This report defines school refusal behavior as the refusal to attend school or difficulties going to school or remaining in school for the entire day, and sees school refusal as a significant problem that may occur in 8% of all school-aged children. It discusses difficulties of previous classification and assessment strategies for students who…

Caregivers and professional staff (N=223) in two institutions for severely mentally retarded individuals of all ages were administered the Critical Behavioral Incidents Questionnaire. They rated 44 common misbehaviors that occur in institutional settings in the following areas: (1) how often the misbehavior occurred; (2) perceived seriousness by…

This booklet is about changing human behavior in everyday settings in the school and home. The approach to human behavior outlined is called "behavior analysis," which is based on that approach to psychology called the exerimental analysis of behavior. The ABC model of behavior is explained. In this model, the A refers to the "antecedent" that…

Outlines some positive steps for reducing the undesirable classroom behavior of preschool children. (ED)

This paper presents a review of relevant literature on treatment approaches for the modification of smoking behavior, followed by an outline of an approach developed by the author to decrease his own rate of cigarette smoking. Studies are reviewed which have used various treatment methods: use of electric shock, satiation and/or use of cigarette…

An adolescent's learning patterns are developed throughout the student's socialization process, suggesting that peer pressure may influence learning. Female college students (N=15) aged 19-21 participated in a pencil-maze learning task performed while blindfolded. The task was presented in three categories of stimuli conditions: (1) normal…

TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERING TEACHER REINFORCEMENT BEHAVIOR ON STUDENTS, 21 MIDDLE-CLASS AND 12 LOWER-CLASS MALE NINTH- AND 10TH-GRADE REMEDIAL READING STUDENTS WERE SHOWN TWO FILMS. THE FIRST DEPICTED A "POSITIVE" TEACHER WHO CONSISTENTLY REWARDED CORRECT RESPONSES WHILE NEGLECTING INCORRECT ONES, AND THE SECOND SHOWED A…

Research regarding the use of aversive conditioning is reviewed, ethical questions are considered, and the proper use of the procedure with the severly handicapped is examined. Cited are studies on the use of shock therapy, mild aversive, timeout procedures, overcorrection, and restraint. The importance of pairing positive with aversive stimuli is…

This study was designed to determine whether student response to supervision would be affected by the reinforcement of positive (or negative) attitudes toward five patterns of supervisory behavior as shown in motion pictures. For one group of vocational high school students, attitudes toward the supervisory roles "Consideration" and "Tolerance of…

Based on a theoretical rationale derived from dissonance theory, this study investigated the effects of 80%/20% ratios of positive/negative and negative/positive audience feedback on perceptual, attitudinal, and behavioral responses of normal speaking college students. Twenty-six skilled speakers and 30 unskilled speakers were randomly assigned to…

Illustrating the way in which poorly posed questions may adversely affect class participation and learning, this article presents examples of classroom questions that have been classified and analyzed; components of hierarchical questioning strategies; and methods for using questions to stimulate thinking and enhance classroom learning. (Author/JC)

Argues that feelings of shame about reading failures may give students an aversion to reading. Suggests that teachers make first reading experiences as successful as possible to help students become confident, eager readers. Stresses ways to minimize the feelings of shame of culturally different students. (CBC)

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

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.…