Cited are two studies which analyzed the reinforcing effectiveness of verbal evaluative comments on educable retarded and handicapped elementary school children. In the first study, a two-choice push button discrimination, it is reported that Ss consistently chose a button which avoided the verbal comment "wrong", but made no significant…

This study was designed to ascertain whether reading achievement and attitude toward reading of students in grades two, four, and six can be improved through implementation of a token system within regular reading programs. Two schools were assigned to the experimental and two to the control treatment, with an equal number of classrooms from the…

Learning theories proposed by William Glasser in his text, "Schools without Failure," were implemented in an individualized language instruction program in a small high school in northern Ohio. The theory suggests that the success factor is far more significant than the failure factor in developing learning motivation. The belief that individuals…

The leadership reinforcement learning package is designed as a module containing objectives, pretest, learning environments, and posttest. Objectives of this module are to enable readers to analyze existing leadership competencies, organize these leadership possibilities systematically, and plan worthwhile projects while recruiting responsible…

To motivate slow learners and discipline-problem pupils to improve their writing skills, a reinforcement program was developed in Baltimore, Maryland, modeled on an earlier program which created a school environment operated like the business world. Upon successful completion of assigned tasks, the experimental group, 24 eighth graders, were given…

Professional workers can assist parents of retarded infants by (1) helping them to recognize and cope with their feelings of guilt and despair, and (2) establishing a home program of exercises to allay the infant's inertia. Such exercises have been demonstrated by numerous investigators to be of positive value in improvement of motor performance.…

The nutrition instruction guide is designed for volunteer leaders in the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), which focuses on youth nutrition education and understanding teenagers. Teaching techniques incorporate the importance of socialization, "discovering" answers, positive reinforcement, and teenager involvement in…

This report summarizes a program to help parents learn some specific teaching skills to help their children learn. To develop a positive reinforcement teaching style was the basic objective because it is both the most simple style to learn and the most powerful style for building success in learning. Role-play stimulation in small groups was the…

A study is reported in which the effects of 2 competitive treatments on mean classroom performance, interest and retention were examined with the use of a 10-day vocabulary-learning task. Sixty-six 5th grade classrooms were randomly assigned to one of 3 conditions: (1) control; (2) competition with reward; and (3) competition in a game setting.…

The study develops a model to explain the complex interactions which link the demands for academic achievement in the schools with the personal development of the learner on the premise that students develop a set of affective traits concommitantly with a pattern of academic accomplishments. The theoretical framework upon which the study is based…

Experimental and ethological studies were undertaken to clarify the role of positive and negative evaluations in the control of the child's performance on laboratory and classroom learning tasks. The results indicate that "social reinforcers" are effective to the extent that they communicate to the child unambiguous information on the adequacy of…

This paper describes a series of summer workshops for inservice teacher training (kindergarten, grades 1, 2, and 3) in the application of techniques and procedures based on pupil mastery of individualized modules of instruction. Contingency reinforcement management methods were demonstrated and practiced in the attempt to change pupil behavioral…

The study examined the effectiveness of a behavior point system in reducing the frequency of three maladaptive social behaviors (verbal outbursts, interruptions, nonsensical talk) in a severely brain injured male (age 21). All target behaviors declined with introduction of the point system, though nonsensical talk was least responsive to…

When English as a second language teachers reversed traditional roles and became learners of a foreign language (Chinese), analysis of their diary entries revealed that the role reversal made the teachers reconsider the roles of praise, grammar, repetition, revision, and communicative teaching. (CB)

Describes a project that heightens teacher awareness of research on four types of beneficial classroom practices: (1) use of wait time when asking students questions, (2) attention to academic learning time, (3) use of prompting or cuing, and (4) use of reinforcement when questioning students. (SKC)