This response to four papers on the nature of reinforcement focuses on the implications for application of theory to practice. The response addresses: reversibility of single-incentive selective associations; response deprivation, reinforcement, and economics; the substitutability of reinforcers; and delay reduction. (DB)

Level of spontaneous social initiating by three adult caregivers toward a youth with autism was studied during a program to increase the youth's level of social initiating. The youth's social initiations toward each adult were systematically reinforced. Frequency of spontaneous initiating toward the youth increased for each adult as the youth's…

Affective and physiological responses, interpersonal interaction, and alcohol consumption have been significantly correlated with cognitive factors in defining the behavioral effects of alcohol. To investigate alcohol reinforcement expectancies at the abusive end of the drinking continuum, 305 male and female adult alcoholics enrolled in alcohol…

Two current approaches to the conceptualization and treatment of depression have received considerable attention from the scientific community. The cognitive approach (Beck) posits that depression derives from negatively distorted beliefs that must be challenged in the context of cognitive therapy until they are replaced with positive and…

Thirty-four staff providing services to people with intellectual disabilities completed the Challenging Behaviour Attribution Scale with respect to a specific client before, during, and after completing a course in assessment and intervention for challenging behavior. Significantly more staff attributed challenging behavior to negative…

The study examining the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral training program with 30 behaviorally disordered adolescents found participating students exhibited fewer aggressive behaviors and demonstrated greater self-control than nonparticipating students. The addition of an incentive for implementing the training strategies did not appear to…

This study found that, compared to measuring approach behaviors to a variety of stimuli, a forced-choice stimulus preference assessment used with four young children with severe mental retardation resulted in greater differentiation among stimuli and better predicted which stimuli would result in higher levels of responding when presented…

This study examined methods for determining how extinction should be applied to different functions of self-injurious behavior, specifically head-banging of three children with developmental disabilities. Since each subject's head-banging was maintained by different reinforcement contingencies, behavioral treatment techniques, although all based…

A brief functional analysis indicated that the object mouthing of a young girl diagnosed with autism was maintained independent of social consequences. Separate and combined effects of response blocking and non-contingent reinforcement were then evaluated as treatments. Although both interventions were unsuccessful when implemented separately,…

This study examined the relationship between opportunities to respond (OTR) to academic requests and teacher praise in 20 classrooms for students with emotional and/or behavior disorders using time-window sequential analysis. Results suggest that: (1) a summary-level relationship represented by a significant positive correlation and (2) a…

Research on clients' perceptions of the acceptability of psychological treatments has grown out of concern for social validity and has resulted in the development of a hypothetical model to explain how individuals might select treatments. This model involves four components: (1) acceptability of treatment; (2) use of treatment; (3) integrity of…

In order to determine the extent to which the LOGO programming language can be used as a reinforcer for general problem solving ability, this field study used a production theory approach to problem solving as a conceptual model, and then translated the model into a LOGO oriented framework. The methodology tested the use of an algorithm in a…

The influence of negative affect on the retrieval of information from memory during infancy was investigated in two studies through the use of an operant conditioning paradigm. The procedure used, known as "mobile conjugate reinforcement," involves a free operant task in which an infant is reinforced for footkicking by the movement of an…

Maternal behaviors within mother-infant games were examined to determine the amount, type, and functional value of maternal helping behaviors. A total of 17 mother-infant pairs were videotaped on monthly visits while playing five separate games. The study employed a skill-centered analysis to examine maternal scaffolding. (Author/RH)

Five adults with Prader-Willi syndrome (characterized by short stature, learning difficulties, incomplete sexual development, and uncontrollable eating) learned the conditional relations necessary for the formation of two equivalence classes under differential/nondifferential and edible/nonedible outcomes. Performance on test trials was better…