The study examined effects of aversive taste treatment of thumb sucking on untreated habitual hair pulling by two young males (ages 2 and 5). Concomitant with successful treatment of thumb sucking, hair pulling was also eliminated. Results suggest an efficient method for changing behaviors that are difficult to treat directly. (Author/JW)

A study of two adolescents with behavior disorders examined the effects of a sequence of three, single-digit multiplication problems on the latency to initiate multiple digit multiplication problems. During the preference assessment, both students most often selected the single-digit problems and intervention decreased the latency between problems…

Analyses of stereotypy by a woman with severe mental retardation showed that the behavior was maintained by escape from demands. A sequence of high-probability requests issued immediately prior to a task-related request established a momentum of compliance that increased compliance with task-related demands, which was accompanied by collateral…

Parents of 8 children (ages 4-9) with conduct disorders conducted assessments by varying task demands and parental attention within a multielement design. Children's appropriate behavior varied across assessment conditions and occurred at higher rates during some conditions than others. Parents viewed the recommended treatments as effective and…

Recipients of treatment designed to change their behavior have the right to a therapeutic environment, services whose overriding goal is personal welfare, treatment by a competent behavior analyst, programs that teach functional skills, behavioral assessment and ongoing evaluation, and the most effective treatment procedures available. (Author/JDD)

The study reduced the disruptive behaviors of students in 2 elementary physical education classes, including an alternative education class containing 14 fourth and fifth grade boys with severe behavior problems. A modified time-out procedure was used to reduce frequency of disruptive behaviors by 95 percent. (Author/DB)

This study analyzed specific stimuli reinforcing destructive behavior in two 11-year-olds males with mental retardation and severe destructive behavior problems maintained by attention. The use of concurrent schedules of reinforcement identified alternatives to the reinforcing verbal reprimands and led to development of effective treatments to…

An adolescent female with multiple handicaps and severely disruptive behavior participated in a functional assessment linked directly to specific revisions in her school curriculum. The assessment and intervention produced substantial and durable reductions in the student's longstanding and severe behavior problems. (Author/JDD)

Results of a series of three experiments with four developmentally disabled males (ages 7-13) who exhibited hand flapping and body rocking indicated that some forms of repetitive stereotyped behaviors may serve social functions (e.g., escape from aversive situations), and that teaching a functionally equivalent communicative alternative can be an…

This study examined the effects of a cross-age peer-tutoring program on the social skills of two sixth-grade and two socially rejected and isolated kindergarten boys. Peer tutoring consisted of the older boys conducting social-skills training with their younger tutees. The frequency of positive social interactions increased for all four boys, with…

An adolescent with severe mental retardation and cerebral palsy who displayed attention-maintained destructive behavior was exposed to noncontingent reinforcer delivery (NCR) with a high-preference or a low-preference stimulus while reinforcement for destructive behavior with attention remained in effect. NCR without extinction was effective only…

A case study of an elementary school child with emotional and behavioral problems illustrates a process of descriptive assessment, functional assessment, and assessment-based intervention. The descriptive information generated hypotheses about variables maintaining the problem behavior which were then tested in the classroom environment.…

The study examined the extent to which momentary DRO (differential reinforcement of other behavior) maintained suppression (following initial treatment with whole-interval DRO) of the maladaptive behavior of nine severely multihandicapped elementary aged students. Results indicated that momentary DRO maintained response suppression comparable to…

High-probability requests were provided to two boys (age seven) with behavior disorders and severe disabilities as an antecedent to delivering a low-probability request. Results showed an immediate increase in appropriate responding when the intervention was delivered. Generalized responding and response maintenance were also exhibited.…

Two studies of three youths (ages 12-14) with severe mental retardation, who used aggression and self-injury to avoid difficult instructional situations, found that simple commands interspersed among more challenging instructional trials were effective at increasing the learners' responsiveness to instructions and decreasing levels of problem…