We examined the effects of a negative reinforcement-based treatment on the self-feeding of 1 child with food selectivity by type and texture. Self-feeding increased when the child could choose to either self-feed 1 bite of a target food or be fed 1 bite of the target food and 5 bites of another food. Possible mechanisms that underlie the…

Previous research suggests that motivating operation (MO) manipulations may assist in assessing discriminated manding (Gutierrez et al., 2007). The current study partially replicated and extended previous research by varying access to concurrently available reinforcers with different preference values (i.e., MO manipulations). Manding did not…

Previous research suggests that language-training procedures for children with autism might be enhanced following an assessment of conditions that evoke emerging verbal behavior. The present investigation examined a methodology to teach recognizable mands based on environmental variables known to evoke participants' idiosyncratic communicative…

The relationship between the ingestion of artificial food colors and an increase in selected hyperactive behaviors in two hyperactive females (eight years old) was studied. (Author/BD)

Data collected through a time sampling procedure of eight staff and six resident behaviors indicated that licensed residential units for the mentally retarded were just as derelict as unlicensed units in providing habilitative programing for their retarded residents. (Author)

Five institutionalized retarded children (7 to 11 years old), with little or no spontaneous vocal manding, were trained to request food items under appropriate natural conditions when snacks were presented. Findings suggested that the appropriate form of a mand depends on specific stimulus and setting characteristics which must be considered in…

The experiment assessed, within a multiple baseline design, the possibility of improving the learning of three autistic children (4 to 7 years old) by changing arbitrary response-reinforcer relationships so that the target behaviors became functional (i.e., a direct part of the response chain required for the child to procure the reinforcer).…

The research focuses on the inappropriate, largely aggressive, behaviors of 344 K-2 children assigned to a playground prior to the beginning of the school day. It was found that games, rope jumping, and foot racing, along with an infrequently used time-out procedure, significantly reduced the frequency of inappropriate incidents. (Author)

Results of a study involving 10 mentally retarded and 10 nonretarded (mean age 16 and 4 years, respectively) indicated high levels of acquisition and maintenance for both groups. No difference occurred in magnitude of acquisition, but the mentally retarded Ss took approximately three times as many trials to complete training. (Author/CL)

Picture cards, photographs, and real objects were compared as training stimuli in order to determine which best facilitated the generalization of naming responses learned in a special training room to real objects in the natural environments of four severely retarded children (ages 5, 6, 9, and 14). (Author)

Four boys (five to seven years old) with autistic-like behavior were treated for self-stimulatory behavior with three different treatment procedures--time out, differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), and overcorrection. (Author)

The study evaluated the effects of a fine mist of water applied to the face contingent upon self-injurious behavior (SIB) exhibited by profoundly retarded persons. Results indicated that the water mist procedure may be an effective alternative to traditional punishment techniques. (Author)

The use of an enriched environment and differential reinforcement of adaptive behavior resulted in lower maladaptive self-directed behavior and more adaptive object-directed behavior than that observed in the enriched environment alone. (CL)