Not all volunteers respond the same way to the same stimuli. The purpose of this article is to suggest several ways to nurture volunteers in a library media center setting. Some might respond best to a printed word of appreciation or recognition in a district newsletter, while others would value a book or pin as a gift. Perks, like allowing…

In this article, the author discusses the distinction between positive and negative reinforcement and some additional considerations. He states that the concept of negative reinforcement has caused confusion, and he believes that the difficulty stems from conventions of ordinary speech, in which the term "negative" usually denotes the opposite of…

This experiment was conducted to test the predictions of two behavioral-economic approaches to quantifying relative reinforcer efficacy. The normalized demand analysis suggests that characteristics of averaged normalized demand curves may be used to predict progressive-ratio breakpoints and peak responding. By contrast, the demand analysis holds…

The advantages of emphasizing discrete trials "teaching" over discrete trials "training" are presented first, followed by a discussion of discrete trials as a method of teaching that emerged historically--and as a matter of necessity for difficult learners such as those with autism--from discrete trials as a method for laboratory research. The…

A survey was conducted of teachers' classroom management practices in the United States and Greece. The United States sample consisted of 149 teachers in Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Greek sample consisted of 97 teachers in Athens and the surrounding area. The survey asked questions regarding teachers' use of…

Factors that influence choice between qualitatively different reinforcers (e.g., a food item or a break from work) are important to consider when arranging treatments for problem behavior. Previous findings indicate that children who engage in problem behavior maintained by escape from demands may choose a food item over the functional reinforcer…

A functional analysis showed that noncompliance occurred most often for 2 preschoolers when it resulted in termination of a preferred activity, suggesting that noncompliance was maintained by positive reinforcement. A differential reinforcement procedure, which involved contingent access to coupons that could be exchanged for uninterrupted access…

There is increasing concern over the number of young children who exhibit challenging behaviors in early childhood settings. Comprehensive prevention models are needed to support teachers' management of challenging behaviors and to avert the development of such behaviors within at-risk populations. One approach utilizes a three-tier prevention…

Twenty-four male undergraduates viewed 102 slides containing occupational titles and stated whether or not each represented a realistic career choice. The experimental subjects received positive verbal reinforcement on the second trial for realistic responses. More experimental subjects than control subjects demonstrated an operant pattern of…

Explained for special teachers of emotionally disturbed children are interaction with positive consequences and interaction with negative consequen ces to modify behavior. (MC)

Internal and external locus of control subjects were tested on three verbal recognition memory tasks. Subjects administered self-reinforcement on first and third tasks. The second task was accompanied by experimenter reinforcement. There were no differences in self-reinforcement base rate but there were several significant and contrasting changes…

In the context of a "reinforced practice" treatment paradigm, the present study experimentally analyzed whether or not feedback superimposed upon contingent praise would have an additive therapeutic effect. (Author)

This research was designed to facilitate theory building regarding praise as a generalized reinforcer. (HMV)

In order to investigate the effect of reinforcing subject responses to Stanford-Binet test items, regardless of whether such responses were correct or not, one-half of a sample of Head Start children were administered a standard Stanford-Binet test and the other half were administered the same test with the modification that responses were…

Designed primarily for elementary and secondary school teachers, the book presents one approach to the systematic and effective use of positive reinforcement to motivate better learning in normal or disturbed children. In Part 1, describing how contingency contracting works, each chapter contains a self-diagnostic pretest, narrative summary and…