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)

An overview is provided of the principles of cognitive psychology that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI). First, the paper looks at the features of classical and operant conditioning that provide the foundation for important parts of mastery learning and CAI programs. Next, findings from four areas of…

The text is designed for a course in the application of behavior modification techniques with handicapped children. The first part considers eight elements of the behavioral approach, including describing behavior precisely, recording behavior, arranging consequences, and teaching new behaviors. The second section, a practicum outline, provides…

The review of teaching strategies examines four areas of potential ecological impact on effective learning in young children--methods for curriculum organization, antecedent instructional events, consequent instructional events, and packages or combinations of instructional events. Four methods of curriculum organization are explained including…

The monograph contains 15 papers (many given at a 1977 Arizona State University conference) on children with severe behavior problems. Among the topics addressed are implementation of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act; identification of early infantile autism; the effectiveness of behavioral strategies in teaching…

The primary aim of this book is to bring to the grade school teacher a survey of the most recent techniques and ideas of behavior modification which are applicable to good classroom management. All of the approaches and techniques presented could be of interest to teachers working at all grade levels. Since research has shown that the systematic…

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

This conference report consists of two presented papers and a selected bibliography. The paper by Joan Gussow, "Behavioral Management and Educational Goals," is concerned with operant conditioning as a theory of learning and an instructional method. Basing their methods on the work of B.F. Skinner, educators who are proponents of this…

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)

In response to Whitman, "Self-Regulation and Mental Retardation" (EC 222 812), the author distinguishes between operant and cognitive training methods to develop self-regulatory skills and disagrees with Whitman's observation that the procedures for teaching retarded persons are essentially the same as for nonretarded persons. (DB)

Presented is an overview of a 1975 New Orleans conference on educating severely and profoundly retarded children. Brief summaries of remarks by teachers, program administrators, state education agency personnel and others are provided on such topics as the application of behavior modification principles, recent legislation, parental involvement,…

Where verbal deficits exist in children, one method of exceptional promise uses operant conditioning techniques to establish and modify verbal behavior. Modifications and extensions take place as the function of direct interaction between an experimenter and the child. Assuming that ideal teachers for such children, given the availability of…

The ability to anticipate elements in sequence is the foundation of all language skills. Because of its naturally high redundancy, it is almost always possible in the normal use of language to partially predict what will come next in a sequence of elements. The central feature of language processing is expectancy for successive elements. A very…

Three severely mentally retarded, multiply handicapped adolescents were treated in a classroom setting for social skill deficits. Treatment focused on increasing eye contact and strengthening on-task and in-seat behaviors. Results suggested that a combination of visual stimuli, operant, and social learning methods can be used to successfully…

Describes a partnership between Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology in teaching the principles of operant conditioning to students in an experimental psychology class. Maintains that the positive training techniques used in zoos are models of applied operant conditioning. Includes a discussion of zoo training goals. (MJP)