The delivery of food contingent on 10 s of consecutive toy engagement resulted in a decrease in engagement and a corresponding increase in other responses that had been previously reinforced with food. Similar effects were not observed when tokens exchangeable for the same food were delivered, suggesting that engagement was disrupted by the…

The present investigation compared the effects of reinforcing compliance with either positive or negative reinforcement for a participant who displayed escape-maintained problem behavior. The results indicated that positive reinforcement in the form of a highly preferred edible or leisure item produced higher levels of compliance and lower levels…

Comparative studies of forward and backward chaining have led some to suggest that sensitivity to each teaching procedure may be idiosyncratic across learners and tasks. The purposes of the current study were threefold. First, we assessed differential sensitivity to each chaining procedure within children when presented with multiple learning…

Previous research suggests that motivating operation (MO) manipulations may assist in assessing discriminated manding (Gutierrez et al., 2007). The current study partially replicated and extended previous research by varying access to concurrently available reinforcers with different preference values (i.e., MO manipulations). Manding did not…

Two experiments involving six profoundly retarded Ss (3-18 years old) evaluated a formal method for identifying reinforcers. Results revealed that preferred stimulus conditions typically produced higher rates of responding than did either baseline or nonpreferred stimulus conditions, suggesting that the procedure can assess reinforcer value for Ss…

The study evaluated a participative management approach for increasing the frequency of interactions between institutional staff and 15 severely/profoundly retarded residents. Results indicated that during the participative management program there was an increase in staff interactions that were contingent on appropriate resident behavior.…

Functional analyses were conducted with four individuals with profound mental retardation whose self-injurious behavior (SIB) had relapsed after successful treatment (also based on functional analysis). For three subjects, this second analysis revealed that SIB had acquired new or additional functions. Results suggest reasons other than program…

Two studies evaluated the use of protective equipment in treating self injurious behavior (SIB) exhibited by three retarded adolescents. Results suggested that contingent protective equipment and differential reinforcement may be effective in reducing chronic self injury. (Author)

This study examined whether problem behaviors of three adults with profound mental retardation, which had been maintained by continuous reinforcement schedules, could be extinguished more rapidly than those maintained on an intermittent schedule of reinforcement. No significant differences in extinction rate were found between the two conditions.…

Two experiments were conducted to assess the relative effectiveness of stimulus shaping and "traditional" prompting procedures with six low-functioning retarded children (one-six years old). Stimulus shaping procedures required less training time than to criterion, resulted in fewer errors, required fewer and less intrusive therapist's prompts,…

The study evaluated the effects of a fine mist of water applied to the face contingent upon self-injurious behavior (SIB) exhibited by profoundly retarded persons. Results indicated that the water mist procedure may be an effective alternative to traditional punishment techniques. (Author)

The use of an enriched environment and differential reinforcement of adaptive behavior resulted in lower maladaptive self-directed behavior and more adaptive object-directed behavior than that observed in the enriched environment alone. (CL)

Evaluation of reductive treatment versus instructional treatments on the generalized reduction of problem behaviors in two adolescents with severe intellectual disabilities indicated that when only one member of a response class was blocked, a collateral increase in other problem behaviors was observed, but learning an alternative positive…

This study compared the effectiveness of differential negative reinforcement of other behavior (DNRO) and alternative behavior (DNRA) for reducing self-injurious tantrums maintained by escape from demands in a 4-year-old girl with severe retardation. Both DNRO and DNRA reduced self-injury and increased independent task performance, with DNRA…

The study examined effects of varied punishers (overcorrection, time-out, or a verbal "no" compared with the single presentation of one punisher (a loud noise) on occurrence of inappropriate behaviors in three developmentally delayed children (ages 5-6). Both formats produced a decrease in target behaviors, with the varied-punisher format slightly…