Background: Response-contingent time-out has been shown to be an effective technique for enhancing fluency in people who stutter. However, the factors that determine individual responsiveness to time-out are not well understood. Aims: The study investigated the effectiveness of using response-contingent time-out to reduce stuttering frequency in…

Effects of a movement suppression time-out, which involved punishing any movements or verbalization while a client is in the time-out area, were evaluated in four experiments. The procedure produced a larger reduction in the target behavior in all three children and effectiveness was explained in terms of suppression of self-stimulation during…

The influence of two parameters of self-initiated time-out from speaking were investigated with 33 adolescent and adult stutterers. When given the opportunity to determine time-out duration, subjects chose a relatively brief period. Significant improvements in fluency were observed during all three time-out conditions. (Author/SEW)

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)

This study evaluated the effectiveness of high probability requests and time-out as treatments for noncompliance which appeared to be maintained by contingent attention in two developmentally normal children. The introduction of high-probability requests increased compliance for one child but not the other. Time-out was effective with both…

Two paradigms (rewards and verbal prompts, and timeout procedures), both making social consequences contingent upon the S's behavior and both requiring the S to practice the desired response, were used to reduce inappropriate language in a 33 year old resident of a center for the developmentally disabled. Data from the morning and afternoon…

A differential schedule of time-out was effective in reducing target maladaptive behaviors in three mentally retarded students (ages 5-9). In addition, by permitting one behavior to occur within an interval which occasioned only a warning, students were allowed to develop self-control within a structured setting. (Author)

The study examined effects of varied punishers (overcorrection, time-out, or a verbal "no" compared with the single presentation of one punisher (a loud noise) on occurrence of inappropriate behaviors in three developmentally delayed children (ages 5-6). Both formats produced a decrease in target behaviors, with the varied-punisher format slightly…

The study evaluated a commonly used component of brief time-out, in which release from time-out is delayed contingent on the occurrence of the disruption. Data were collected for one normal and two mentally retarded children on time-out producing behaviors and delay-producing behaviors during time-out. (Author/CL)

This study assessed the efficacy of using obsessions as reinforcers contingent upon nonoccurrence of inappropriate behaviors in four children (ages five and six) with autism. The most effective treatment was providing the obsession plus mild reductive procedures (such as time out). Use of obsessions alone and use of food reinforcers with mild…

A time-out from speaking contingency was evaluated in the treatment of stuttering in three school-age children. A red light time-out signal appeared for five seconds when the child stuttered. Two of the children responded to time-out with clear reductions in stuttering. Listeners did not detect any differences between the perceptually stutter-free…

Of 673 special education teachers responding to the survey, over 55 percent reported that behavior modification was not their major system of classroom management. Responses are broken down by categorical title of classroom for experiences with positive reinforcement, time out, negative reinforcement, contingency contracting, response cost,…

Results of a survey of 730 teachers of the behaviorally disordered indicated that 70 percent used timeout procedures as a behavior management strategy, that teachers of younger children used the technique more frequently, and that physical and verbal aggression were the behaviors most frequently resulting in timeout. (Author/DB)

A retrospective evaluation of restrictive behavior programs in a state residential facility for persons with mental retardation found beneficial behavioral effects. The behavior programs reviewed utilized isolation timeout, exclusion timeout, response cost, prone restraint, seated restraint, timeout device, nonexclusion timeout, standing…

Two papers describe studies to decrease inappropriate social behaviors of severely retarded students. R. Spangler and others in "The Effect of a Time-Out Procedure on the Duration of Tantrum Behavior in a 13-Year-Old Severely Retarded Male S" report on a three phase study in which a combination of verbal instructions and a timeout procedure…