Findings from a study investigating the conditions under which contingency learning games were associated with optimal child and adult concomitant and social--emotional behavior benefits are reported. Participants were 41 preschool children with multiple disabilities and profound developmental delays and their parents or teachers. Results showed…

Operant conditioning techniques were used to teach a visually impaired deaf girl (six years old) to emit eye contact within a classroom for deaf-blind children. (Author/CL)

Response-contingent learning capabilities of six profoundly retarded, multiply handicapped infants were examined using an operant conditioning paradigm. Results showed that infants learned criterion behavior although conditioning latencies were likely to occur when the children were required to produce free-operant responding. Findings are…

A particularly severe case of self-injurious behavior in a multiply (visually, mentally, and emotionally) handicapped 10-year-old girl was successfully treated by response contingent shock, combined with rewards. (DB)

Presented are the proceedings of an environmental programing workshop on deaf blind individuals at which principles, techniques, and examples of behavior modification were discussed and demonstrated. Rules for data collection are given as well as explanations of the categorizing, the measuring devices, and the data sheets involved in behavior…

The obtained contrast effect was conducive to learning, and the procedure was effective in teaching the multiply handicapped hearing impaired Ss to speechread the training words. (Author/DLS)

This article reviews the theoretical and research literature on vision stimulation and vision training of children with severe irreversible visual impairments. It recommends early stimulation to prevent visual deprivation, use of operant conditioning, and the presentation of highly contrasting stimuli to stimulate visual awareness in children with…

A study investigating the discrimination abilities of two crib-bound, cerebral palsied, profoundly retarded females demonstrates the importance of individual differences among such children and suggests that discriminative responding may be demonstrated by at least some profoundly retarded children, particularly if distributed practice is employed…

A 21-year-old woman who was totally blind, severely hearing impaired, functionally retarded, behaviorally resistive, self-stimulative, self-abusive, and who lacked basic communication skills, was taught to sit quietly and wait on command. (Author/PHR)

This article reviews applications of the applied behavior analysis ideas of B. F. Skinner and others to persons with both mental retardation and emotional disturbance. The review examines implications of behavior analysis for operant conditioning and radical behaviorism, schedules of reinforcement, and emotion and mental illness. (DB)