The article suggests that retarded behavior is maintained by certain events in the environment and their relationship to an individual's behavior. Maintenance of these behaviors is attributed to positive reinforcement, avoidance behavior, and contingency schedules. Several examples of the maintenance effects of each of these paradigms are given.…

In two experiments involving a two-choice marble dropping game children responded more to social control than to the magnitude of the reward. (ST)

Behavior modification techniques were employed for 20 weeks with six profoundly retarded children (aged between 9 and 13 years) to improve play habits and daily living skills. (DB)

To study improvement of visual monitoring of retardates, specialized training methods backed up by incentives were used. The extent to which these training techniques might be expected to produce results which would generalize was explored. Subjects were eight female mental retardates (ages 15-22) with IQs from 38 to 69. (Author/SJL)

A 21-year-old woman who was totally blind, severely hearing impaired, functionally retarded, behaviorally resistive, self-stimulative, self-abusive, and who lacked basic communication skills, was taught to sit quietly and wait on command. (Author/PHR)

Four speech deficient mentally retarded children (3-5 years old) with Down's Syndrome were taught imitative verbal responses by two methods based on operant conditioning principles. (Author/CL)

This article reviews applications of the applied behavior analysis ideas of B. F. Skinner and others to persons with both mental retardation and emotional disturbance. The review examines implications of behavior analysis for operant conditioning and radical behaviorism, schedules of reinforcement, and emotion and mental illness. (DB)

The literature on fears and phobias of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities is reviewed. Assessment procedures are then examined, including interviews, self-reports, parent rating scales, and behavioral observations. Interventions are drawn from the principles of respondent, operant, and vicarious conditioning. (Author/DB)

The combined effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) and a token reinforcement program in controlling the classroom behavior of 16 hyperactive, institutionalized retarded youngsters (9- to 15-years-old) was investigated. (Author)

Three groups of eight institutionalized severely and profoundly retarded males (mean ages 9-14 years) were studied to determine the effects of enhancement of the physical and social environment and behavior modification training upon acquisition of self help skills. (Author/CL)

A food satiation procedure was used in two experiments to decelerate the frequency of vomiting responses in two profoundly retarded adults who exhibited well-defined vomiting-ruminatory response chains. (Author)

The mother of a 21-year-old mentally retarded boy, who also suffers from frequent petit mal seizures, describes the developmental and behavioral problems which led her to seek institutional placement. (LH)