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…

The effectiveness of the reinforcing of low rates of responding (DRL) in the reduction of unacceptable behaviors was demonstrated with two students in regular first and second grade classes. Ss were given play-time reinforcement when the total number of disruptions (such as fighting with other students) during a session were below the DRL limit.…

A contract and point system were used to decrease the pilfering behavior of an 11-year-old boy. Under the contract system, the boy kept a daily record of his progress and earned points toward a trip to the planetarium. After introduction of the contract the pilfering dropped from at least two times a week to none at all. (LS)

This study undertook to reconcile the views of cognitive and behavioral learning theorists on the issue whether learning without awareness (LWA) is possible, and if so, the circumstances under which it occurs. In Study One, two reinforcement procedures were compared in a structured verbal conditioning task. Study Two was a replication of Study…

Twenty mildly and moderately retarded boys (age 12 to 18 years) participated in a behavior modification program in which adaptive behavior was rewarded through tokens or privileges, while maladaptive behavior was controlled through the use of fines and removal from the situation. The preliminary results (based on four months of operation) showed…

This research project was designed to explore suitable operant methods to assure successful acquisition of some initial formal reading skills by first and second graders. The subjects were 12 pupils diagnosed as predicted reading failures by failing scores on four or more subtests of a 10 test battery suggested by DeHirsch, Jansky, and Langford…

A description is given of quasi-automated techniques used to increase students' motivation to improve reading rate and study skills in a University of Minnesota adult extension course for study improvement. Essentially the students are taught techniques of self-applied reward and punishment of their own choosing. The reinforcer is some stimulus…

The purpose of this module cluster is to enable students to define the basic operant terms, to state the basic operant principles, to read operant measurement charts, and to use operant principles in elementary classrooms with both social and academic behaviors. It is intended for use by teacher education students with the cooperation of an…

The effects of covert operant reinforcement upon remedial reading learning tasks were investigated. Forty junior high school students were taught to imagine either neutral scenes (control) or positive scenes (treatment) upon cue while reading. It was hypothesized that positive covert reinforcement would enhance performance on several measures of…

The purpose of the present study was to determine if a procedure could be devised to eliminate the need for a therapist in reinforcing for expressions of affect, feedback, or empathy. Twenty-six male and 22 female undergraduate volunteers were randomly assigned to 12 "human relations" groups, comprising three replications of four conditions: 1.…

Presented are seven papers given at a conference on the application of behavior modification techniques to the treatment of stuttering. An introduction to the papers gives an overview of behavior modification. The two papers of Part I present two approaches to stuttering therapy, one of which is based on operant conditioning and the other on…

Four conference papers center on educational strategies for use with emotionally distrubed epileptic, the multuply handicapped retarded, hospitalized, and learning disabled children and adolescents. Special education at the National Children's Rehabilitation Center for emotionally disturbed epileptics is said to stress optimum learning through…

For more than two years, the authors of this book were involved in a special project with 41 teenage delinquents whose crimes ranged from auto theft and housebreaking to rape and homicide. Most of these youths had dropped out of public school and were equally unresponsive to the educational program within the Federal penal system at the National…

The use of operant conditioning techniques in a classroom for educationally handicapped children was studied to determine if it would result in a reduction of maladaptive behavior. The subjects consisted of an experimental and a control group of elementary school children, with an IQ range in the experimental class of 88 to 119. The experimental…

B. F. Skinner's suggestions concerning control of society are discussed with reference to the kinds of control already taken over children and students. An emphasis is placed upon the behavioral goal as a necessary characteristic of educational and child rearing procedures. It is suggested that a prejudice against the young allows us to use…