Two groups of six children (aged 9 and 10 years) were given either traditional remedial reading treatment or behavioral therapy consisting of the Staats motivated Action Reading Technique. The method involved positive reinforcement for correct responses during three phases of instruction: individual word phase, oral reading phase, and silent…

Operant conditioning techniques were used to modify verbal behavior in 18 institutionalized, trainable mentally handicapped mongoloids with chronological ages from 4-6 to 7-10 and mental ages from 2.0 to 2.10. Two instruments were constructed to evaluate language: a language test and a speech rating scale. Project leaders had no prior knowledge of…

Twenty children diagnosed as mentally retarded (MR) were enrolled in a special training program designed to increase Ss' school-appropriate behaviors by means of the sequential and consequential arrangement of teaching objectives and teaching procedures. A hierarchy of achievement levels was established with a sequential and consequential…

Examined were the effects of four teachers' use of a data-based behaviorally oriented planning technique on the verbal labeling performance of eight developmentally delayed children (2-5 years old). Teachers were introduced to a 10-tactic planning technique that included behaviors ranging from simply counting the number of correct and incorrect…

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…

A questionnaire was submitted to 192 special education teachers in the Richmond (Virginia) Public School System to obtain information on teacher's understanding of and attitudes toward behavior modification. (SB)

The study involving 63 children (6 to 8 years old) compared the effects of two reading programs, the Palo Alto Reading Program and DISTAR, on primary grade children with reading problems. Results indicated that use of an operant reading program (DISTAR) was more effective than the Palo Alto program. (SBH)

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…

The performance of five students (ages 6 to 10) in an adjustment class for deaf children was compared under fixed and variable ratio schedules of reinforcement. During the VR condition, students visually attended more and engaged in disruptive behavior less often than during the FR condition. (Author)

Discussed from a behavioral perspective are theoretical approaches and recent educational and research developments in the field of childhood autism. (CL)

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)