Research supported in whole by Public Health Service Grant HD-00908 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The notion of differentially reinforcing low rates of undesirable behavior (DRL) is examined. Further, the status of the full session DRL strategy as alternative to punishment is questioned in context of a strictly operant definition of punishment. A reexamination of the data from some studies reveals the possibility that Ss respond to said DRL…

The differences between the authors of the Coleman report and their critics make clear why the effectiveness of schools will always remain controversial as long as inferential statistics are employed to determine it. Controversy is inevitable when measurement requires the satisfaction of assumptions antithetical to the teaching processes through…

The author cautions against indiscriminate use of behavior modification by untrained professionals. (CL)

An operant conditioning discrimination paradigm was evaluated of relationships between response behavior of young children and two stimulus components of the paradigm, the discriminative stimulus and the reinforcing stimulus. Findings revealed the effects of schedules of reinforcement, novel reinforcement, and age. (Author/CL)

In contrast to the traditional view that maladaptive behaviors are surface manifestations of underlying emotional disturbances, the behavior modification approach assumes that such behaviors are simply learned ways of adjusting to the environment and are determined by the consequences that follow them. (Author)

This study on operant conditioning showed that both groups showed significant improvement in reading skills from pretest to posttest, but that the reinforced group showed significantly more improvement than the nonreinforced group. (Author)

A primary purpose of the token system is to expand the operant model in order to provide a broader reinforcement base. The ten procedural considerations necessary for implementing a token system are presented. Beyond this, fundamental knowledge of operant principles remains essential in order to apply the token system correctly. (Author/KJ)

The paper discusses the iterative nature of problem solving; operant analysis of the response repertoire available in a problem situation; the likelihood of reaching a solution versus escaping from the situation; and the relationship between exiting with solution and exiting without solution, modeled on catastrophe theory. (JDD)

Sequential theory's memory model of learning has been successfully applied in response contingent instrumental conditioning experiments (Capaldi, 1966, 1967, 1994; Capaldi & Miller, 2003). However, it has not been systematically tested in nonresponse contingent Pavlovian conditioning experiments. The present experiments attempted to determine if…

This study asked whether the concurrent reinforcement of behavioral variability facilitates learning to emit a difficult target response. Sixty students repeatedly pressed sequences of keys, with an originally infrequently occurring target sequence consistently being followed by positive feedback. Three conditions differed in the feedback given to…

Covert sensitization is the first of a family of behavior therapy procedures called covert conditioning initially developed by Joseph Cautela in the 1960s and 1970s. The covert conditioning procedures involve the use of visualized imagery and are designed to work according to operant conditioning principles. When working with cooperative clients…

Background: Response-contingent time-out has been shown to be an effective technique for enhancing fluency in people who stutter. However, the factors that determine individual responsiveness to time-out are not well understood. Aims: The study investigated the effectiveness of using response-contingent time-out to reduce stuttering frequency in…