The behavior of four boys who were referred for oppositional, rule violating, and aggressive behaviors was assessed by direct observation and parent reports. Changing contract behavior to solitary toy play resulted in reduced oppositional behavior during the observation sessions, fewer reports from the parents of low-rate problem behaviors, and…

A training program in which operant procedures were used to improve the identification and definition of selected vocabulary words by a 6-year-old mildly retarded Down's syndrome girl is described. Results showed that the S had generalized the training and the findings were replicated with two additional children. (PHR)

This paper provides students with a brief outline of behavioral principles and behavior change techniques, and describes various means of behavior change including operant conditioning. Methods discussed include reinforcement, extinction, punishment, response cost, time-out, overcorrection, training, and data collection for taking a baseline.…

Selected literature on the use of daily/weekly report cards with parent-managed contingencies to modify school learning and behavior problems is reviewed. The development, implementation, evaluation, and fading of such programs are discussed and were found to be effective in modifying numerous school-related problem behaviors. (Author/RL)

Describes a partnership between Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology in teaching the principles of operant conditioning to students in an experimental psychology class. Maintains that the positive training techniques used in zoos are models of applied operant conditioning. Includes a discussion of zoo training goals. (MJP)

Many instructors have expressed a recent interest in incorporating service-learning activities into their courses. Several authors have maintained that service-learning opportunities help students to better understand class concepts and also lead to desirable outcomes in students, such as enhanced self esteem and an increased interest in social…

The study undertook to teach and fix the reading of meaningful symbols (hiragana, the Japanese syllabary alphabet, and kanji, Chinese characters) to a mildly retarded 7 year old Japanese boy. The phonological method was used to teach hiragana and pictures were used to teach kanji. Behavior modification using reinforcement and time out was…

This paper reports a case study of an 8-year-old deaf, blind, and mentally impaired girl who was self-abusive. The behavior was excessive to the point that she sustained fractures to her jaw and arm and had to be restrained. Several treatment techniques were unsuccessfully attempted, including sensory stimulation, aversive conditioning, and…

This paper presents a model for school psychologists to instruct parents in behavior modification procedures for use with their children. This model, designed for use by individuals who have a basic working knowledge of operant conditioning and applied behavior analysis procedures, consists of three training sessions which are outlined with…

Describes a computer tutorial that teaches the fundamentals of stimulus generalization in operant learning. Concepts covered include reinforcement, discrimination learning, stimulus continua, generalization, generalization gradients, and peak shift. The tutorial also reviews applications in human and animal situations. The content is appropriate…

INTENDED FOR BOTH THE COLLEGE STUDENT AND THE PROFESSIONAL SPEECH PATHOLOGIST, THE BOOK PRESENTS CURRENT LEARNING THEORIES CONCERNING STUTTERING, DATA IMPORTANT TO THE THEORIES, AND A 2-PROCESS THEORY OF LEARNING FOR THEORETICAL INTEGRATION OF THE DATA ON STUTTERING AND FOR THERAPEUTIC MODIFICATION. INFORMATION PRESENTED ABOUT BEHAVIORISTIC…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of behavior modification on enhancing the self-esteem of low-income Black and Puerto Rican elementary school children. Social reinforcement in the form of teacher praise was given to students who made any legitimate positive statements about themselves. The reinforcement was designed to…

This study attempted to assess the effect of behavior modification techniques on community college open enrollment students with severe educational deficits. Of 30 suburban New York members of a reading class, half were exposed to direct teaching, instructor praise, peer partners, self and peer ratings, role playing, Premack contracts,…

Based on the assumption that inferential statistics can make the operant conditioner more sensitive to possible significant relationships, regressions models were developed to test the statistical significance between slopes and Y intercepts of the experimental and control group subjects. These results were then compared to the traditional operant…

Five experiments were conducted to determine whether properties inherent in some training procedures may subtly influence the adaptability of skilled performance of complex tasks. The first two experiments assessed the insensitivity of low-rate performances. Examined in the third experiment was the issue of whether instructions that focus…