EFFECTS OF SYSTEMATIC,RESPONSE-DEPENDENT FADING AND THINNING PROCEDURES ON THE MAINTENANCE OF CHILD-CHILD INTERACTION

Previous investigations of the social behavior of handicapped preschool children (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1974, 7 , 583–590; Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1976, 9 , 31–40; Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1977, 10 , 289–298) demonstrated that introduction of adult or peer confederate intervention agents produced substantial increases in levels of positive social behavior emitted by the subjects. In addition, it was observed that changes in rates of positive social behavior emitted by recipients of intervention tactics were accompanied by parallel changes in rates of positive social behavior emitted by interacting peers. However, with one limited exception, sudden removals of arranged intervention procedures were followed by immediate reductions in the levels of positive social behavior emitted by subjects and peers in each study. The current investigation was designed to examine the effects of response-dependent removal of intervention procedures on the positive behavior of three socially withdrawn preschool boys. Interactive effects on the social behavior of classroom peers who did not receive adult prompts and contingent attention events were also examined. A combination of withdrawal of treatment and multiple baseline procedures was employed. The three target subjects received fixed numbers of prompts and contingent attention events during Intervention I and Intervention II, Phase 1 conditions. During Intervention II, Phase 2 conditions, prompts and contingent attention events were reduced on a response-dependent basis for two subjects and on a response-independent basis for the third subject. The results suggest that: (a) the intervention procedures produced marked increases in positive social behavior emitted by each subject; (b) response-dependent fading and thinning, contrasted with response-independent tactics, maintained levels of positive social behavior equivalent to those observed during Intervention I and Intervention II, Phase 1 conditions; (c) changes in positive and negative behaviors emitted by peers paralleled changes in positive and negative behaviors emitted by each subject; and (d) no “spillover” of treatment effects was noted for subjects during periods in which they were not direct recipients of intervention procedures.     

The Effects of a PETTLEP Imagery Intervention on Learners' Coincident Anticipation Timing Performance

Little research has examined how imagery effects learners' acquisition of motor tasks requiring coincident anticipation timing (CAT). CAT is a fundamental component of hitting, passing, and receiving required in several sports. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of a PETTLEP imagery intervention on learners' CAT performance using a Bassin Anticipation Timer. Fifty-six participants (M = 20.61 years, SD = 2.48) were randomly assigned into one of four training groups: physical practice (PP), imagery practice (IP), imagery practice + physical practice (IP +PP), or a control (CON) group. The study consisted of three phases: pretest, intervention, and a posttest. Results revealed that the PP and IP+PP groups had significantly lower absolute timing error compared to the CON group on the posttest. The IP+PP group was the only group to have lower variable error compared to the CON group on the posttest. Results extend prior research by demonstrating that imagery combined with physical practice can benefit the learning of a CAT task and that imagery alone may not assist learners in acquiring tasks requiring CAT. Results are congruent with prior research demonstrating that imagery is most effective when combined with physical practice.     

Letter Writing: A Creative Tool for School Counselors Working with Adolescents

Letter writing is a therapeutic tool used in many helping professions with many populations. In school counseling, letter writing can be a useful way for school counselors to build relationships and assess student needs. Letter writing may appeal to students who are more introspective and prefer less direct forms of communication (France, Cadieax, & Allen, 1995). Evidence to support school counselors’ use of letter writing with students is underdeveloped. Citing conceptual, empirical, and theoretical support, the authors propose prompting students to write Letters About Themselves (LAT) at the beginning, middle, and end phases of the school year. Considerations for school counselors using letter writing with adolescents are explored.     

Effects of Error Correction on Spanish Spelling Words for Students Whose Primary Language Is Spanish

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an error correction strategy on the spelling accuracy of Spanish words by elementary school students who come from a bilingual home environment, where the home language is Spanish. In the error correction strategy students wrote the word, viewed an accurate model of the word, and self-corrected any errors. In the traditional strategy students wrote each word three times on a paper after viewing an accurate model. All words and examples were presented in the student's home language (Spanish). Results showed that students spelled more words correctly under the error correction strategy.     

Playground Contexts for Aggression for Preschoolers with Hyperactivity

This study assessed the naturalistic conditions that set the occasion for aggressive behavior in three preschoolers with hyperactivity and aggression (H/A). Peer and teacher responses to preschoolers' aggression were also investigated. For a total of 114 aggressive instances observed, relatively low percentages of aggression in social play with at least one other child were documented. The antecedent condition that was most predictive of aggression was (a) when children were seeking to enter into an activity and were denied entry and (b) when another child interrupted an on-going activity. Aggression was about 14 times greater for seeking/interrupted activity than for ongoing social play. Finally, the percentage of negative responses from peers to aggression on the playground was almost three times the rate documented in past research for preschoolers without hyperactivity.     

Differential Conditioning Based on a Difference in the Predictability of Reinforcement

A Pavlovian procedure containing a set of several alternative reliable trial stimuli and a set of several alternative unreliable trial stimuli was used to determine if reliability of outcome, per se, would differentially condition additional trial stimuli that either preceded or followed those original trial stimuli in a serial conditioning paradigm. The reinforcing effectiveness of the antecedent stimuli themselves was later tested in a higher-order conditioning design. It was found that different rates could be established to the different antecedent stimuli in the absence of a difference in the probability of reinforcement. Further, stimuli paired with those antecedent stimuli in the higher-order conditioning test also exhibited a difference in rate. It was concluded that a combination of a stimulus that is always followed by food and another that is never followed by food are, in net, a more effective reinforcer than a common stimulus that has the same overall probability of reinforcement but which is followed by both outcomes.     

A factor analytic study of the Stanford Binet with young children

Seven factors were found as the result of a factor analysis of year IV-6 through year VI of the 1960 Revision of the Stanford Binet Intelligence Test. No factor had a sufficient number of high loadings to justify interpretation as ‘g’, a general intelligence factor. The test protocols used were of 152 children from three to seven years of age who attended a University nursery school or Head Start day care centers. The group included 107 white and 45 Negro children who had been tested as part of a routine intellectual evaluation. The socioeconomic level, as measured by occupation of the parent, was higher than that of the standardizing population of the Binet, as was the mean IQ (109.4 ± 14.7). The results of this study were compared with the logical analysis of Meeker & Bonsall based upon Guilford's factors of the intellect, and with Valett's profile analysis.