Based on the positive reinforcement principle of David Premack, this study provides a test of his principle on young children and attempts to assess the usefulness of the principle in actual classrooms by regular classroom teachers. (RC)

Encouragement is a very effective means of enhancing appropriate behavior in others. Before one can be encouraging, one must recognize how people discourage others through verbalizations, actions, attitudes, beliefs, one's position in the family, and school. Schools discourage students through expectations, grades, report cards, competition,…

Verbalizing reasons for engaging in an activity was as effective or more effective than praising second graders for task performance. (RC)

This study investigated attempts at faking the 16 PF in both a good and bad direction by prisoners. The results of the prison sample were compared to a control sample of college students. Results showed that the 16 PF can not be faked with impunity. (Author/EK)

A study was conducted to assess the effect of token reinforcement for work behavior in a Headstart classroom and to investigate methods of withdrawing tokens while still maintaining the behavior. The class was treated as a whole and decisions to change from one condition to another were based on the group mean. The study was divided into two…

Previous studies have shown a low rate of engagement in pleasant activities to be a concomitant of depression. The crucial question addressed by the Hammen and Glass study (1975) is whether an increase in pleasant-activity level will produce a decrease in depression level. (Editor)

The method suggested by W. Timothy Gallwey for teaching tennis--a positive approach which avoids over-instruction--is also an effective method for teaching writing. (DD)

Analysis of the reinforcing value of verbally presented stories for autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children (total N=32) suggested that mentally retarded (but not autistic) children could use prosodic cues in expressive language and that linguistic stimuli had less reinforcement value for autistic and mentally retarded children than for…

Although they express some reservations, the authors report that a consistent pattern of evidence from 10 studies suggests that implementation of a positive reinforcement program is accompanied by some reduction in employee absenteeism. (Author/IRT)

Postcards with a handwritten message from the teacher elicited positive reactions from students enrolled in an introductory psychology course. (Author/MLF)

Examines the effects of a packaged intervention designed to reduce disruptive behaviors in two 8-year-old female students. The intervention was delivered through a contingency contract and was comprised of precision requests, antecedent strategies, and the reductive technique of response costs. The intervention resulted in reduction of disruptive…

Nietzsche overlooks some possibilities. Something may not kill us, yet leave us sickly or crippled. But he is right, too. It may make us stronger. It is ancient wisdom that we grow through facing adversity: ad astra per aspera?to the stars through adversity. We know, too, that too much of something good may do us harm. One can overstudy, or…

The email received by a professor explained to him that it is worth it to praise students and encourage their best efforts to get them writing. He has decided that he will continue to praise somebody who looks uninspired.

Positive psychology is becoming established as a reputable sub-discipline in psychology despite having neglected the role of positive reinforcement in enhancing quality of life. The authors discuss the relevance of positive reinforcement for positive psychology, with implications for broadening the content of organizational behavior management.…