An 11-year-old spastic quadriplegic girl functioning at the profound level of mental retardation was exposed to contingent reinforcement for holding her head in an upright position. The subject, who had minimal voluntary movement and had to be properly positioned to inhibit abnormal reflex patterns, was observed while prone over a wedge bolster…

Arguments for and against corporal punishment are set against a backdrop of overriding public concern about school discipline. In every year since 1969, the Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll has ranked lack of discipline as one of the top two problems in public schools. This report furnishes a historical perspective for corporal punishment, explains…

The curriculum is designed to provide classroom teachers of elementary emotionally handicapped students with a consistent framework of classroom management techniques and mainstreaming procedures. The curriculum is organized around behavioral improvement at six levels, with responsibilities increasing along with priveleges. Minimum requirements…

A study was conducted to assess the effects of verbal reinforcement on task performance of black preschool children. Subjects were 36 black children in preschool centers serving families of two income levels. The children were stratified by age, sex, and income level and were randomly assigned to four groups: (1) middle income, praise; (2) middle…

A 9-year-old autistic boy with language comprehension skills but minimal meaningful expressive language was exposed to a language training program. The program began with imitation of sounds and progressed to discrimination training, responding to his name, and partial verbalization. Positive reinforcement (including food and a revolving light)…

Investigates third- and fourth-grade children's verbal evaluations of syllables paired with different reward schedules (full, partial, or none) for "pleasantness" and "curiosity." (Author/ED)

A counselor's success or failure is frequently associated with his ability to work with disruptive children. This article explores a behavioral group counseling approach. Results indicate that the mean disruptive behavior in the group sessions for all groups diminished considerably. (Author/HMV)

The reasons for clinical failures of classroom token economies are divided into three groups: (1) Problems associated with the token program itself, (2) Problems associated with the teacher, and (3) Problems associated with the specific population on which the classroom token economy is used. Each of these problem areas is discussed. (Author)

Three experiments were conducted with elementary school students which investigated whether modelling of unreinforced behavior influenced children to perform that behavior. Results indicated that the unreinforced behavior of the model serves both as a source of information and as a cue for unreinforced imitation. (DP)

This paper reviews several issues regarding one- versus two-factor theories of learning. First, the traditional distinctions between classical and operant conditioning are presented. This includes both theoretical and experimental contrasts. Second, empirical evidence in support for a one-factor theory is examined. Numerous research studies…

The subject-controlled graduated exposure of a snake with feedback of exposure times resulted in significantly less avoidance behaviors for snake-phobic subjects than for control snake-phobic subjects who did not receive therapy. (Author)