In a Behavior Analysis classroom the first step is to define instructional objectives for academic or social skills. The second step is to determine how much the child already knows about what is to be taught. An Entry Behavior Inventory and diagnostic tests help teachers decide where each child needs to begin working in the sequence leading to…

Based on a theoretical rationale derived from dissonance theory, this study investigated the effects of 80%/20% ratios of positive/negative and negative/positive audience feedback on perceptual, attitudinal, and behavioral responses of normal speaking college students. Twenty-six skilled speakers and 30 unskilled speakers were randomly assigned to…

The effects of fixed-ratio and variable-ratio reinforcement classroom reading performance was investigated. Subjects were 50 boys and 50 girls from four grade-2 classrooms of one elementary school. The subjects were divided into three reading levels, above-average, average, and below-average, and were randomly assigned to (1) a no-reinforcement…

The highly successful Project Success Environment, a three-year project in Atlanta, Georgia, was directed toward the problem of academic underachievement in inner-city schools. The main thrust of the program was the construction of a positive learning environment--a restructuring of the classroom that replaces the failure environment with a…

Student teachers trained in a competency based teacher education program were compared to student teachers trained in a traditional lecture-discussion program with respect to their use of positive reinforcement and aversive stimuli and the incidence of student talk. Analyses indicated that student teachers trained in a competency based program…

Six studies relevant to the analysis of generalized imitative behavior are described. The first examined the role of verbal instructions in generalized imitation by comparing the use of a "do this" instruction with no such instruction and the use of positive reinforcement with no reinforcement. The tenacity of generalized imitation in this study…

In view of the hypothesis that motivational deficits are basic to learning problems, this study investigated the effectiveness of tangible reinforcers as an additional motivator to improve the reading competence of urban, retarded readers compared to the same instructional procedures without reinforcements in natural, small group settings for…

Eighty-four nine year old children, twelve in each of seven experimental groups, learned a two-choice successive discrimination problem. The parameters that were systematically manipulated included: (1) immediate versus delayed reinforcement; and (2) forced preresponse stimulus exposure versus stimulus exposure during the delay interval,…

Describes the Dorm 5 experiment at Windham College, Putney, Vermont, designed to create a living environment to assure individual rights and intellectual values through positive reinforcement techniques following operant conditioning. Problems of vandalism and noise were solved as physical space was utilized to meet student needs for social and…

Low income classrooms demand that teachers supervise and monitor students' seatwork actively and control private interactions with students. Praise and a relaxed climate are more important in low than high income settings. (JD)

Urges reading teachers to fight the cultural tendency to value conformity above performance, to increase their production of approval signals, and to use these signals to reinforce a variety of behaviors. (RL)

Illustrating the way in which poorly posed questions may adversely affect class participation and learning, this article presents examples of classroom questions that have been classified and analyzed; components of hierarchical questioning strategies; and methods for using questions to stimulate thinking and enhance classroom learning. (Author/JC)

An investigation of the effects of a seven-day camp experience with disturbed adolescents on approximately sixty undergraduate "camp counselors" was conducted. Limitations of the study are discussed as well as some suggestions for future research into practicum sites for programs training teachers of the severely disturbed. (Editor/RK)

In a sentence-completion task, eighty sixth-grade students were assigned specific difficult goals or general goals ("do your best"). Subjects received one of four levels of monetary incentive. Specific difficult goals produced higher performance than nonspecific across various incentive conditions, and maintained those levels when previously…

Fifth-grade students classified as high or low in self-concept were paired in an achievement-related task in which one succeeded and one failed. High self-concept children attributed success more to their high ability and engaged in more positive self-reinforcement than did low self-concept children. Results were discussed within an attribution…