We evaluated the effects of prompting, goal setting, and feedback on following headway of young drivers in a simulated driving environment and assessed whether changes produced in following headway were associated with reductions in hard braking when drivers were and were not using cell phones. Participants were 4 university students. During…

This study evaluated a device that prevents drivers from shifting vehicles into gear for up to 8 s unless seat belts are buckled. Participants were 101 commercial drivers who operated vans, pickups, or other light trucks from the U.S. and Canada. The driver could escape or avoid the delay by fastening his or her seat belt before shifting out of…

A seatbelt-gearshift delay was evaluated in two U.S. and three Canadian vehicles using a reversal design. The seatbelt-gearshift delay required unbelted drivers either to buckle their seatbelts or to wait a specified time before they could put the vehicle in gear. After collecting behavioral prebaseline data, a data logger was installed in all…

A mediated punishment procedure that involved recreating a behavioral sequence by guiding the subject through the behavior in the situation in which it occurred was used to suppress several severe behavior problems in two severely handicapped children (ages 4 and 17). (Author/DB)

Two components of a gradually faded awakening procedure for treating bedwetting were tested with six children aged 4-11. Thorough awakening was more effective than partial awakening. A second experiment on advancing awakening time produced similar results between a stringent 6 consecutive dry night criterion and a more lenient 6 dry night…

A bicycle helmet program was evaluated in three middle schools using a multiple baseline across schools design. Two of the three schools had histories of enforcement of helmet use. During baseline many students riding their bikes to and from school did not wear their helmets or wore them incorrectly. A program that consisted of peer data…

This study effectively eliminated face-slapping behavior in a 10-year-old boy with severe developmental disability and autistic characteristics. The subject wore wrist weights for up to 30 minutes each day. Face slapping did not occur during a follow-up check conducted five months after study completion. (Author/DB)

The performance of five students (ages 6 to 10) in an adjustment class for deaf children was compared under fixed and variable ratio schedules of reinforcement. During the VR condition, students visually attended more and engaged in disruptive behavior less often than during the FR condition. (Author)