In a prospective longitudinal study the authors examined the associations between parent locus of control of reinforcement (LOCR), measured before the birth of a child, and behavioral-emotional outcomes in that child at age 7 years. A total of 307 couples completed questionnaires regarding their emotional status and LOCR at their first prenatal…

Many studies have found benefits of positive psychological interventions, such as gratitude promotion or thinking about best possible selves, for adolescents and adults. Almost no research, however, has been conducted on the efficacy of such interventions for children. The authors' primary goal was to compare the outcomes of gratitude promotion…

Paper is based on a dissertation submitted to the University of Illinois in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. (WY)

This study indicates that social drive and valence theories of social reinforcement cannot adequately account for the results of three different measures of reinforcer efficacy (accuracy, rate, and persistence). Suggests that activation/arousal theories provide a better basis for behavior modification. (BH)

This study of the function of reinforcement in imitation training indicates that reinforcement is involved in imitative learning as well as performance. (DP)

Punishment, and high and low value reinforcement were compared for effects on discrimination learning in elementary school boys. (DP)

This study provided data showing that with increase in age there is an increase in spontaneous alternation behavior in preschool children. Mental age rather than chronological age is indicated as a more meaningful predictor of a child's tendency to seek out and approach varying stimulation. (GO)

Children prerated names given to them in a list for reinforcement value. As predicted, high self-esteem children learned liked names faster than disliked names. The reverse was expected for low self-esteem children, but was not indicated. Intelligence as a confounding factor is discussed. (DP)

The relationship between willingness to delay reinforcement and two controllable factors, history of reinforcement and experimenter familiarity, was explored. Results showed that subjects' familiarity with the experimenter, not reinforcement history, was the key variable in determining willingness to delay reward. (Author/SB)

Six-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and 18-year-olds were studied in a probability learning experiment using a procedure analagous to that used in animal experiments. It was predicted that children, like rats, would choose higher probability alternatives more often with a noncorrection than a correction reinforcement procedure. (Author/DB)

Examined the learning performance of 192 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children on either a two or four choice simultaneous color discrimination task. Compared the use of verbal reinforcement and/or punishment, under conditions of either complete or incomplete instructions. (Author/SDH)