Research supported in part by grant no. HD-02821-01 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Praise and criticism data were collected during a two-year correlational study of a selected sample of second- and third-grade teachers chosen for their consistency in producing student learning gains averaged over four years, and these data were analyzed to determine the effect that praise, criticism, rewards, and punishment had on learning…

A study was conducted to test the effectiveness of a preschool program which emphasized rapid attainment of basic academic concepts. The experimentals were 4- to 5-year-old lower class, predominantly Negro, children. For 2 years they received instruction 2 hours daily, 5 times a week, in a group where the pupil-teacher ratio was five to one. To…

Junior high schools boys performed forty trials on a ball roll up game in order to determine whether competition, initial ability level, and social reinforcement interact to influence the performance of a perceptual motor task. The analysis of the data demonstrated: (a) the competition, initial ability level, and social reinforcement factors did…

An Arab Culture Assimilator, basically a branching type of learning program, was administered to forty-seven subjects in two groups involved in a cross-cultural field study in order to determine the differing effects of varied social reinforcement on learning performance. The conditions of reinforcement were: correct, positive; incorrect,…

The purpose of the study was to test the discriminative cue hypothesis by attempting to train pupils to increase effort following a high expectancy condition and to reduce effort following a low expectancy condition. Fourth grade high-IQ low achievers were used as subjects in the study, because the authors felt that while they would learn fast,…

This book explores some of the basic principles of behavior which have been derived from the study of operant conditioning and considers the phenomenon of sport in society in the light of these principles. First, some of the terms used in Skinnerian behavioral analysis are defined and explained. The second section examines the reinforcements…

Prompting, positive and negative reinforcement, and a gradually extended reinforcement schedule were used with three autistic clients (two six-year-olds and one adolescent) to teach them to maintain on-task behaviors without constant supervision. Results indicated that appropriate behavior could be successfully maintained with only infrequent and…

Reports on a study that indicated the development of unhealthy attitudes toward writing in students who received negative feedback. (RL)

Destructive behavior of 9-year-old with learning disabilities was evaluated in a functional analysis. The effects of extinction, negative reinforcement, and negative reinforcement combined with access to preferred activities were compared on behavior and task engagement. Engagement occurred most and destructive behavior occurred least when…

Examines signs of mental distress in the general population of normal adolescents. Results, based on 871 Israeli high school students, indicate that greater physical punishment was associated with higher levels of psychiatric symptoms and lower general well-being. Results persisted after controlling for parental attitudes and socioeconomic status.…

Reviews several teaching methodologies in terms of negative affect. Findings indicate that in those situations where students have little incentive to do well or admit that they wish to do poorly, increased negative affect can motivate them to function at a level of operational tension and achieve optimum learning and performance. (36 references)…

It is argued that current school disciplinary policies are ineffective instruments for delivering moral messages: they are poorly justified; fail to distinguish moral violations (violence, vandalism, deception) from conventional school-limited violations (attendance, dress codes, eating venues), leaving the impression that dress code violations…

This paper cites ethical provisions and professional standards that affect the selection of behavioral interventions that will benefit exceptional individuals without undermining their dignity. A three-category system that classifies behavioral interventions on the basis of their intrusiveness or restrictiveness is presented. Interventions are…

References are often made in art education literature about how art can enhance individuals' self-concepts. This document discusses the work of authors, Manuel Barkan, George Herbert Mead, and Sigmund Freud, who support this concept. Barkan's theory concerning how an individual's personality develops and changes by interacting socially is…