LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP OF A BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT FOR STUTTERING IN CHILDREN

We report 3.5-year follow-up data from children who participated in a study that evaluated a behavioral treatment for stuttering. Six of 7 subjects continued to be at or below the criterion of 3% stuttered words. Stuttering increased for 1 subject, but remained far below his baseline level. Social validity data are also reported.     

A PROCEDURE FOR THINNING THE SCHEDULE OF TIME-OUT

Few studies have evaluated ways to thin punishment schedules. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using variable ratio (VR) schedules to thin the time‐out schedule gradually. Warnings were used in some conditions to assist potentially with schedule thinning, but this analysis was limited. Participants were 3 young students who engaged in problem behavior during enriched time‐in periods. Dense schedules of intermittent time‐out were effective at reducing problem behavior.     

BEHAVIORAL CONTROL OF MEDICINE COMPLIANCE

This study examined the effectiveness of several behavioral techniques on compliance of college students taking vitamin C on q.i.d. regimen. Compliance was assessed by a new technique using a variation of the urine tracer procedure designed specifically for this study. Subjects were provided vitamin C tablets, with three tablets per week containing phenazopyridine, a drug that produces a bright red-orange urine discoloration. Subjects were requested to indicate when urine discolorations occurred, and compliance was assessed by comparing the time of their report to the time predicted on the basis of the scheduled sequence of vitamin C and phenazopyridine tablets. Baseline compliance was assessed for 72 subjects over a three-week period, with the 40 most noncompliant subjects randomly assigned to four groups for Treatment I. The groups were: self-monitoring, taste, taste and self-monitoring, and a no-treatment control group. The self-monitoring procedure involved recording the time medicine was taken; the taste procedure involved providing the subjects with flavored tablets to increase the saliency of tablet taking; and the self-monitoring and taste procedure involved providing subjects with flavored tablets and asking them to record the flavor of each tablet they ingested. At the end of six weeks, half the subjects in each of these groups participated in response-cost procedures while the remaining subjects continued with their previous procedures. Response-cost procedures were implemented by returning a portion of the subjects' deposit only if a preset compliance criterion was met. Treatment II procedures were implemented for an additional three weeks. Results indicated the self-monitoring and taste plus self-monitoring procedures were superior during Treatment I. The implementation of response cost during Treatment II was associated with a marked improvement in compliance, independent of the history of noncompliance. The effects of the taste plus self-monitoring procedure were maintained during Treatment II and results obtained by this procedure were not significantly different from effects of response cost.     

FINDERS,KEEPERS?: AN ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION OF A FREE-FOUND-AD POLICY

A SURVEY OF LOST AND FOUND CLASSIFIED SECTIONS IN METROPOLITAN AND SMALLER NEWSPAPERS REVEALED DISPARATE RATES BETWEEN LOST ADS AND FOUND ADS: Lost ads greatly outnumbered Found ads, probably because newspapers usually require the finders of lost personal property to pay for Found advertisements. The effect of a Free-Found-Ad policy on the rate of Found advertisements placed in the Lost and Found sections of three community newspapers was investigated using a multiple-baseline design. The results suggested that the Free-Found-Ad policy was effective in increasing the rates of Found ads in all three newspapers. To determine whether increases in Found ads resulted in increases in recovered property, a sample of individuals who placed Found ads were surveyed in both baseline and treatment conditions and asked if the found items had been claimed by their owners. The Free-Found-Ad policy appeared to be effective in increasing the amount of personal property returned. The study concluded that community newspapers can provide incentives to increase such help-giving or altruistic behaviors. The implications of this study for a general policy-research strategy are discussed.     

REDUCTION OF SELF-INJURIOUS HAND MOUTHING USING RESPONSE BLOCKING

We evaluated a response-blocking procedure for reducing the self-injurious hand mouthing of 2 adults with profound disabilities. The procedure reduced mouthing in both cases. The results suggest research is warranted to delineate the behavioral process responsible for the effect of response blocking and to determine the procedure's long-term utility.     

EFFECTS OF A PROCEDURE DERIVED FROM THE OVERCORRECTION PRINCIPLE ON MANIPULATED AND NONMANIPULATED BEHAVIORS

Positive practice overcorrection has been shown to be effective in reducing stereotypic self-stimulatory behaviors displayed by retarded and autistic individuals. In addition, the procedure also may increase the occurrence of appropriate behavior through intensive practice. In the present study, several stereotypic and one appropriate behavior (appropriate toy play) displayed by two autistic children were measured before and during treatment by a positive practice in appropriate toy play overcorrection procedure. Overcorrection was introduced for each of the targeted inappropriate behaviors in succession for both children. Results showed that overcorrection reduced all stereotypic behaviors displayed by both children. In addition, one subject displayed marked increases in the behavior practised during overcorrection, appropriate toy play, relative to its baseline rate of occurrence. The results indicate that for some individuals, overcorrection may be effective in teaching and motivating appropriate forms of behavior as well as in reducing stereotypy.     

