Abrupt discontinuation of functional communication training can cause resurgence of challenging behavior. Teaching multiple alternative responses in sequence ("serial training") may reduce resurgence, relative to teaching a single alternative. However, previous evaluations of serial training included a different number of response…

The primary focus of the present experiment was to study participants' self-talk during conditional discrimination training and test for the emergence of conditional relations consistent with equivalence. Eighteen adult participants were exposed to either a Many-to-One (MTO) or a One-to-Many (OTM) training structure arranged as a 6-s delayed…

Over the past few years an increasing number of schools and community organizations have developed transformative learning spaces referred to as "MakerSpaces" for research and training purposes. MakerSpaces are organizations in which members sharing similar interests in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) gather to work on…

A series of three experiments was conducted with three severely retarded children to investigate the vocalization-producing potential of two antecedent conditions: adult talk (commonly cited antecedent) and adult silence. (Author/CL)

The techniques of behavior modification are of potentially great value in the schools. (Author)

The process of toilet training a boy with Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome is addressed. Emphasized are the joint effort of the teacher and parents, the frustration at the seeming lack of progress, the use of rewards and "positive practices," and the ultimate success of the boy's toilet training program. (JDD)

Visual screening, a mildly aversive response suppression procedure in which the child's eyes are briefly covered, was evaluated across two studies for its effectiveness in reducing topographically similar and dissimilar stereotypic behaviors of four moderately or profoundly retarded children (aged 9 or 13 years). (Author)

Examined relationships among locus of control, specificity of instruction, and verbal conditionalibity on self-referenced affect in a counseling analogue interview. Results indicated that specific instructions combined with verbal conditioning procedures produced the greatest increase in self-referenced affect for both internal and external…

Findings provide no evidence that parent training classes in behavior modification and effective communication produce substantial differences in outcome. Interpersonal needs, rather than the type of educational module, dictate the tendency for persons to remain in the training program. (Author)

This article reviews the theoretical and research literature on vision stimulation and vision training of children with severe irreversible visual impairments. It recommends early stimulation to prevent visual deprivation, use of operant conditioning, and the presentation of highly contrasting stimuli to stimulate visual awareness in children with…

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 study investigating the discrimination abilities of two crib-bound, cerebral palsied, profoundly retarded females demonstrates the importance of individual differences among such children and suggests that discriminative responding may be demonstrated by at least some profoundly retarded children, particularly if distributed practice is employed…

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)

Self-induced vomiting in a severely retarded visually impaired adult was reduced by consistent application of restitutional overcorrective strategy. (Author/CL)

This review focuses on correspondence training procedures, in which a subject makes statements about intended positive behavior and the statements are reinforced. The paper examines early research, generalization, maintenance, application to mentally retarded individuals, and the concept of self-control. (Author/JDD)