A program for secondary remedial reading instruction was developed to use operant conditioning techniques with the following major objectives: (1) to train the student to decode words systematically, (2) to develop the student's verbal repertoire, (3) to improve reading comprehension, and (4) to shape scholarly attitudes and behavior. Pupils were…

The effectiveness of positive and negative evaluative comments for children's learning was assessed in a two-choice discrimination task. Results indicate that negative comments after incorrect responses greatly facilitated learning while positive comments after correct responses had little effect. To explain the findings, a naturalistic analysis…

The results of a group of studies, the objective of which was to clarify the conditions that account for the effectiveness of verbal approbation, are reported. Among the most significant findings were: (1) that the reinforcement properties of verbal approval are susceptible to distortion, misinterpretation or enhancement and must be applied in a…

This study examined racial experimenter effects in counseling-like interviews employing the verbal operant-conditioning paradigm. The absence of significant differences in the experimenter-subject racial interaction suggests that race, per se, may not be the most important variable in the experimenter-subject (or counselor-client) relationship.…

Demonstrates the use of the behavior-analytic approach in remediation of behavior problems precipitated by sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl. Treatment using excessive ruminations and negative emotional responding produces stable gains over a one-year period. (SA)

Discusses first and second language acquisition in terms of behavior modification and structural exercises in terms of operant conditioning. The validity of the comparison is also discussed. (Text is in French.) (AM)

Eleven institutionalized psychotic children 4- to 13-years-old received 13 weeks of traffic safety training using operant conditioning. (CL)

TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF OVERTRAINING ON REVERSAL AND NONREVERSAL SHIFTS OF CUES, 96 NORMAL (MEAN AGE = 117 MONTHS, MEAN IQ = 109.8) AND 96 RETARDED CHILDREN (MEAN AGE = 119 MONTHS, MEAN IQ = 70.1) WERE TESTED ON A SIMULTANEOUS 2-CHOICE DISCRIMINATION TASK. SUBJECTS WERE TRAINED ON TWO LEVELS (CRITERION AND OVERTRAINING). FOLLOWING TRAINING ON THE…

Research on learning and conditioning suggests that verbal response modification does not occur in the absence of the subject's ability to define verbally (1) the response-reinforcement relationships and (2) his intention to change his behavior in the direction of reinforcement. This seems to be true for operant conditioning of verbal behavior,…

Formal, contextual, and technical aspects of language teaching methodology design are discussed in this article. The author develops a basis for tentative classification of language drills and exercises in terms of linguistic behavior in the light of these aspects. Basic language skills are classified according to three types of stimulus-response…

A brief introduction to various aspects of operant conditioning is presented, followed by a discussion of ethical concerns. Also discussed in this paper are topics such as (1) what is it? (2) motivation, (3) students need motivating, and (4) a new method. The latter part of the paper is concerned with a year long behavior project in an elementary…

Reply to a paper entitled "Implications of Recent Psycholinguistic Developments for the Teaching of a Second Language, by Leon A. Jakobovits, which appeared in "Language Learning, volume 18, number 1 and 2, June 1968. (DS)