Use of contingent lemon juice to eliminate public masturbation by a severely retarded boy

Contingent lemon juice successfully reduced and maintained at zero levels, public masturbatory responses in a severely retarded boy with a four year history of this behavior. Previously, more common procedures (loud “no” plus hand spanking. ignoring) had proven to be ineffective. The lemon juice contingency was shown to be effective in a period of from 13 to 16 days (in both home and school settings) and was easily implemented by a parent, a teacher and a para-professional.     

The future of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) for use in public and private testing

Recently, there have been concerns raised about the General Aptitude Test Battery, an instrument used extensively by state and federal agencies to assess those seeking jobs. These concerns involved the legality of the present GATB scoring system (from an equal employment opportunity standpoint), as well as the psychometric quality and validity of the instrument. For these and other reasons, the National Research Council was contacted by the Department of Labor to examine the present GATB. This paper will discuss those concerns raised about the GATB, the conclusions reached by the National Research Council, and recent developments in legislation which directly effect use of the GATB.     

The use of natural consequences and a make-up period to eliminate school phobic behavior: A case study

The school-phobic behavior of a seven-year-old male was modified through implementing a program characterized by maximum parental involvement, restructing of natural consequences, and the use of a make-up period. Full-time school attendance was achieved on the sixteenth day of the program. The advantages of using school personnel as monitors and not as disciplinarians of the school-phobic child's behavior are discussed.     

Training mildly retarded individuals to control their anger through the use of cognitive-behavior therapy techniques

Four mildly retarded adults with chronic anger problems were treated with a cognitive-behavioral approach similar to stress-inoculation training. The treatment techniques included a simplified version of rational-emotive therapy (RET), coping self-statements, relaxation training, biofeedback, coping imagery, behavioral rehearsal, and assertiveness training. The treatment techniques varied in each case so as to meet the needs of the individual clients. The emphasis was on the development of self-control as opposed to control through external contingencies, such as rewards and punishments. There were decreases in the frequency of anger outbursts in all four clients. Violent behavior, such as hitting and kicking others, and destruction of property, was totally eliminated. In addition, the clients reported decreases in anxiety and stress-related symptoms. Although experimental research is needed in this area, these preliminary findings suggest that at least some mildly retarded individuals can be taught self-control through a cognitive-behavioral approach.     

The use of the large-scale integrated sensor (LSI) to estimate energy expenditure

The relationship between activity counts from the large-scale integrated sensor (LSI), placed at the hip and ankle, and heart rate-estimated energy expenditure was examined in three nonobese males during three conditions: normal morning activities, a 1-mi walk, and a 2-mi walk. Results showed that estimated caloric expenditure was related to activity counts for both monitoring placements, with correlations between counts and energy expenditure exceedingr=.90. These results show that energy expenditure in the activities sampled can be reliably estimated using activity monitors.This research was supported in part by a grant provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on the Psychobiology of Depression, Clinical Research Center Grant 5-30915 from the NIMH, and Grant HD 16411 from the NICHD awarded to Dr. Epstein.     

The use of the position analysis questionnaire in selecting correlates of job performance among mentally retarded workers

The present study investigated the efficiency of various existing measures, mainly psychological tests, for predicting job performance of mentally retarded workers in a sheltered occupational shop. Twenty-two production-related jobs and one nonproduction-related job were analyzed with the Position Analysis Questionnaire resulting in two job attribute clusters. Correlations between 19 predictor variables and 5 criterion variables, which consisted of supervisor ratings of job performance, were then calculated separately for subjects performing preferred jobs in each attribute group. The results indicated that, contrary to past research, existing measures are predictive of performance on some but not all jobs in a sheltered workshop.