Vibration as a reinforcer with a profoundly retarded child

Data are presented which indicate that lever-pressing behavior of a profoundly retarded child could be reinforced by the contingent application of vibratory stimulation for each response. With vibration available 24 hr per day, no decrement in daily rate of responding for vibration was seen over a three-week period. Suggestions are made for further use of this finding in working with the profoundly retarded.     

Continuation of training as a variable influencing the generalization of speech in a retarded child

Imitation and differential reinforcement were applied in training a speech-deficient retarded child 4 separate verbal answers to 4 “everyday” questions. Training was provided in only one setting with one experimenter. After the subject had acquired each answer-response in the training situation, probes for stimulus generalization were given by both the trainer and nontrainers. These probes tested the usage of both trained and nontrained question-answering responses under nontraining conditions. Use of the separately trained responses in nontraining contexts increased as training continued beyond the established learning criteria. A concurrent reinforcement procedure for all 4 answerresponses increased the overall generalization effects across individuals and settings; the use of differential reinforcement of nonverbal responses in the training setting decreased the overall generalization effects.     

Instruction-following behavior of a retarded child and its controlling stimuli

A combination of positive reinforcement and fading of physical guidance was used to teach a profoundly retarded boy specific responses to specific verbal instructions. The design consisted of a multiple baseline of probe data across different verbal instructions. The subject started responding correctly to each verbal instruction as that item was trained in a multiple-baseline order. Generalization did not occur to items that had not yet been trained, nor did it occur to items included to assess generalization. Probes of variations in the verbal instructions, conducted after training was completed, revealed that generalization was minimal except in those cases where the variation consisted of the verb only, the noun only, the noun plus preposition, or where the verb of the instruction was presented last. Training a profoundly retarded 11-yr-old subject to respond to specific verbal instructions did not adequately facilitate the development of a generative instruction-following capability, nor did all verbal elements of the instruction control a specific response.     

Establishing use of crutches by a mentally retarded spina bifida child

A 5-yr-old mentally retarded spina bifida child was taught to walk with the aid of crutches. This behavior was developed through fading of physical prompting within a 10-step successive approximation sequence. Preliminary training to establish gait consisted of developing use of parallel bars through fading of physically modelled responses within a six-step successive approximation sequence. Use of parallel bars ceased during an extinction period and completely recovered upon being primed with one "free" reinforcement. Systematic use of natural reinforcers was employed as an aid in maintaining use of crutches.     

Shaping approach responses as intervention for specific phobia in a child with autism

We evaluated contact desensitization (reinforcing approach responses) as intervention for specific phobia with a child diagnosed with autism. During hospital-based intervention, the boy was able to encounter previously avoided stimuli. Parental report suggested that results were maintained postdischarge.     

Attitudes toward older adults: The perceived value of grandparent as a social role

The present study examined the discrepancy between young and middle-aged adults' persistently negative attitudes toward older adults in general and their consistently positive attitudes toward grandparents. Two hundred-twenty young and middle-aged college students completed the Aging Semantic Differential and indicated or estimated (where appropriate) the average age for three categories of older adults: old people in general, typical (i.e., hypothetical, prototypical) grandparents, and their own grandparents. A pattern of results emerged in which students viewed older adults less positively than typical grandparents, who generally were viewed less positively than known grandparents. Because older people in general and typical grandparents were estimated as being similar in age, the positive attitudes expressed toward typical grandparents may be attributed to the social role of grandparent over and above any bias against increased age. Because students were most positive about their own grandparents, aspects of their individual grandparental relationships appear to have an additional, additive effect.     

Increases in parental investment and child health as a result of an early intervention

Parental investment (involving time or money invested in 3-year-olds) and child health were assessed as an outcome of (a) children’s risk status (preterm vs. full-term birth) and (b) maternal resources (defined here in terms of their problem-solving skills in resolving caregiving challenges). Resources were varied systematically as a function of maternal participation in a traditional home visitation program versus a novel cognitively enhanced program that facilitated parenting skills more successfully. As predicted, mothers in the traditional home visitation condition invested preferentially in low-risk children, whereas mothers in the cognitively enhanced condition invested preferentially in high-risk children (who, in turn, showed maximal health benefits). Maternal investment of time in care provision mediated the relationship between predictor variables and children’s health. This pattern supports an evolutionary model of parental investment in which parents show discriminative solicitude based on the reproductive potential of the child and parents’ access to relevant resources.     

Behavior modification consultation in a Mexican-American school

Following consultation by two psychologists with an elementary school populated primarily by Mexican-American students, absenteeism was chosen as the first problem area to attempt to change. A between-groups experimental design was used to evaluate the effect of contigent rewards on the students' attendance. Analysis of the data showed no improvement in attendance. The results of the study were discussed in terms of (1) a more thorough behavior analysis of the absenteeism problem, (2) methodological restraints of a between-groups experimental design, (3) the need for consultants to be familiar with the community in which they work, and (4) relatedly, the success of the local school psychologist in implementing behavior modification programs.     

An evaluative study of the role of the grandparent in the best interests of the child

Abstract

Most custody decisions are made in courts hewing to the concept “the best interests of the child. “Most professionals agree that children suffer from a fractured family situation; they disagree on the degree to which children suffer at various stages of growth and development. There is a lack of agreement as to what constitutes a child's best interests. Recent research suggests that grandparents may play a very significant role in the entire life cycle of children. The legal position of grandparents in custodial matters remains somewhat ambiguous. Recently legislation has granted grandparents the right to seek visitation. This represents an awareness on the part of the court that grandparents and grandparenting may be a significant factor in actualizing the best interests of the child.     

Role of foster family belonging in recovery from child maltreatment

Research on foster care suggests that children who have experienced abuse are susceptible to a range of negative life outcomes. Such research also suggests that children removed into foster care can recover from abuse if given opportunities to develop healing relationships with caregivers. Drawing on qualitative data from a national research project on Australian foster carers, this paper explores how foster families enact forms of belonging that potentially work to ameliorate experiences of abuse among foster children. With a specific focus on experiences of family solidarity, rituals, identity, and culture among foster carers and the children in their care, the findings highlight the role that foster carers can play in contributing to national child protection agendas aimed at addressing experiences of maltreatment among children removed into care in Australia.     

A profile of the child likely to experience unstable foster care

A core problem of professionals working in the foster care system is finding ways to minimize re-placement, or the movement of children from foster home to foster home. Drawing on past research, this paper develops a profile of the foster child likely to experience multiple re-placement or unstable care. Based on this profile, possible strategies for reducing movement in care are discussed.     

Behavior modification in the home: Siblings as behavior modifiers,parents as observers

It was hypothesized that siblings could function as effective behavior change agents for their behaviorally disturbed brothers and sisters within the home environment. Further, it was predicted that parents could be trained to be reliable observers of their children's performance under these circumstances. The results of the study supported both predictions with siblings in two separate families demonstrating their ability to work with their brother or sister within the context of an ABAB reversal design. Parents were also shown to obtain consistently high reliability ratings when compared to outside observers. The judicious use of siblings as behavior modification aides is recommended as a treatment procedure.