For any organization to become or remain competitive and provide incentive and fulfillment for the people who work there, management must be flexible and open to change and the needs of its employees. That is where a human resources system, complete with motivational techniques, comes in. (Author)

Compares the effectiveness of a token economy with traditional forms of intervention. Results indicate the token economy procedure to be considerably more effective. (Author)

Based in part on a PhD dissertation (Irwin) submitted to the University of Pennsylvania.

Lists potential reinforcers that may be employed with various motivational tactics, and groups them into ten categories with specific examples of each. Most of these reinforcers may be used in manager-evaluated contingencies, with the exception of a few, which are listed because of their value in self-control tactics. (Author/VT)

Fifth- and sixth-grade students were asked to sort cards by one of three possible sorting methods. Subjects received either general praise, descriptive praise, or no praise. The extent to which the two praise groups sorted by the method for which they were reinforced was assessed. (Author/JMB)

Two experiments contrasted the effects of several methods of initiating the play activity of elementary school children on children's willingness to persist in an initially interesting activity. (Author)

Members of personal growth groups were more accepting of positive feedback than of negative feedback; however, receiver defensiveness levels were not related to feedback acceptance. (Author)

The author responds to a study which suggested that token reinforcement is redundant in stating and shaping fluent speech within a stuttering program. He cites methodological differences as well as procedural differences in the treatment programs mentioned. (Author/CL)

The relationship between willingness to delay reinforcement and two controllable factors, history of reinforcement and experimenter familiarity, was explored. Results showed that subjects' familiarity with the experimenter, not reinforcement history, was the key variable in determining willingness to delay reward. (Author/SB)

The author summarizes the characteristics of contingency management systems in university classes, briefly describes one such system and discusses decisions that must be made by instructors who would teach such a course. (AA)

The ideal training system recognizes that most performance problems are execution problems: lack of feedback, task interference, or punishment--and rarely motivation. As an initial place for study, the ideal training system works backward from company profits to choose areas contributing most to profit. (EB)

Makes a case for the use of affirmation (discriminating praise) in teaching creative writing. (SB)