Differential effects of token reinforcement on instruction-following behavior in retarded students instructed as a group

This study was addressed to the problem of applying behavior modification techniques on a group basis to a class of retarded students with "attentional deficits". Seven boys, age 8 to 15 yr, characterized as showing severe "attentional" problems or disruptive behavior in their respective classrooms, participated daily for 30-min sessions in a special class over a 1.5-month period. In each session, verbal instructions were given to the class as a whole. In control sessions, each appropriate instruction-following response by a child produced praise for that child. In experimental sessions, appropriate responses also produced tokens exchangeable for tangible reinforcers after the session. Token reinforcement differentially maintained instruction-following behavior in four children while one responded appropriately to most instructions and a second improved continuously during the study. While the data suggest that the present approach can be successfully applied to the alteration of instruction-following behavior in retarded children, its major contribution may be that of providing objective quantitative information about such behavior.     

Reduction of dangerously aggressive behavior in a severely retarded resident through a combination of positive reinforcement procedures

A severely retarded resident was released from a timeout chair only occasionally for brief periods of time. Under the timeout contingency alone, the subject made a choke response within minutes of being released. Attention, such as hugs, smiles, and candy was then increased, first by providing it non-contingently and continuously as long as there were no aggressive responses and then, by making it contingent upon incompatible responses. Under conditions of timeout plus increased attention, choking decreased aburptly. Grabbing responses, which increased when choking was reduced, were also reduced under conditions of timeout plus attention. Unrestrained time was gradually increased and all extra attention, i.e., more scheduled attention than provided other residents, was gradually withdrawn. When the resident was unrestrained all day and all extra attention was withdrawn, grabs and, to a lesser extent, chokes increased. Both were again reduced to a manageable level by scheduling several brief periods of attention each day. Hence, the program resulted in quick reductions that endured when the program was largely withdrawn. The changes in aggressive responding as a function of the presence and absence of extra attention suggest the importance of extra "positive reinforcement" in programs based upon positive reinforcement procedures and dealing with retarded residents for whom positive reinforcers may be scarce.     

Establishing generalized verb-noun instruction-following skills in retarded children

A transfer of stimulus control procedure was used to establish generalized verb-noun instruction-following skills in two severely retarded boys. Each of 12 verbs was trained, in a multiple baseline order, to criterion with each of 12 nouns in the form of verb-noun verbal instructions. Throughout training, reinforced probes were conducted on both trained and untrained verb-noun combinations. As training progressed, both subjects began to respond correctly to untrained verb-noun instructions. Eventually, a verb needed to be trained in combination with only one noun before generalization occurred to the as-yet-untrained 11 verb-noun instructions involving that verb.     

Development of social responses in two severely retarded children

The effect of reinforcement dependent on the social responses of two severely retarded withdrawn children was investigated. During 30 training sessions (30 min each) food and praise were administered dependent upon the children's mutual participation in a ball-rolling and block-passing task. Both children showed a progressive increase in social interaction in a non-training situation during this reinforcement period. After the reinforcement procedures were removed, social behavior decreased markedly. Response generalization to children not involved in training occurred.     

Effects of choice and immediacy of reinforcement on single response and switching behavior of children

Children responded on a single operandum to produce marbles or candy within a two-component multiple schedule and then were allowed to choose which component was in effect. Experiment I examined the effects of exchanging marbles after sessions for subject-selected or experimenter-selected candy. Rate of response to the single operandum was not affected. However, when the subjects could switch components, they spent the majority of time and responded at somewhat higher rates in a component where marbles were exchangable for subject-selected candy. Experiment II examined the effects of eliminating the immediate marble consequence for responses. Rate of response to the single operandum was not affected. However, when subjects could switch components they spent more time in a component where immediate marble consequences were available for responses, than where no immediate marble consequences were available.     

Relative efficacy of two token economy procedures for decreasing the disruptive classroom behavior of retarded children

Numerous studies have demonstrated that disruptive classroom behavior can be decreased by delivering tokens contingent upon periods of time during which children do not engage in it or by removing tokens contingent upon its occurrence. To date, the best controlled of these studies have consistently reported the two procedures to be equally effective. However, in these studies, token contingencies have been combined with instructions regarding the contingencies. The present study compared these two procedures when no instructions were given regarding the token contingencies. Token delivery was not effective in decreasing disruptive behavior in any of the children, while a combination of token delivery and removal was effective for three of four children. The results suggest that the combined procedure may be effective with certain populations that are not readily controlled by instructions.     

