The current study employed a group contingency in order to increase school and project attendance in a group of 10 at-risk male adolescents. The participants were already attending a youth diversion project designed to reduce criminal and antisocial behaviors. The group contingency was based on the fantasy football model (an interactive, virtual…

The Good Behaviour Game (GBG) is a universal behaviour management intervention that aims to to improve pupil behaviour with the following core elements: classroom rules, team membership, monitoring of behaviour, and positive reinforcement (rewards). While it is primarily used with children in primary schools, it can also be implemented in early…

Studies that have assessed whether children prefer contingent reinforcement (CR) or noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) have shown that they prefer CR. Preference for CR has, however, been evaluated only under continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedules. The prevalence of intermittent reinforcement (INT) warrants an evaluation of whether preference for…

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a token economy on on-task behaviors by two seventh grade boys with varying disabilities within a public school inclusion classroom setting. At the end of the study, the participant identified with ASD increased his on-task behaviors approximately 52%. The participant identified with…

We evaluated a treatment for elopement maintained by access to stereotypic door play. First, we conducted a functional analysis of elopement that produced undifferentiated results. Next, we conducted an assessment in which we evaluated the relation between elopement and door play. Results suggested a functional relation between the 2 behaviors…

This case study illustrates a behavioral treatment of "Peter," a 4-year-old male with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder. Multiple evidence-based treatment procedures were implemented, affording the opportunity to explore issues common to the clinical application of empirically supported…

The rate of self-injurious head hitting in an eight-year old with severe/profound mental retardation was reduced using contingent electric shock delivered via the Self Injurious Behavior Inhibiting System. An improved affective state and increased interaction with the environment were documented. Treatment gains were maintained at one-year…

A broad spectrum behavior therapy approach was used to treat physical aggression in 5 brain-injured males (ages 18-28). The approach employed high density reinforcement, reinforcer sampling, environmental control, selection of appropriate responses, inconvenience review, self-control training, and self-monitoring. All five subjects showed…

In this case study, music was applied noncontingently and contingently across four settings with an adolescent male with autism, to reduce aberrant, repetitive vocalizations. The intervention was associated with dramatic reductions in the primary aberrant behavior and reductions in two other aberrant behaviors. Task performance was differentially…

Despite the severity of bipolar disorder (BP) and the amount of attention the psychosocial treatment of BP among adults has been given (e.g., Basco & Rush, 1996; Miklowitz, Frank, & George, 1996), no published outcome study or psychosocial treatment manual to date exists for children with this disorder. Based upon what is known about the…

We evaluated contingent and noncontingent practice of an alternative behavior (appropriate play) as intervention for stereotypy that occurred with two play objects in a 5-year old boy with autism. Contingent practice was implemented as a consequence for stereotypy, and the rate of noncontingent practice was matched (yoked) to that schedule. On…

Two male adults with cocaine dependence received a behavioral intervention comprised of contingency management and the community reinforcement approach. Reinforcement was delivered contingent on submitting cocaine-free (and subsequently marijuana-free) urine specimens. The intervention was efficacious in achieving abstinence from cocaine and…

Contingent vibration was used to train a precommunication response in a spastic/quadriplegic profoundly mentally retarded boy (age 11). The results indicated an increase in the S's eye pointing behavior subsequent to the administration of response contingent vibration. (Author)

Three preschool boys with autism received social skills training and an intervention that encompassed adult prompting, edible reinforcement contingent on positive exchanges, and self-monitoring of social behaviors. The self-monitoring package increased target children's interactions with peers and/or siblings. School and home procedures produced…