The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of multiple exemplar training and social reinforcement on the maintenance and generalization of joint attention initiations across toy classes. Three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participated. After analyzing samples of joint attention initiations from neurotypical peers,…

It has been demonstrated that the Simon effect may be increased or reversed due to proportion congruency manipulation, suggesting that learned spatial irrelevant stimulus-response (S-R) associations are used to guide responses. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that learning spatial irrelevant S-R associations by rewards may show a similar…

This article presents guiding principles governing the design, implementation, and management of a point system to promote discipline and academic rigor in a secondary classroom. Four considerations are discussed: (1) assigning appropriate point values to integral classroom behaviors and tasks; (2) determining the relationship among consequences,…

The vigilance reinforcement hypothesis (VRH) asserts that errors in signal detection tasks are partially explained by operant reinforcement and extinction processes. VRH predictions were tested with a computerized baggage screening task. Our experiment evaluated the effects of signal schedule (extinction vs. variable interval 6 min) and visual…

Two studies were performed to evaluate the extent to which response patterns and sustained attentiveness is a function of the demands of a secondary task, primary task difficulty, and feedback arrangements. The first study varied primary task stimulus difficulty level, feedback arrangements on the primary task, and presence of the secondary task.…

Conjugate reinforcement is a new attention measure which has emerged from experimental psychology. It can provide accurate measurement of a subject's attention to a stimulus. In conjugate reinforcement, the duration of the stimulus varies directly and immediately with the subject's rate of response. In this process, the subject must demonstrate…

This study examined effects of social praise on attentive behavior of reinforced and nonreinforced children. Two pairs of mentally retarded preschool boys served as subjects. Results revealed that intervention procedure increased the attentive behavior of the target subjects and nonreinforced subjects also increased their attentive behavior during…

An attempt was made to modify the attending, on-task behavior of hyperkinetic children in a naturalistic school setting. The boys were taught how to "pay attention." The procedures utilized were based on previous research findings regarding the performance of hyperkinetics on a vigilance monitoring task. (Author)

Joint attention (JA) initiation is defined in cognitive-developmental psychology as a child's actions that verify or produce simultaneous attending by that child and an adult to some object or event in the environment so that both may experience the object or event together. This paper presents a contingency analysis of gaze shift in JA…

Results of a study of the differential impact of three types of reinforcers (edibles, social praise, and sensory events) on the attending behavior of three severely handicapped boys (9-12 years old) supported the contention that performance is a function of the value attributed to a reinforcer. (CL)

Three highly distractible female students, aged 9 through 11, with mild to moderate mental handicaps completed a 5-step training process followed by student self-monitoring with no tangible extrinsic reinforcement for improved performance. Results found increased on-task behavior in all subjects and increased academic productivity in two.…

Thirteen studies were conducted that focused on whether preschool and elementary school students with mild and moderate disabilities learned target and non-target behaviors when two types of instructional manipulations were made to direct instructional trial sequences. In one type, the related, non-target behaviors were presented during…

A pioneer in the field tries to close the communications gap between biofeedback and education by showing how the technology can help students stay alert, feel better and explore inner space. (Editor)

A standard operant procedure, Visual Reinforcement Audiometry, was modified to enhance 16 infants' attention to impending auditory signals. The modified technique achieved an average 5.5 dB improvement in threshold over the conventional technique. Correction for adult performance in similar tasks indicated a 3.3 dB attentional effect between…