Adolescent risky behaviors are often interpreted as products of self-control failures stemming from a developmental mismatch between reward processing and cognitive control systems. However, adolescents -- much like adults -- may also engage in risky behaviors because of conscious and deliberate (even if objectively poor) decisions. It is not easy…

This review involved a systematic search and analysis of behavioral intervention studies aimed at improving adaptive skills in high-functioning young adults with autism spectrum disorders. Through electronic databases and hand searching, 20 studies were identified meeting pre-determined inclusion criteria. Studies were summarized and analysed in…

Hippocampal-dependent tasks often involve specific associations among stimuli (including egocentric information), and such tasks are therefore prone to interference from irrelevant task strategies before a correct strategy is found. Using an object-place paired-associate task, we investigated changes in neural firing patterns in the hippocampus in…

This study determined the effectiveness of noncontingent escape access to self-reinforcement, as a student-directed intervention. Three students successfully used a break card to systematically decrease inappropriate behavior maintained by negative reinforcement while increasing task engagement. In addition, teachers completed an Intervention…

The Health Behavior Schedule-II for Diabetes (HBS-IID) is a 27-item questionnaire that was evaluated as a predictor of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). The HBS-IID was completed by 96 adults with Type 2 diabetes. Recent glycosylated hemoglobin HbA1c and fasting blood glucose results were taken from participants' medical records. Only 31.3%…

Dynamical, self-organizing models of sentence processing predict "digging-in" effects: The more committed the parser becomes to a wrong syntactic choice, the harder it is to reanalyze. Experiment 1 replicates previous grammaticality judgment studies (F. Ferreira & J. M. Henderson, 1991b, 1993), revealing a deleterious effect of lengthening the…

This literature review evaluates studies of self-management procedures (including self-evaluation, self-instruction, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement) used with behaviorally disordered students in school settings. The analysis found general support for the techniques, but many procedural concerns need to be addressed in future research.…

Emphasizes the need for coherence between the reward structure and the organizational culture of effective schools. Presents a typology of rewards, including pecuniary, nonpecuniary extrinsic, and intrinsic rewards. Analyzes several pay-for-performance strategies and explores the perceived advantages and disadvantages of various merit and…

In an investigation of the effectiveness of self-managed reading improvement programs, a program incorporating self-monitoring (observing and recording relevant activity), self-reinforcement (increasing the probability of some target behavior by the self-presentation of positive consequences or the removal of negative consequences), and shaping…