CONTINGENT EXERCISE: A MILD BUT POWERFUL PROCEDURE FOR SUPPRESSING INAPPROPRIATE VERBAL AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

Two single-subject experiments were conducted in public school classrooms for severely emotionally disturbed children. Both experiments investigated the effects of a treatment requiring a child to exhibit a simple exercise task after a verbal or aggressive response, using reversal and multiple-baseline designs. The independent variable, contingent exercise, required standing up and sitting on the floor five to ten times contingent on an inappropriate behavior. It was found that contingent exercise was easy to carry out, and following it, the child quickly returned to the learning task that had been interrupted by the inappropriate behavior. The contingent exercise procedure required a minimum of prompting or manual guidance. Although contingent exercise was not topographically related to the inappropriate response, it decreased those responses dramatically. The results suggested that contingent exercise was not only more powerful than DRO but also could be administered independently. It was concluded that contingent exercise may constitute an alternative procedure that can be used by therapists confronted with severely abnormal behaviors. It would appear to be particularly relevant in settings where procedures such as timeout and painful consequences find restricted use. Finally, a number of guidelines have been proposed as a safeguard against the misuse of this mild but powerful procedure.     

PEER TUTORING WITH OR WITHOUT HOME-BASED REINFORCEMENT,FOR READING REMEDIATION

An operant-based corrective reading program was established to study effectiveness of peer tutoring in the school, for reading deficient children. Sixty-nine second to fourth grade students were matched on measures of initial reading ability and level of reading retardation, and randomly assigned to three groups: Peer Tutoring Only, Peer Tutoring with Home Based Reinforcement, and Control. SRA materials were used in training for the experimental groups, supplemented with additional reading materials. The program continued for 15 weeks, in seven public schools. Changes in oral reading accuracy and comprehension were assessed. Both reading and comprehension were significantly increased by peer tutoring, relative to the control group. The addition of home-based reinforcement doubled this increase. The measured gain in oral reading, based upon standardized testing, was 0.19 years for the controls and 1.27 years for peer tutoring with home-based reinforcement. Internal measures of gain showed similar results, and comprehension gains were also comparable. A high rate of compliance with the tutoring program was maintained by the tutors. High ratings of satisfaction were obtained for the program, from all groups of participants. The feasibility of the program for application in the school system is discussed.     

Reductions in anxiety and improvements in teaching associated with cue-controlled relaxation training

This study examined the efficacy of cue-controlled relaxation, taught in three 2-hour workshops, in reducing the anxiety of two elementary school teachers. Anxiety was measured using direct observation of external behavior and self-report of internal states; and the effects of anxiety reduction on selected teaching behaviors were also examined. Following training, both teachers exhibited significant reductions in motoric manifestations of anxiety and in some self-reported internal states. Both teachers showed significant increases in rewarding behavior, and they reduced disapproving behavior to zero on most days. Even though results were not maintained following the treatment program, this study demonstrated that training in the self-management of stress and tension can significantly affect the anxiety and teaching behaviors of teachers.     

A dynamic phonological model derived from the intonational analysis of a jargon aphasic patient

This study is a detailed phonological and intonational analysis of one subject's jargon productions. The cohesiveness and complexity of the intonation patterns and appropriateness of the gestures lead to the hypothesis that the jargon productions are due to phonological problems as opposed to semantic or syntactic problems. A psycholinguistic model containing a dynamic phonological component is hypothesized to account for this subject's jargon.     

A mathematical approach for establishing treatment priorities among patients

Medical decision making often utilizes subjective observations to arrive at concrete judgments. The decisions frequently affect who receives scarce medical treatments and, thus, who lives or dies. In this paper, a model health status index is described. It is specific for the problem of choosing patients for hemodialysis or transplantation. Such a health status index may be designed for any medical decision involving such issues as drug treatment priorities, identification of salvageable patients, and selection of patients for scarce medical treatment. This index (1) incorporates a physician's own medical criteria and values, (2) can be modified as the data base improves, (3) assures consistency from decision to decision, and (4) can be developed and used without the help of a mathematician or computer.     

The University of South Florida homograph norms

Norms were collected to determine the relative dominance of different meanings of homo-graphic words. Forty-six subjects wrote down the first word that came to mind for each of 320 homographs. Each homograph, the number of times each meaning was given, and the specific associates are made available. In addition, correlations with other norms are presented.     

Cross-modality matching functions generated by magnitude estimation

It is possible to generate cross-modality matching functions by having subjects make magnitude estimates of sets of stimuli appropriate to different modalities. The sets are interspersed among each other in the same test session and judged on a common absolute scale of sensory magnitude. An appropriate statistical device locates stimulus levels that appear, on the average, to match. The method is fast, efficient, circumvents the need for continuous stimulus adjustment, and holds promise for the study of the individual as well as the average psychophysical function. To illustrate its potential uses, advantages, and limitations, we used the method to generate cross-modality matching functions relating loudness and brightness. Compared to the scales of loudness and brightness generated by the magnitude estimations of the same stimuli, the matching functions (1) conform better to power functions, (2) may show less variation in slope (exponent), and (3) show far less variation in absolute magnitude (position).     

IUPS News

During the 15th International Congress of Psychology (Brussels, 1957) the problem of publications favoring the efficient communication of scientific information in the field of psychology was given special attention. The International Union of Psychological Science expressed its major interest in this field. As a consequence, a report on this matter was prepared by the Union's Secretary General, Roger W. Russell, and during the next Congress (Bonn, 1960) the Assembly of the Union approved unanimously the recommendation of the report for establishing a Committee of Publication and Communication. Prof. H.C.J. Duijker (Amsterdam) was appointed its first chairman.     

Summation of response rates to discriminative stimuli associated with qualitatively different reinforcers

In Experiment I, a four-ply multiple schedule was used to study the effects on rate of responding in rats of food, water, and food and/or water reinforcement under different deprivation conditions. Food and water were associated separately with different stimuli, the combination of which was associated with food and water together, or with food or water randomly. Rates in the presence of the combined stimuli were consistently intermediate to the rates generated by the separate stimuli, a result seemingly incompatible with a "summation" hypothesis. Experiment II was a simplified systematic replication of Experiment I, verifying the major findings.