The study relates an attempt to prepare teachers of the mentally retarded regarding new teaching methods. Emphasis is placed on methods of learning rather than the careful diagnosis of the child's disability. Through the study, selective groups of special education master teachers (supervisory personnel with classroom experience) were trained in…

Presented are case studies of three trainable retarded five to ten year-old children who learned basic sight vocabulary, letter and number recognition, and task attention through highly structured contingency management techniques. (CL)

The proceedings of the annual convention (1973) of Vermont behavioral educators contain 27 case studies of educational programs applying behavior theory to create an individualized, data-based, and accountable school system in which handicapped and normal students are integrated. The case studies, which are grouped according to school districts,…

A training program in which operant procedures were used to improve the identification and definition of selected vocabulary words by a 6-year-old mildly retarded Down's syndrome girl is described. Results showed that the S had generalized the training and the findings were replicated with two additional children. (PHR)

Recognizing that punishment for aggression often is noneffective or inadvertently reinforces the aggressive act, the authors discuss an alternative approach and provide an explanation of the exchange theory of aggression. Three classroom experiments, operated with children chosen as the most severe behavior problems in a local school system, are…

The report describes a 3-year project which utilized the techniques of experimental psychology and the principles of operant conditioning to gain in the understanding and treatment of autistic and schizophrenic children. Included are discussions of the autistic child, the project itself, arbitrary and natural reinforcement, the setting and…