Some 96 fourth-grade boys participated in a study investigating the influence of personality and stimulus characteristics on perceptions of the meanings of verbal evaluations, and the functioning of differentially perceived evaluations as reinforcers in a learning task. Personality variables measured were anxiety, locus of control, need for…

A guide to training parents as behavior modifiers is presented. Providing the parents with a summary of behavior modification principles is suggested. Having the parents select behaviors and gather base rates prior to the interview is discussed. Specific interview topics and questions are presented. The statement of a precise behavioral objective…

This manual sets forth in detail the therapist behaviors necessary for effective application of this relaxation training technique. The materials presented are designed to provide therapists in many disciplines with the skills they need to train their clients in relaxation. A background to relaxation training is presented, and the basic procedures…

This study is an exploratory attempt to test the idea that individual differences in the rate of acquisition of an original discrimination learning are related to individual differences in the capacity to estimate the passage of time. Included is a review of the literature on the psychology of time which indicates that underestimation of time is…

Investigates the effect of delay of reinforcement upon human discrimination learning with particular emphasis on the form of the gradient within the first few seconds of delay. In previous studies subjects are usually required to make an instrumental response to a stimulus, this is followed by the delay interval, and finally, the reinforcement…

Two groups of six children (aged 9 and 10 years) were given either traditional remedial reading treatment or behavioral therapy consisting of the Staats motivated Action Reading Technique. The method involved positive reinforcement for correct responses during three phases of instruction: individual word phase, oral reading phase, and silent…

An investigation of the efficacy of covert negative reinforcement (Ascher and Cautela, 1972) was replicated. Thirty Ss were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Ss in the experimental group were trained to imagine a noxious scene, then to shift to the image of a ringing bell. During the test phase, the word "bell" was used to reinforce over-…

As a result of findings of a previous study, this study, which sought to program preschool subjects to wait one minute for reinforcement, used pause-building procedures before delay conditions were started. The children, 3- to 5-year-olds, were designated either Baseline (control) subjects (n=3) or Programmed (experimental) subjects (n=5). Though…

Four male and five female Negro children (ranging in age from 5 to 9 years) served in an experimental comparison of the discriminative control exerted by sex and race aspects of other children. A baseline was established in which color photoslides of a Negro girl and a Caucasian boy differentially controlled responding on two push buttons.…

This study was designed to answer two major questions: (1) whether or not operant conditioning procedures supplemented by treatments drawn from other areas of experimental psychology could produce changes in counselor interviewing behavior, and (2) how much change resulted from response specific reinforcement and how much from other factors. Three…

The author conceives of the human emotional system as being composed of three functions of motivational stimuli: (a) the attitudinal or emotional, (b) the reinforcing, and (c) the discriminative controlling function which the stimuli acquire. He defines and describes each of these functions and their effect on integrated learning principles. He…

In this study, 48 third-grade children learned a successive, two-choice discrimination under one of three conditions: (1) immediate reinforcement (IM), (2) 10-second empty delay (ED), and (3) 10-second delay with the discriminative stimuli in view of S (FD). The performances of groups IM and FD were only marginally different, and were both…

This series of papers was presented in a symposium on behavior therapy. Each paper represents a separate study focusing on one aspect of behavior modification. The issue of reinforcement is prominant with regard to its type and source. Methods of self-reinforcement and older-peer modeling are studied. The suggestion that subjects who reinforce…

The author focuses on a number of key issues which appear to be common to a variety of alcohol treatment programs which have as their intention the amelioration of alcohol problems. The aim in this paper is to call attention to these issues and to discuss their implications for the manner in which health care workers think about alcohol problems,…

This report discusses the type of women found in the world of work, their reasons for employment, and their most frequent occupational choices. In paying particular attention to sex discrimination against women, this paper mentions pay differentials and access to lower status jobs, and attributes them partially to the effects of sex-role…