Four autistic and severely handicapped children (ages 9-13) were taught to recruit or set the occasion for praise from an adult. After the structured instruction, the children used these behaviors in all generalization settings and were frequently successful in recruiting praise. (Author/DB)

A study examined effects of two adults on the requesting repertoire of a 3-year-old child with autism and language delays. Reinforcement contingencies associated with each adult were reversed after the participant reached a preestablished criterion of discriminated responding. The participant learned to request in a discriminated manner with each…

Two experiments with 15 individuals having profound mental retardation found difficulties in identifying reinforcers that were actually effective in treatment of chronic training needs. Research needs in evaluating training alternatives for people with profound multiple disabilities who move very little or who respond with very long latencies are…

This paper reviews the functional properties and procedural variations of differential reinforcement for the reduction of behavior disorders in individuals with developmental disabilities. The paper proposes that limited success may be a result of the arbitrary relationship that exists between reinforcers and target behaviors when behavioral…

A study of a 15-year-old girl with autism who engaged in self-injury and aggression, found that gradually increasing the delay to reinforcement (access or escape), mand training, and extinction were effective for decreasing self-injury. Only when the gradual delay procedure was eliminated, however, was there a reduction in aggression. (Author/CR)

This review discusses the history of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) and summaries findings from treatment research. It describes the use of NCR as a control procedure, NCR as a function-based treatment, considerations in the programming of NCR schedules, behavior-change mechanisms underlying NCR effects, and directions for future research.…

A specific progressive muscle relaxation training procedure was combined with auditory electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback, modeling, and reinforcement procedures to teach relaxation skills to 32 mentally retarded adults. The procedure was effective in reducing subjects' EMG levels and activity levels. Intellectual and adaptive behavior levels…

A study involving three preschoolers with developmental disabilities examined whether or not the use of a simultaneous prompting procedure would result in an increase on the percentage of correct responding of receptively identifying occupations from picture cards. Results found simultaneous prompting was effective. Maintenance and generalization…

Reviews studies related to physical exercise with people with severe and profound developmental disabilities and comments on the main findings and on the practicality and acceptability of physical exercise. The use of technical instruments combined with reinforcing events to ensure mild physical exercise is discussed. (Author/CR)

This study assessed the effects of automatically delivered stimulation on the activity level and mood of three students with multiple disabilities during their use of a stepper and a stationary bicycle. Stimuli from a pool of favorite stimulus events were delivered electronically while students were actively exercising. Findings indicated the…

The study evaluated the indirect effects on stereotypic behavior frequency of several fixed-interval reinforcement schedules on behaviors of three profoundly retarded adults. Stereotypic behavior increased in direct relation to the interval length suggesting such behaviors may be partially controlled by reinforcement frequency for adaptive…

This study applied functional behavioral analysis to the destructive behaviors of two young boys with multiple disabilities including behavior disorders. Results suggested that the subjects' destructive behaviors were sensitive to both escape and attention as reinforcers. Results support the importance of establishing operations in determining the…

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)

A multicomponent treatment package consisting of role playing, graphic feedback, contingent reinforcement, and self-monitoring increased the rate of positive statements among four handicapped high school youth during a social/leisure activity at a work training setting. There was no evidence of generalization to other activities. (Author/DB)

A rapid generalized motor imitation sequence was presented to five non-vocal children (ages 6-7) with autism before an opportunity to imitate a model's vocalizations. The presentation was faded by presenting an opportunity to vocally imitate without the sequence followed by an opportunity to independently mand. All participants began to vocalize.…