Effects of using dashboard stickers and signature sheets providing information on safety belt regulations were evaluated among 893 occupants of state-owned vehicles in three Florida agencies. Safety belt use increased significantly during the intervention phase in all three agencies and maintained variable but high levels for five months. (JW)

Safety belt use with and without addition of an incentive strategy was observed among 8,635 drivers at a drive-through restaurant. During the promotional campaign, average rate of belt use tripled compared to baseline following the introduction of a contingent reward (a large soft drink), and declined during followup. (JW)

This study compared rates of self-injurious behavior (SIB) exhibited by a 32-year-old woman with profound mental retardation across conditions in which access to restraint was either continuously available, presented as a consequence for SIB, or unavailable. Rates of SIB increased when access to restraint was contingent upon SIB, suggesting that…

Generalization across three stimulus parameters (therapist, setting, and demands) was examined for five men with severe/profound mental retardation whose self-injurious behavior was maintained by escape from task demands. Variables were held constant during the escape extinction treatment. Full or partial generalization to novel situations was…

Four studies analyzed eye poking behavior of a youth with profound disabilities. Results demonstrated substantive reductions in the frequency of eye poking when goggles were worn and when a video game was provided as a competing source of visual stimulation and as a reinforcer. Music was less effective in reducing eye poking. (Author/DB)

A urine alarm, typically used to treat nocturnal enuresis, was effectively used to treat diurnal enuresis in a 15-year-old female with depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder. The study indicated that the alarm eliminated wetting in both treatment phases and that continence was maintained at three-month and…

This paper explores the controversy surrounding gentle teaching, with particular reference to the relationship between gentle teaching and applied behavior analysis. Advantages and disadvantages of this approach are discussed, and it is suggested that gentle teaching and applied behavior analysis need not be regarded as mutually exclusive…

Reasons for the failure to adopt behavior-analytic teaching strategies include the perception that behavior analysis is coercive and controlling, difficulties in implementation, university factors, and marketing problems. The goal of dissemination of these strategies could be met through creating motivational conditions and devising marketing…

This response to EC 603 649 argues that the field of applied behavior analysis does train a large number of practitioners and administrators and a few researchers, that graduate programs already vary research training and practice training, and that both practicing and research behavior analysts need to be taught the logic of experimental control.…

This response to EC 603 649 agrees that the field of applied behavior analysis has a low success rate in teaching productive researchers but argues that the corrective action should involve doing a more effective job of teaching students how to be successful researchers in nonacademic settings. (JDD)

High-probability requests were used to increase responsiveness to low-probability requests to initiate social interactions in three young boys with severe disabilities who were severely socially withdrawn. Increases were also found in unprompted social initiations and generalizations to a nontraining setting. Maintenance after training was also…

A multicomponent intervention to change problem behavior, which prevented community integration of three adolescents with autism, was evaluated. The intervention (implemented in a supermarket setting) included choice making, embedding, functional communication training, building tolerance for delay of reinforcement, and presenting discriminative…

A behavioral consultation approach was effectively used to reduce problem behaviors in 2 field studies with 3 students (ages 10-14) having severe or profound mental retardation and their teachers. Intervention involved extinction of inappropriate behaviors, reinforcement of appropriate play behaviors, and teaching verbal skills functionally…

Results of a functional analysis of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in a 7-year-old child with autism showed that her SIB was maintained by access to preferred object and escape or avoidance of task demands. Warning stimuli in combination with extinction and noncontingent reinforcement reduced SIB to acceptable levels. (Author/CR)

The food refusal of a 6-year-old girl with autism and destructive behavior was treated using stimulus fading, reinforcement, and escape extinction. Intake increased, and compliance with prompting procedures remained relatively stable despite the increased consumption requirement. (Author/CR)