Two studies are reported in which the behaviors of four infant class teachers in England and their respective classes were observed and recorded. The aim of the studies was to examine the effects of contingent teacher touch behavior upon children's classroom behavior. Touch was found to increase on-task behavior and decrease disruptive behavior.…

Describes the efforts of the Sara Lee Corporation in adopting an urban Chicago high school in order to encourage good grades. Professional football player Willie Gault's role as academic team "captain" is discussed. Program elements such as business education class speakers, peer tutors, scholarships, faculty support programs, and…

Presents an annotated bibliography for children in kindergarten through grade six. The titles in this bibliography focus not on world problems but more on the child's everyday world, particularly in the home and community. They positively strengthen and reinforce children's own world views and illustrate active roles children can play. (BB)

Explores the effects of positive and negative reinforcement in the classroom and the role of language in the "celebration of learning." (HTH)

Observation of 97 teachers during group instruction of elementary students with mental retardation, severe multihandicaps, and learning disabilities and/or behavior disorders revealed that teachers made limited use of praise over criticism in managing classroom behavior. (CL)

The article suggests that retarded behavior is maintained by certain events in the environment and their relationship to an individual's behavior. Maintenance of these behaviors is attributed to positive reinforcement, avoidance behavior, and contingency schedules. Several examples of the maintenance effects of each of these paradigms are given.…

Creating a classroom of attentive learners takes more than swift discipline. "Difficult Behavior" can help inspire positive behavioral change and healthy, productive development. Following Acknowledgments, About the Author and Introduction, the book is divided into five sections. Part I, The Role of Discipline, includes: (1) Discipline in…

This thesis details a program of teacher-reinforced behaviors for juveniles convicted of a felony and incarcerated at the West Virginia Industrial Home for Youth (WVIHY). The goal was to determine an effective way to control behaviors of incarcerated youth in an educational setting by use of a positive reinforcement program: "Keys to…

A withdrawn adolescent, an outpatient at a mental health clinic, was the subject for this case report. Baseline data were collected on the frequency of the subjects' verbalizations. The subject was then instructed to record his own verbal behavior. The subject "earned" his way out of the mental health clinic by increasing his verbal behavior to an…

Thumbsucking of a girl aged 2 years and 9 months was recorded by the parents during three 10-minute reading baselines. In Study 1, thumbsucking was punished by contingent termination and resumption of reading. In Study ii, positive reinforcement was provided for other (non-thumbsucking) behavior. The results imply that parents can effectively…

Article described the PBX workshop, a forum for behavior evaluation that facilitates the personal growth of its participants. (Author/RK)

Forty-three severly or profoundly retarded children and adolescents who were presented with a series of three-and 10-trial form discrimination problems learned faster on the first three trials if each problem lasted for ten trials. (Author/MC)

In the present study the effects on subsequent grades of low, average, and high first exam grades were investigated for 192 students in a traditional grading system and fifty-four students in a pass-fail grading system. (Author)

The study found that concordance between a rule and a recent model's behavior was most effective in leading to acceptance of the rule, despite a tendency for the subject's to adopt lenient self-reinforcement criteria when given an opportunity to do so. (JB)