The handbook provides an overview of characteristics, learning, and teaching methods, for parents of children with learning disabilities. Reviewed are problems that interfere with learning, such as poor rhythm sense and attention difficulties, and listed are six basic principles affecting the learning process. Home activities are suggested for…

Walking behavior was established in a 20-month-old Down's Syndrome girl by a parent trained in behavior analysis. During a series of 7-minute sessions, the child was given edible reinforcement for taking unsupported steps between two chairs which were gradually moved from 18 to 70 inches apart. In three final generalization sessions, the chairs…

The Training Proficiency Scale, designed to evaluate the competence of a trainer utilizing operant conditioning techniques with the mentally handicapped, is described in terms of its need, development, reliability and validity qualities, and four areas of assessment (shaping behavior, rewarding, communicating, and rapport). The scale is presented…

The extent to which semantic differential ratings of trigrams remain consistent over a four-week retention period following pairing with positive or negative attitudinal words was determined. The trigrams initially served as stimulus items in a paired associate list consisting of both positive and negative evaluative response terms; and rating and…

This study was designed to investigate the effects of increasing levels of task complexity on the conditioned emotional response (CER) with human subjects (Ss). Three hypotheses were proposed: (1) the CER would increase as task complexity increased, (2) there would be sex differences between Ss with respect to the interaction between the CER and…

This research focuses on the effect of verbal behavior on the conditioning and extinction of an autonomic response, namely, the galvanic skin response (GSR). The major assumption is that the experimentor's verbal behavior produces verbal behavior internal to the subject, and this, in turn has a modifying effect on the conditioning phenomena. The…

The major objectives of the 3-year Claymont Behavior Modification Project, which involved 11 teachers and 270 students, were to: a) train teachers in operant procedures for use in an uncontrived natural setting; b) accelerate student academic performances, with a special view to achieving one year's academic growth in one chronological year for…

Compared in a junior high class of 12 educable mentally handicapped children were the effects on adaptive behaviors of a token reinforcement program involving only positive reinforcement and a token reinforcement program additionally involving response cost. The token reinforcement response cost condition allowed students to earn points for…

This research paper generally relates psychology to teaching; specifically, behavior shaping to curriculum planning. Reports are cited that emphasize operant learning as a means of behavior modification. In this instance, the teacher provides a favorable learning situation and arranges environmental factors to increase or decrease the frequency of…

Six- and nine-month-old infants were exposed to contingent or non-contingent perceptual stimulation from a source which was spatially displaced at 60 from the infant's midline. Reliable operant acquisition was observed in the case of the nine-month-old infants, but not in the case of the six-month-old infants whose performance was similar to that…

The study compared the efficacy of proclamation, contracting, and contingent teacher approval in modifying the classroom behavior of 5 Negro adolescents. Proclamation consisted of a written statement of reward and punishment contingencies (points gained or lost) under which the class was operating, whereas the contracting phase permitted students…

Two experiments using paraprofessional personnel were conducted to determine effectiveness of a schoolwide token system on academic performance of trainable mentally retarded (TMR) children. The first experiment consisted of 42 TMRs in a 6-week summer program, in which reading, writing, and arithmetic were the behaviors studied. Pretest and…

Three studies were conducted to compare standard instruction with reinforcement programs for the trainable mentally retarded (TMR). In the first study, 24 TMRs were matched into two groups, with one group participating in a 6-week academic program having token reinforcement and the other group continuing in a standard teaching program. Statistical…

Seventy-two sixth graders, stratified on the basis of sex and two levels of IQ (high and low) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) Group I (success only); (2) Group II (failure only); and (3) Group III (success and failure). These subjects (Ss) were used to investigate the effects of verbally controlled success and failure…

The proceedings of the Second Annual Meeting and Conference of the National Society for Autistic Children begin with three brief statements regarding the Joint Commission on Mental Health of Children. Following are the keynote address by Edwin W. Martin concerning the rhetoric and reality of the Federal response to the educational needs of…