In this article, the author shares an anecdote demonstrating one-trial learning which is commonplace in human behavior. The demonstration suggests that under some conditions, when people hear someone speak, their behavior changes, even in the absence of an apparent contingency of reinforcement, but only if they have in their repertoire verbal…

This study was interested in determining whether (1) novelty produces greater or less attention than familiarity and incongruity, and (2) if children's labeling behavior was related to their attentive behavior. Using 3- to 5-year-old children, the results indicate that attention, at least for the stimuli presented, is an increasing function from…

A study involving four boys (9 to 14 years old) labeled as emotionally handicapped was conducted to examine the effect of a verbal cueing technique (involving an illogical statement which evokes psychological reactance) on behaviorally disordered children. Illogical statements made by the teacher produced positive change in target behaviors (such…

Research on learning and conditioning suggests that verbal response modification does not occur in the absence of the subject's ability to define verbally (1) the response-reinforcement relationships and (2) his intention to change his behavior in the direction of reinforcement. This seems to be true for operant conditioning of verbal behavior,…

Following nine hours of training in behavioral psychology, the faculty members of an 800 pupil elementary school were applying operant techniques with no further apparent need of consultation with the instructors. Twenty-two teachers were enrolled in an inservice training course entitled "Behavior Modification Procedures for the Elementary…

AN ELECTRONIC SYSTEM OF SMALL TRANSCEIVER UNITS, PACKAGED IN A BELT WORN BY STUDENTS IN CLASS, WAS DESIGNED TO TRANSMIT LIGHT SIGNALS AND VIBRA-TACTILE CODED MESSAGES BETWEEN STUDENTS AND A COUNSELOR AT A CLINIC SCHOOL. FOUR MALE ADOLESCENTS SELECTED FOR LOW MOTIVATION, AGGRESSIVE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR, AND HIGH PEER-GROUP RATING REPORTED THEIR TIME…

INTENDED FOR SPEECH THERAPISTS, THEACHERS OF THE MENTALLY RETARDED, AND OTHERS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION, THE COLLECTION CONTAINS REPORTS BY VARIOUS AUTHORS ON SPEECH AND LANGUAGE MODIFICATION ATTEMPTS THAT HAVE UTILIZED OPERANT CONDITIONING PROCEDURES, AS WELL AS SEVERAL PAPERS ON BACKGROUND TOPICS. BACKGROUND PAPERS ON TEACHING TREAT ENVIRONMENTAL…