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…

BSIC has selected data for inclusion, and a method of presentation that-- (1) provides preliminary data, in comparable form, about all relevant systems building products, (2) surveys within the limits imposed, the problems of compatibility between subsystem components and to identify components which are compatible with one another, (3) identifies…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not certain attitudes can be modified through laboratory procedures using positively evaluated words within a classical conditioning paradigm. It was hypothesized that evaluations of Vietnamese and Negroes would become more favorable after pictures of each were paired with the presentation of…

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.…

A total of 48 8- to 14-week-old infants were presented with a non-contingently moving visual stimulus and the infants' visual attention was measured. Infants who exhibited decrements in attention to the non-contingent stimulus showed recovery in attention when the same stimulus was made to move contingent upon a motor response. Moreover, wisual…

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…

Forty adult overweight female volunteers were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) two self-control instruction conditions; (2) an automatic immunization instruction group; and (3) a no treatment control group. In the self-control groups, treatment was presented as an aid to gaining self-control over behavior, while in the automatic…

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…

The classroom teacher should be proficient in the use of the operant conditioning principles of positive reinforcement and extinction. An eight-step outline of one approach to modifying classroom behavior uses and builds on these principles. People have been afraid to use scientific knowledge of human behavior because of their fear of being…

The paper briefly explains operant conditioning as it pertains to special educators. Operant conditioning is thought to be an efficient method for modifying student behavior. Using the B. F. Skinner frame of reference, operant conditioning is said to include behavior modification and therapy, programed instruction, and computer assisted and…