We assessed whether novel praise statements could be used to (a) maintain and increase responses with existing reinforcement histories and (b) teach a previously untaught response among children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder across two experiments. During response-stimulus pairing, two responses resulted in preferred edibles but only one…

Some individuals with intellectual disabilities do not respond to praise as a reinforcer, which may limit their ability to learn. We evaluated 2 procedures (stimulus pairing and response-stimulus pairing), both of which involved pairing previously neutral praise statements with preferred edible items, to determine their usefulness in establishing…

We conducted a modified paired-choice preference assessment and used a multielement design to examine the effects of noncontingent access to high- and low-preference music on vocal stereotypy exhibited by children with autism. For 3 of the 4 participants, high-preference music (a) produced lower levels of vocal stereotypy than low-preference music…

Initial experiment demonstrated operant acquisition of an instrumental hand-pulling response in 4-8-month-old infants; the effect achieved with contingent, noncontingent, delayed reinforcement, and the suppression, recovery, and facilitation effects of noncontingent stimulation are discussed. (Author)

Study was designed to investigate the effects of signalled non-contingent reward on the operant behaviour of human subjects. (Authors)

The present study attempted to duplicate earlier findings and to investigate the effects of mechanical as well as personal reinforcement. However, the acquisition and extinction differences between oral and anal scoring types reported in the earlier studies were not obtained with either personal or mechanical reinforcement. (Author)

Article reviews evidence on the effects of contrast and matching, that these effects are related, and that both effects are reactions to the same independent variable. (Author/RK)

The major concern of the study was to determine what differences, if any, in independent reading-work behaviors were observed between baseline and experimental conditions using the Rules, Ignore, Praise technique with two seven year old children. During the reinforcement period children worked harder. Bibliography. (Author/AF)

Assesses a self-reward contracting procedure intended to facilitate completion of self-administered desensitization. Self-referred snake phobics received either (a) self-administered desensitization; (b) self-administered desensitization with self-reward contracting; or (c) a self-administered placebo with self-reward contracting. Results show the…

This article presents the argument presented by the author regarding the views of Baron and Galizio (2005), which provide an accurate and very clear version of the author's arguments against the use of the positive-negative reinforcement distinction in behavior analysis. Here, the author points out few things to add to Baron and Galizio's (2005)…

Three-month-old infants learned to activate a crib mobile by means of operant footkicks. Retention of the conditioned response was assessed in the presence of the nonmoving mobile. Although forgetting is typically complete after an 8-day retention interval, infants who received a reactivation treatment, a brief exposure to the reinforcer 24 hours…

Experimental modification of destructive and assaultive sibling interaction was carried out within the home environment. Two brothers (6 and 3 years old) were treated through token positive reinforcement techniques in an effort to improve their behavior towards each other. A "time out" from reinforcement procedures involved an isolation period for…

In a previous issue of "The Behavior Analyst," the authors discussed the ambiguities that surround the distinction between positive and negative reinforcement. Seven distinguished behavior analysts commented on their article. The authors believe that this dialogue represented a constructive step toward clarification of an important concept within…