An elementary physical education teacher describes a successful behavior improvement program implemented at his school. Students earned points (tokens) for good behavior and physical education achievement. They lost points for inappropriate behavior. Donated prizes were awarded based on accumulated points. (IAH)

Behavior modification techniques were evaluated by observing litter collection behavior of commercial rafting groups. The number of litter pieces retrieved by treatment and control groups was significantly different. Results support the idea that verbal appeal and role modeling can be effective litter control techniques. (Author/CW)

Ratings on the acceptability, intrusiveness, restrictiveness, and efficacy of 18 commonly used interventions for decelerating behaviors were obtained from 58 special educators of severely handicapped students. Results suggested a lack of confidence in intervention efficacy and a lack of discriminant validity for the constructs of restrictiveness…

Describes a student-behavior-modification process and ongoing research project involving 650 of the highest risk youth from a population of 11,000 6th to 12th graders. After identifying at-risk students, researchers isolated routine problem behaviors and examined how they could be modified. Students work their way back to a regular school setting…

The study examining the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral training program with 30 behaviorally disordered adolescents found participating students exhibited fewer aggressive behaviors and demonstrated greater self-control than nonparticipating students. The addition of an incentive for implementing the training strategies did not appear to…

A brief biographical sketch of Burrhus Frederick Skinner is offered, followed by a review of his impact on education and psychology. His research in radical behaviorism, his theoretical contributions, development of programed instruction techniques, token economies, and numerous inventions by himself and his proteges are summarized. (PB)

Three mothers of children (ages 4-9) who had disabilities and exhibited serious behavior management problems were taught child management techniques and planned activities techniques, using in-home coaching and written prompts for use in generalization settings. Results suggested that such training is effective but needs to be individualized.…

Assigned 60 couples to training group learning behavioral strategies to promote healthy sleep patterns in infants or to control group. At 6-9 weeks, training group infants displayed significantly better sleeping patterns than did control infants. Training group parents awakened and responded less often to infant signaling and reported greater…

This article reviews 66 studies which used applied behavior analysis to change the behaviors of students with visual disabilities. It documents the participants, targeted behaviors, procedures used, outcomes, and follow-up. The article offers recommendations for future researchers on the selection of subjects, target behaviors, appropriate…

This paper outlines, and refutes, concerns about structured behavioral teaching methods for children with learning difficulties. Concerns addressed include overly heavy reliance on extrinsic rewards, emphasis on learning without understanding, failure to allow students to learn from their mistakes, teaching out of context, and little use of…

Assigned 49 obese diabetic patients with obese spouses (diabetic or nondiabetic) to an alone or together (with spouses) treatment condition of behavioral weight control program. Found no significant differences in weight losses of patients at posttreatment or one-year followup, but did find that women did better when treated with their spouses,…

A study investigated the efficacy of texture fading in the treatment of food selectivity displayed by four children (ages 2-5). Successful treatment involved the gradual addition of higher textures based on results of periodic probes. Food acceptance and swallowing were reinforced, while food refusal and expulsion were placed on extinction.…

A brief negative-reinforcement assessment was conducted with five children (ages 4 to 14) with developmental disabilities with severe destructive behavior. Children were trained to engage in an escape response and were presented with a variety of stimuli. For each child, several stimuli were identified that may serve as effective negative…

Describes meta-analysis of 99 studies that used interventions to decrease disruptive classroom behavior in public education settings. Overall, results indicate interventions yield comparable results to other studies investigating effectiveness of psychotherapy. Findings show that efficacious treatments used in public school settings decrease…

The use of a self-operated auditory prompting system by a 12-year-old student with autism and moderate mental retardation to decrease inappropriate and off-task behavior was examined. Results indicated a significant decrease in the number of teacher-delivered prompts required by the student to engage in appropriate behaviors and remain on task.…