The central focus of this research study was to determine if differentiated achievement results would emerge if the environment into which high level questions are launched was varied in terms of providing varying degrees of positive reinforcement for high level responses to high level questions. (Author/RM)

The present study investigated the effects of candy, social, and token rewards on the IQ scores of children of above average intelligence. The results showed that IQ scores increased considerably as a function of token rewards. Social rewards produced only minor changes, and candy rewards produced none. (Author)

Children (ages 7-12) were invited to carry out two tasks. Sabotage resulted in the experimenter appearing to have a false belief. Whereas children with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (n=12) corrected the false belief in the rewarded task condition, children with autism (n=10) were not influenced by task condition.…

An elementary physical education teacher describes a successful behavior improvement program implemented at his school. Students earned points (tokens) for good behavior and physical education achievement. They lost points for inappropriate behavior. Donated prizes were awarded based on accumulated points. (IAH)

Positive behavior management has been recommended as a more acceptable form of classroom management than traditional behavioral modification. This paper discusses the application of stimulus and contingency control methods (positive behavior management) to elicit more socially and academically acceptable behavior from elementary school children.…

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…

Investigated were the effects of reinforcement contingencies in two different arithmetic situations--acquisition and proficiency with seven 8-11 year-old learning disabled boys. (Author/DB)

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 effects of three different environmental conditions on the frequency of self-injurious and self-stimulation behavior in 10 brain damaged, profoundly retarded children (under 12 years old) were examined employing a time-sampled behavioral observation. The environmental conditions were social interaction, high demand, and stimulus deprivation…

A report is presented of the changes and developments in the relationship between an experienced elementary school teacher and the university supervisor assigned to observe and critique his classroom performance over a period of 15 weeks. Each kept a weekly journal of private thoughts and reactions during the course of the supervision. These…

Attempted to determine the differential effects of positive, neutral and negative affect in nonverbal teacher behavior on the cognitive and noncognitive task performance of students stratified by grade (second and sixth), race (black or white) and sex, randomly assigned to the three levels of the experimental factor. (Author/ED)

The effectiveness of a procedure for systematically analyzing and intervening with oral reading was investigated with three learning disabled children (10 to 11 years old). Correct and error responses in oral reading were recorded during baseline and experimental conditions (which included contingent teacher praise and antecedent modeling on words…

The author hypothesized that (a) an analysis of the research literature would lead to identifying the behaviors and dispositions associated with successful goal-setting and goal achievement. He further hypothesized that (b) based on these data, an instructional package could be constructed to teach children a skill-strategy based on selected…

This paper reviews experiments conducted at CEMREL in St. Louis, on individual and group reinforcement for tutoring. It summarizes results on how reward structures relate to effective student cooperation and how rewards interact with other variables such as subject area, classroom size, and age. Further research issues are proposed. (SJL)