The article suggests that retarded behavior is maintained by certain events in the environment and their relationship to an individual's behavior. Maintenance of these behaviors is attributed to positive reinforcement, avoidance behavior, and contingency schedules. Several examples of the maintenance effects of each of these paradigms are given.…

In two studies undergraduates with low self-esteem followed reinforcement paradigms. Found overt events to be preferable as reinforcers, although no differences existed between reinforcement groups and both did better than controls. Also found desirable behaviors that occurred infrequently, and very frequent but neutral behaviors, to be the most…

Four treatment procedures were evaluated for effectiveness in reducing self injurious behavior (SIB) of 22 severely handicapped students. Treatment procedures included contingent restraint, reinforcement withdrawal, differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior, and ommission training (rewarding the S for not emitting the SIB response).…

A functional analysis involving antecedent events was conducted with four students identified as having behavior problems. Off-task behavior was measured while task difficulty and level of adult attention was manipulated during analog sessions. Results revealed higher rates of off-task behavior during difficult tasks and improved behavior when…