The boy earned plastic coins for good behavior and lost coins for inappropriate behavior. Rewards for given levels of earnings included extra recess time and field trips. Inappropriate behaviors decreased from a mean of 6.8…

The article describes the successful application with six severely retarded institutionalized Ss (ages 13-23) of a shortened version of the behavior modification toilet training program developed by N. H. Azrin and R. M. Foxx. (DLS)

An operant-conditioning technique was used to teach three handicapped children (three to five years old) exhibiting echolalia to respond appropriately to a series of questions. (Author)

Results indicated that the intervention package--including instructions, feedback from an electronic device that measures motor activity, and contingent reinforcement--was successful in reducing activity in the classroom for 8 of the 11 emotionally disturbed Ss (ages 9 to 13 years). (Author/DLS)

Social feedback was investigated as a treatment strategy for reducing inappropriate verbalizations by a retarded adult in a vocational-training program. Treatment procedures were introduced as a combination of three components: praise for not verbalizing inappropriately, reprimands, and instruction. (Author)

The findings of this study of an institutionalized schizophrenic girl indicated a functional relationship between the treatment procedure and a decrease in the rate of self-injurious behavior, although the self-injurious behavior was not entirely eliminated by the treatment procedure. (Author/DLS)

Among the findings were that the treatment procedure produced immediate and substantial suppression effects on the self-injurious behavior, which generalized to the nontraining environment and endured over an eight-month interval. (Author/DLS)