The purpose of the current paper is to describe the impact of applied behaviour analysis on language treatment for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) diagnoses. Specifically, this paper will describe Skinner's theory of verbal behaviour and its contributions to evidence-based treatments for communication deficits among individuals with…

Children who observed a very generous adult model sharing, later shared more than those who observed a very stingy model. The effects of vicarious reinforcement on the amount shared, delivered by either the experimenter or the model alone, were also demonstrated. (Authors)

Forty-eight preschool children were run under a classical conditioning paradigm in which some neutral stimuli were repeatedly associated with an adult matching the behavior of the subject, and other neutral stimuli were associated with the same adult mismatching the behavior of the subject. Preference for the stimuli associated with being matched…

An experimental analysis of imitation was conducted to examine the influence of response topography on generalization of imitation across three response types with four children (ages two to four) with autism. The study found that imitation generalized from reinforced training models to nonreinforced probe models within a response type but did not…

An investigation of immediate and delayed vicarious reinforcements upon children's imitative self-sacrificing behavior. (Author/MB)

Significantly greater imitation of the teacher model's incidental behaviors was observed among advantaged children, among girls, and in response to the positive reinforcing teacher. (Authors)

Examines the effects of the presence and absence of nurturance on children exposed to a model who either verbalized the importance of charity or who acted in a charitable manner. Data suggest that performance has a much greater effect than verbalization, with only nurtured females being affected in the latter condition. Tables and bibliography.…

The primary thrust of this book is the presentation of two divergent models of man, the explicit and implicit philosophical assumptions which characterize each view, the conditions of learning compatible with each model, and the educational implications of each position. An introductory section considers the two models of man--the phenomenological…

During an experiment on infant behavior, it was observed that young children shared toys with their mothers; therefore, a series of research studies was designed to investigate this phenomenon. The general purposes of the research were: (1) to define sharing more precisely and develop objective measures of frequency and duration for it, (2) to…

Four research papers discuss the influence of social cues on children's behavior. Specifically, the focus of this program of research was to systematically investigate the impact of two classes of social cues: (1) implicit or explicit instructional cues inherent in social interactions, and (2) inferred or actual evaluative cues present in…

BAER, PETERSON, AND SHERMAN HAVE ATTEMPTED TO BUILD A GENERALIZED RESPONSE SYSTEM (GRS) IN THE FORM OF IMITATIVE BEHAVIORS (IB) IN THREE SEVERELY RETARDED CHILDREN (S'S). IN THE FIRST PHASE OF THE STUDY, 130 IMITATIVE RESPONSES WERE TAUGHT BY IMMEDIATE, INDIVIDUAL REINFORCEMENT. THE S'S ALSO PERFORMED RESPONSES WHICH WERE NEVER REINFORCED. BY…