Reward contingencies and other extrinsic constraints on behavior can lead to reduced levels of interest in and/or decreased engagement in a target activity in a subsequent noncontingent situation. It has been hypothesized that this effect is caused by a change in the self-perceived locus of motivation from intrinsic to extrinsic. It follows from…

THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH WAS TO OBSERVE THE CONSISTENCY OF INTRA-INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY FROM ONE TASK TO ANOTHER, TO DETERMINE THE RELIABILITY OF OBSERVATIONS OF INTRA-INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY, AND TO OBSERVE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE ACCURACY OF PREDICTION VARIED WITH THE CONSISTENCY OF THE INDIVIDUAL'S BEHAVIOR. MALE ENGINEERING STUDENTS AT THE…

The purpose of this study was to measure nonverbally the preference of alternative responses when the net probability of being rewarded was the same. A demonstration of preference under these circumstances would suggest the ability to control or maintain behavior without explicit administration of a reinforcing agent. Head Start children were used…

Behavior modification is discussed as a new approach to teaching and curriculum implementation in physical education. It is suggested that behavior modification offers physical education several advantages: (1) extensive research findings of various kinds directly applicable to the work of the physical education teacher; (2) a set of behavioral…

This study tests the hypothesis that persons will express relatively independent degrees of preference for ambiguity in different experiential domains. An original measure consisting of four subscales was developed to assess individual differences in the theoretical, social, economic and aesthetic domains, and was administered to a student sample.…

This volume presents a collection of writings from a coalition of black educators. Through a survey of some of the literature, the first study attempted to identify the sources of the misconceptions in the description and the behavior of black Americans. The second paper examines several assumptions about black children and families inherent in…

A notation system for the representation of interacting plans of action is presented in this paper and applied in the analysis of a portion of "Hansel and Gretel." The notation system explicates interactions among plans: how cooperation takes place, how conflicts arise and are resolved, how beliefs about plans determine actions, and how…

The paper addresses the assessment and management of hyperkinesis in children. Recent research is reported to show that hyperkinetic children differ in psychological functioning, which might account for varying reactions to stimulant medication. An evaluation procedure which identifies the subgroups of hyperkinetic children using behavioral and…

Performance variables were manipulated to elicit differential outcomes of success and failure for dyad members in an attempt to investigate resultant bargaining and distribution of rewards. Seventy, 10-12-year old children (36 female, 34 males) were placed into dyads controlling for age, sex, I.Q., and friendship choices. Self-allocations were…

Adolescent coital activity and the attendant risk of pregnancy is a problem with far-reaching implications. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of family variables on adolescent sexual behavior and contraceptive practices. More specifically, the research question was: Could a set of parent-adolescent interpersonal variables be…

This paper addresses some of the practical ways by which students can be given information about the adequacy of their responding. The author views this information as all that is frequently necessary to alter an inappropriate behavior. Thus, he considers feedback to be the first step in most behavior management programs. Studies to determine how…

Ninety-six male undergraduate students participated in an experiment assessing behavioral aggression and addressing itself to the issue of specific versus general mediation of a hypothesized relationship between sexual arousal and aggression. Differing sources of arousal were experimentally crossed with the alteration of the aggressive cue…

Reactions of male and female adolescent pairs to a same sex newcomer were observed as a means of assessing sex differences in indirect aggressive behaviors. Following a problem solving session, the group members rated each other's personality. Adolescent girls made less favorable judgments of the newcomer than did adolescent boys. In addition, on…

This study investigated social intelligence in relation to individuals coping with other persons. In terms of structure of intellect theory, the first of these two areas includes six behavioral cognition abilities, one for each kind of product or mental construct of information. The second includes six behavioral divergent production abilities,…

The major focus of this study is on the relationship between anxiety and achievement. It was predicted that with young children, anxiety is likely to have a debilitating effect on their standardized test scores as well as on teachers' ratings of their competence. This hypothesis is generally supported. The sample consists of 156 childen from…