Self-recording and student teacher supervision: variables within a token economy structure

A token system was used to attempt to increase the accuracy with which special education students answered questions about reading assignments. In the token system, students recorded their own data, received toy money for accurately completing assignments, and were allowed to spend their toy money at the end of the week for educational activities. The accuracy with which students answered questions was higher when the token system was in effect than when it was not. When student teachers were used to manage the token system and when the self-recording feature of the system was removed, only slight changes in the accuracy of the student performance were obtained.     

Stimulus novelty and intraseries primacy in GSR adaptation

GSR records were obtained for four groups of 20 Ss. Group I was presented with a series of four different lights (amber, blue, green, and white) appearing 20 times each, in apparent random order. The procedure was similar for the other three groups except that in group 2, a novel stimulus (a red light) appeared instead of the sixth amber light; in group 3, it appeared instead of the 11th amber light; and, in group 4, it appeared instead of the 16th amber light. Typical GSR adaptation phenomena were observed in all groups. The introduction of the novel stimulus appeared to have no effect on the course of GSR adaptation.     

Construct validity of Wechsler factor scores.

The construct validity of the Verbal Comprehension. Perceptual Organization, and Freedom from Distractibility factor scores was examined in a sample of school-aged referred children. Examination of correlations between factor scores and neuropsychological and achievement tests generally supported the construct validity of the factors. The Verbal Comprehension factor was associated with verbal, quantitative, and concept-formation abilities. The Perceptual Organization factor was related to nonverbal concept formation, tactual performance, and visual attention. The Freedom from Distractibility factor demonstrated a complex pattern of correlations and appeared to reflect a range of abilities including quantitative, language, attentional, and concept formation.     

Further evaluation of the use of preference categories to identify novel reinforcers: A systematic replication

Preference assessments are frequently used to identify reinforcers for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual and developmental disabilities. Although well‐established procedures have been shown to identify preferred stimuli for individual items that can be used in skill acquisition and behavior reduction programs, little research has been conducted on identifying categories of preferred items. In this study, paired‐stimulus preference assessments were conducted with 4 individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Researchers classified the edible stimuli as belonging to 1 of 4 categories: chocolate (e.g., chocolate chips and M&M's^®), salty/crunchy (e.g., chips and crackers), gummy (e.g., Swedish Fish^® and Starburst^®), or fruit/vegetable (e.g., grape and apple). Preference hierarchies were identified for individual stimuli and for categories of stimuli. For all participants, at least 3 of the 4 most preferred items came from the same category. Novel items (i.e., items not included in the preference assessments) identified by the researchers as belonging to the high‐preference category functioned as effective reinforcers during subsequent reinforcer assessments for all participants. This finding suggests that clinicians could identify likely effective edible reinforcers based on an individual's categorical preference without explicit testing.     

Parent‐conducted rapid assessment of attention types for the treatment of attention‐maintained problem behavior

When praise is not a reinforcer for alternative behavior in the treatment of attention‐maintained problem behavior, further pretreatment assessments are warranted to develop an effective treatment. The current study reports a replication of the pretreatment rapid assessment of attention types (RAAT) procedures, implemented by the parents of a 19‐year‐old female with attention‐maintained problem behavior. After administering staff and parent‐conducted RAATs, a parent‐implemented treatment, (a) produced clinically significant decreases in problem behavior, and (b) confirmed that the RAAT identified an attention‐type that served as a reinforcer for appropriate alternative behavior. This study extends the findings of Strohmeier et al. by reporting results of a parent‐conducted RAAT and treatment evaluation. The findings highlight the practical importance of pretreatment assessment of attention‐types, with emphasis on caregiver involvement, to develop effective treatments for attention‐maintained problem behavior.     

Inability to condition a peripheral activating drug

Previous research on the adaptation of the conditional renal secretion reflex (CR) has resulted in contradictory data. Although the early work of Bykov in Russia on dogs and of Hoferet al. in the United States on humans indicated that a renal CR is possible, experiments of Corson, Reese and Dykman (in normal dogs) and of Frances Watt Baker and Gantt (in dogs with transplanted kidneys) showed little or no capacity for forming a renal CR. The present work is a partial completion of a comprehensive survey of the ability and mechanism of the kidneys to form CRs. The production of glycosuria produced byperipheral stimulation cannot be conditioned. The results of 110 days of experiments with an externalized ureter dog injected with 2.5 mg of phloridzin (im) in 0.5 ml of normal saline were: 0.40 mg, 0.43 mg (control before phloridzin injection), 0.96, 8.71, 10.96, 7.28 and 4.36 mg glucose. On the test days an equal amount of normal saline was injected with the following results: 0.29, 0.38 mg glucose (control), 0.33, 0.45, 0.38, 0.32 and 0.35 mg. All readings are glucose per minute, average of 10 experiments for each of the above readings. The results of 75 days of experiments with the cervical kidney dog injected with the same amount of phloridzin as above in normal saline were: 0.29, 0.37 mg glucose/min (control), 1.72, 4.56, 5.43, 3.92 and 2.54 mg glucose/min (after phloridzin). On test days an equal amount of saline was injected, results: 0.27, 0.28 mg (control), 0.25, 0.29, 0.36, 0.26 and 0.29 mg of glucose/min, average of 10 experiments for each of the above readings. All figures are for 15 minute collections. Conclusion: Glycosuria produced by tubular inhibition (phloridzin) cannot become a conditional response. One explanation of this failure to form a CR is that phloridzin acts peripherally rather than centrally.     

THE EFFECTS OF PROMPTING QUESTION-ASKING UPON ON-TASK BEHAVIOR AND READING COMPREHENSION1

This study investigated a teacher-implemented prompting procedure for training students to ask questions. Two special-class (EMR) students who asked no questions were selected as subjects. Baseline data were also collected on reading comprehension and on-task behavior, and these suggested decreasing levels of performance. The results indicated that prompting was effective for initiating question-asking. In addition, increased levels of reading comprehension and on-task behavior were observed.