Effects of different delay of reinforcement procedures on variable-interval responding

Two experiments studied responding in the rat when the first bar press after a variable period of time produced a cue light that remained on for either 10, 30, or 100 sec and terminated with the delivery of food. In Experiment I, response rate decreased and time to the first response after reinforcement increased as the delay of reinforcement increased. Similar results were obtained whether the delay consisted of retracting the lever during the delay, a fixed delay with no scheduled consequence for responding, or every response during the delay restarted the delay interval. In Experiment II, fixed-delay and fixed-interval schedules of the same duration during the delay period had no differential effect on either response rate or time to the first response after reinforcement, but differentially controlled responding during the delay periods.     

Effects of differential reinforcement on the behavior and self-esteem of children with emotional and behavioral disorders

Students in a residential special school for children with emotional and behavioral disorders participated in a study designed to reduce their levels of inappropriate behavior. The residential care staff rated the students' behavioral problems and their class teachers rated their overt self-esteem pre and post intervention. In addition, the students completed self-ratings of their self-esteem. The students were divided into two groups, experimental and control. A multiple baseline across behaviors design was used to assess behavioral changes in the experimental group. Both groups received tangible rewards to the same level but only the experimental group received them contingent upon behaving appropriately. Results showed that the experimental group students made substantial reductions in their levels of inappropriate behavior, which were maintained at a three-month followup. Also, ratings of their behavioral problems by residential child care staff suggested that this improvement in behavior had generalized beyond the classroom to the residential setting. However, no significant differences were found between the pre- and post-intervention ratings of their self-esteem or teacher ratings of their overt self-esteem.     

A comparison of procedures for eliminating self-injurious behavior of retarded adolescents

An attempt was made to eliminate the self-injurious behaviors of four institutionalized, profoundly retarded adolescents. Some of the behaviors studied were: face-slapping, face-banging, hair-pulling, face-scratching, and finger-biting. Three remediative approaches to self-injurious behavior were compared. Elimination of all social consequences of the self-injurious behavior was not effective with the two subjects with whom it was attempted. The same two subjects were exposed to a procedure involving reinforcement of non-self-injurious behavior which was ineffective under no food deprivation and was effective with one of the two subjects under mild food deprivation. Electric-shock punishment eliminated the self-injurious behaviors of all four subjects with whom it was attempted. The results suggested that punishment was more effective than differential reinforcement of non-self-injurious behavior which, in turn, was more effective than extinction through elimination of social consequences. However, the effects of the punishment were usually specific to the setting in which it was administered. In order to eliminate the self-injurious behaviors of severely retarded children, it is apparently necessary to carry out the treatment in many of the settings in which it occurs.     

Teaching functional reading in context to severely retarded and severely retarded autistic adolescents of limited English proficiency

Practical information on how to teach severely retarded and severely retarded autistic students of limited English proficiency is presented. Specific information is given on developing a functional word list for these students that utilizes both Spanish and English. Other helpful techniques for teaching students in both languages are offered.     

Hand Test characteristics of severely behavior handicapped children

The Hand Test was administered to 98 severely behavior handicapped (SBH) children and a matched control group of public school children. The withdrawal score and associated variables, indicative of severe psychopathology, differentiated the two groups. In addition, a qualitative analysis of the SBH protocols tentatively suggested a preponderance of four behavioral types that could be described as the underproductive, perseverative, psychotic and impulsive child. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The effects of extinction,noncontingent reinforcement and differential reinforcement of other behavior as control procedures

Several techniques have been used in applied research as controls for the introduction of a reinforcement contingency, including extinction, noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), and differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). Little research, however, has examined the relative strengths and limitations of these "reversal" controls. We compared the effects of extinction with those of NCR and DRO in both multi-element and reversal designs, with respect to (a) rate and amount of response decrement, (b) rate of response recovery following reintroduction of reinforcement, and (c) any positive or negative side effects associated with transitions. Results indicated that extinction generally produced the most consistent and rapid reversal effects, with few observed negative side effects.