We used functional communication training to teach Bob, a 10-year-old student with autism and severe language delays, to reject items by touching an icon. Our initial assessment revealed that Bob's behaviours serving a rejecting function consisted of pushing away, yelling, bear hugging-grabbing, and leaving. We used prompting, differential…

Within the area of attribution theory, an overjustification effect is inferred if, following reward for an intrinsically interesting activity, individuals subsequently show less interest in that activity than comparable individuals who receive no reward. In an attempt to isolate the overjustification effect, 60 college students (30 male, 30…

Developmental changes in conditions engendering pride and embarrassment were explored. Among other results, developmental change was found in the standards used to evaluate emotional experiences; references to social comparison increased with age and references to mastery decreased. (PCB)

The conflict between viewing aversive therapeutic interventions with mentally retarded persons from either an ideological or scientific perspective is examined. It is concluded that some of those who reject aversive therapeutic interventions do so out of a poor understanding of behavioral science and a primarily ideological frame of reference.…

The study evaluated the effects of a time-efficient reinforcer assessment package with three preschoolers with autism. Systematic assessment of children's reinforcers for correct responding virtually eliminated nontargeted maladaptive behaviors, and yielded expected improvements in accuracy. (Author/DB)

Seven parents conducted assessments in an outpatient clinic using a prescribed hierarchy of antecedent and consequence treatment components for their children's problem behavior. Brief assessment of potential treatment components identified variables controlling children's appropriate behavior. Experimental control was achieved for six of the…

This commentary summarizes methodological and conceptual issues in functional analysis methodologies and offers some suggestions for their resolution. Considered are increasing complexity, absence of contingencies during assessment, use of subtle manipulations, alternative assessment strategies, analysis of antecedent influences on behavior,…

This study examined how 3 students (ages 14-18, with emotional or behavioral disorders) allocated their responding across 2 concurrently available tasks associated with unequal rates and equal versus unequal qualities of reinforcement. It found that time allocated to concurrent response alternatives was approximately proportional to obtained…

The Milestone Reinforcer Survey was developed to assess reinforcer preferences of adults with mild to profound retardation living in community settings. Psychometric properties of the survey were established with 120 adults. The total reinforcer scores were found to be internally consistent, consistent across raters, and stable over time.…

An experimental analysis of imitation was conducted to examine the influence of response topography on generalization of imitation across three response types with four children (ages two to four) with autism. The study found that imitation generalized from reinforced training models to nonreinforced probe models within a response type but did not…

Four experiments involving 18 individuals (ages 14-55) with profound multiple handicaps found that 12 stimuli used in a preference assessment represented a comprehensive stimulus set for identifying preferences, though the utility of the set could sometimes be enhanced by caregiver opinion. Results also indicated that preferences identified were…

Analysis of the reinforcement and extinction components of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) of three women with developmental disabilities and self-injurious behavior (SIB) found that DRO was only effective in combination with the relevant extinction component (withholding of attention for SIB). (Author/DB)

Assessment of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in three individuals with developmental disabilities revealed that the behavior was an escape response maintained by negative reinforcement. Treatment consisted of extinction plus instructional fading and resulted in immediate and large reductions in SIB behaviors. Maintenance occurred as instruction…

This study compared types of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), namely, reward DRO (reward for omission of problem behavior), escape DRO (termination of instruction contingent on omission of problem behavior), and combined DRO. The combined DRO approach was most effective in reducing behavior problems of three adolescents with…

A functional assessment of tantrum behaviors of two students (ages seven and nine) with severe mental retardation found that the function of the behavior was to gain attention rather than to avoid or escape demands. Intervention, based on the positive reinforcement hypothesis, resulted in a substantial reduction of tantrums for both subjects.…