Class-wide academic performance can be increased by overlaying existing instructional and classroom management procedures with supplemental interdependent group-oriented bonus rewards. The bonus reward strategies may be particularly effective for under-motivated, low-performing students. When applying supplemental interdependent group-oriented…

Considered the opposite of tattling, "Tootling" is a positive peer-reporting procedure in which students report their classmates' positive prosocial behavior instead of inappropriate behavior and employs other well-established behavior analytic principles. This study examined the effects of Tootling on students' behavior in three…

The effects of adult presence and reinforcement payoff on subsequent instruction were studied with second and third grade children. (BRT)

Effects of instruction and reward contingency on conformity to a prohibition were studied in preschoolers. Instructions were varied in terms of explicitness and reward was either contingent or not contingent upon following the instructions. (Author/SS)

Examines the effects of frequency and contingency of reinforcement on the social deprivation-satiation phenomenon. Third- and fourth-grade children were given pretraining involving variations of reinforcement in the form of praise. In a subsequent discrimination test, correct responses were consistently praised. (Author/SS)

Two studies were conducted to clarify the role of different minimum performance standards for contingent tangible reinforcement or self-dispensed evaluative reinforcement (in the absence of tangible rewards) in determining the rate and accuracy of learning. Preschool children were presented with a discrimination learning task. Their performance…

Self-reinforcement through positive or aversive covert imagery was studied in obesity treatment. Subjects were randomly assigned to no-imagery, self-punishment followed by self-reward, and self-reward followed by self-punishment conditions. Neither order nor kind of reinforcement made any difference. Both reinforcement groups were superior to…

This study compared the addition of two self-management strategies to typical supervision to improve productivity of eight mentally retarded workers in a sheltered workshop. Both strategies--(1) self monitoring plus goal setting and social contingencies and (2) addition of a monetary bonus for productivity--were equally effective in improving…

Although the principles governing the application of positive reinforcement to classroom situations remain clear and theoretically consistent, practical problems arise during application that are not easily anticipated. This paper focuses on one practical issue: the selection of appropriate reinforcers to use in inner city high schools. The paper…

In order to clarify the conditions under which material rewards have a detrimental effect upon children's later interest in the rewarded task, the effect of a reward for drawing was measured with 24 preschool children ranging in age from 34 to 40 months. The children were grouped as high or low in initial interest on the basis of observation of…

The effect of general and subject-specific prompts in eliciting a zero- or low-probability behavior in three Hispanic gang members, selected because of their artistic or writing abilities, was examined by monitoring their behavior in submitting any original work, written or pictorial, that could be published in a community newsletter. Dependent…

This article argues that challenges in motivating gifted underachievers should be addressed from an integrated systems approach. The design and implementation of specific interventions for these students are described, with a special focus on reward menus and behavior contracts. Suggested target behaviors and individual and class rewards are…

This brief report describes parental reaction to a reinforcement strategy used with children in the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP). Staff members report that "Good Work Awards" (GWAs) are viewed favorably by mothers of students. GWAs are dittoed notes sent home with children when they have met a minimum criterion for daily…

This study, part of the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP), investigated the accuracy of children's self reports under various contingencies. Sixteen first grade arithmetic students were randomly assigned to two groups, A and B. It was found that both groups learned to check their own work and report it fairly accurately when no…

Examination of effects on 27 secondary students' Spanish vocabulary quiz performance of 2 variables (group versus individual study and group versus individual contingencies) found that, overall, group study was superior to individual study and, within the group study condition, group contingencies were superior to individual contingencies.…