The effects of response cost and response restriction on a multiple-response repertoire with humans

In two experiments a multiple-response repertoire of four free-operant responses was developed with university students as subjects using monetary gain as reinforcement. Following baseline, one of the responses was reduced either by making monetary loss contingent upon it (response cost) or by removing it from the repertoire (response restriction). In Experiment 1 a multielement baseline design was employed in which baseline and restriction or response-cost contingencies alternated semirandomly every 3 minutes. In Experiment 2 a reversal design was employed (i.e., baseline, restriction or response cost, then baseline), and each response required a different amount of effort. Both experiments had the following results: (a) The target response decreased substantially; (b) most nontarget responses increased, and the rest remained near their baseline levels; and (c) no support was found for Dunham's hierarchical, most frequent follower, or greatest temporal similarity rules. For several subjects, the least probable responses during baseline increased most, and the most probable responses increased least. Furthermore, in Experiment 2, responses with the lowest frequency of reinforcement increased most (for all 7 subjects), and those with the greatest frequency of reinforcement increased least (for 5 subjects).     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VERBAL INSTRUCTION ON TEACHING BEHAVIOR-MODIFICATION SKILLS TO NONPROFESSIONALS1

The effectiveness of a mastery criterion, lecture-based training program for teaching behavior modification to sheltered workshop personnel was evaluated. Staff performance was assessed in terms of: (1) verbal proficiency, as determined from a pre- and posttraining written exam, and (2) application proficiency, as measured by the frequency and appropriateness of staff responses to client behaviors. A direct count was made of the number of positive, negative, and neutral statements following client appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, and the number and type of client behaviors ignored. Thus, it was possible to determine the extent of generalization from classroom to applied settings, as well as the appropriateness of lectures for training specific performance skills. Lecture units introduced stimulus control procedures, shaping-chaining, and contingency management. Characteristic features of the training program were frequent testing, study objectives, immediate remediation, and contingent reinforcement. Verbal instruction was shown to be effective in improving subjects' verbal skills concerning behavior-modification principles, while only partially effective in improving application skills. There was an increase in the total number of staff-client interactions observed for all subjects, but only two of the response classes emphasized in the training program (reinforcing desirable client behavior and ignoring undesirable behavior) showed considerable improvement over pretraining levels. Despite this partial improvement, verbal instruction alone was shown to be insufficient for teaching the full range of behavior-modification skills required to function effectively in applied settings.     

TEACHING CHILDREN APPROPRIATE SHOPPING BEHAVIOR THROUGH PARENT TRAINING IN THE SUPERMARKET SETTING1

The shopping behavior of three elementary school-age boys was analyzed and parent-child interactions assessed for one boy and his mother. Estimates of parent or consumer satisfaction with child shopping behavior were also obtained. The effects of a parent-mediated treatment package on child behavior were assessed using a multiple-baseline design. Treatment produced significant increases in appropriate shopping behavior in all three children and parents became increasingly satisfied with improved child behavior. Analysis of data for one mother also revealed that her manner of interacting with her child became more positive.     

IMPROVING SOCIAL INTERACTION IN A CHRONIC PSYCHOTIC USING DISCRIMINATED AVOIDANCE (“NAGGING”): EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS AND GENERALIZATION

Three social-interaction behaviors of a withdrawn, chronic schizophrenic were increased using a discriminated avoidance (“nagging”) procedure. The three behaviors were: (a) voice volume loud enough so that two-thirds of his speech was intelligible at a distance of 3 m; (b) duration of speech of at least 15 sec; (c) placement of hands and elbows on the armrests of the chair in which he was sitting. “Nagging” consisted of verbal prompts to improve performance when the behaviors did not meet their criteria. A combined withdrawal and multiple-baseline design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the procedure, and the contingency was sequentially applied to each of the three behaviors in each of four different interactions to determine the degree of stimulus and response generalization. Results indicated that the contingency was the effective element in increasing the patient's appropriate performance, and that there was a high degree of stimulus generalization and a moderate degree of response generalization. After the patient's discharge from the hospital, the durability of improvement across time and setting was determined in followup sessions conducted at a day treatment center and at a residential care home. Volume and duration generalized well to the new settings, while arm placement extinguished immediately.