Reinforcers lose their effectiveness when they are presented repeatedly. Early researchers labeled this loss of effectiveness as "satiation" without conducting an experimental analysis. When such an analysis is conducted, "habituation" provides a more precise and empirically accurate label for the changes in reinforcer effectiveness. This paper…

This study examines the effects of using response cost in combination with positive reinforcement procedures in helping two second grade students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder maintain their attention in the classroom. This involved the loss of reinforcers/points contingent upon inappropriate behavior in the classroom, in addition…

A look at what we may expect in the future suggests some advantages to be gained from a motivational model, drawn from a synthesis of the latest research into behavior modification, and its link to contigency theories of organizations. (Author)

The educational "Reports" of the 1980's are demanding change in the schools and change in the way we prepare teachers. Perhaps a marriage between some industrial practices and some education strategies is now appropriate since both are in the informational age. For the first time in history, industry has many personnel who do not physically touch…

Children evidencing conduct disorders comprise the bulk of clinical referrals. Longitudinal studies have found that the prognosis for these children is poor in that the majority exhibit antisocial behavior in adulthood. In order to compare two methods of treatment, relationship-based and contingency management, 53 children (33 boys, 20 girls),…

The major purpose of this study was to describe the rule-governed and contingency-shaped behavior of learning-disabled, hyperactive, and nonselected elementary school children working on a computer-managed task. Hypotheses tested were (1) that the children would differ in the degree to which either instructions or external contingencies controlled…

"Learning by doing" was the theme at the 1981 Institute on Innovations in Camping and Outdoor Education with Persons Who Are Disabled and was represented in the eleven papers presented. The papers describe the use of various outdoor-oriented media for involving persons with disabilities in participatory activities. Topics consisted of…

The monograph on severe behavior disorders of children and youth presents 23 papers on juvenile delinquency, behavior disorders at the secondary level, and self control instruction. Some of the papers included are: "A Comparison of Varied Teacher-to-Child Ratio on the Adaptive and Attending Behaviors of Two Autistic Children" (M. Zener,…

The Urbana-Champaign Adolescent Diversion Project (ADP) involves children, parents, professors, graduate and under-graduate students, policemen, teachers, and community social service workers in a cooperative effort to divert youngsters in legal jeopardy from the juvenile justice system. Its three goals are: (1) to provide juveniles with an…

This report outlines the limitations and weaknesses of singlecase, time-series research designs, of which the ABAB design is one of the widely used. An alternative design, the simultaneous treatment design, proposed by Browning and Stover (1971), has several advantages over the ABAB design. The design enables an experimenter to simultaneously…

The literature on symbolic forms of communication was reviewed, and an experimental program was designed to teach a single set of vocabulary to a group of four institutionalized profoundly retarded blind/mute adults through the use of gestures. Literature about deaf/blind persons suggested the use of coactive movement techniques and facilitation…

Group contingencies structure situations which link individual behavior with group outcomes, attempting to change behavior through peer pressure. As such, group contingencies raise numerous methodological and ethical problems, and illuminate the relationship between what data is collected and what subsequent decisions can be made. Over 100…

A child's peers may influence his behavior for better or for worse. By involving a child's peers in his therapy, their influence can be made to be consistently positive. By establishing tailor-made peer-therapy groups, the child psychologist will increase his therapeutic impact. Among the possible formats for involving peers in a child's treatment…

While few would disagree that token economies are effective in bringing certain positive and negative target behaviors under contingent control, the recent past has witnessed increased concern over choice of targets as well as back-ups, voluntary versus involuntary client participation, as well as the effectiveness of such programs in meeting…

Intended to provide a basis for workshops involving teachers of exceptional children in regular classroom settings, the inservice training packet focuses on three basic areas of classroom/behavior management--assessment for individualized instruction, motivation, and reward. A brief outline describes the workshop in terms of target population,…