Teaching peer reinforcement and grocery words: An investigation of observational learning and instructive feedback

A multiple probe across behaviors design, replicated across participants, assessed the effectiveness of constant time delay in teaching appropriate peer reinforcement and grocery words to 3 elementary students with moderate intellectual disabilities. Additionally, pretests and posttests assessed the acquisition of the participants' observational learning (acquisition of peers' grocery words) and instructive feedback (related information supplied by the teacher in the consequent event). Results indicate that the participants learned (a) how to appropriately reinforce peers, (b) to read their grocery words, (c) some of the targeted stimuli of their peers, and (d) much of the instructive feedback that was associated with each of the grocery words. Maintenance data indicate that the participants maintained their target grocery words at high levels of accuracy.     

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.     

Improving the spelling performance of students with disabilities

The present study examined the effects of an error correction strategy on the spelling accuracy of students with emotional and/or learning disabilities. The strategy, which asked students to spell a word, view a correct model, and then correct their errors, was compared to a traditional strategy that asked students to write words three times each while viewing a correct model. Results showed that students learned more words in the error correction condition than in the traditional condition. The error correction treatment was shown to be an effective strategy that reduced the number of repetitive spelling practice trials, and was preferred by students.     

Influence of subject and interviewer characteristics on the reliability of young adults' self-reports of drinking

The influence of subject and interviewer characteristics on the reliability of self-reports of alcohol consumption among young adults was investigated. Data were gathered from black and white college students of both sexes (N's=24) using a time-line procedure. The results snowed that these young adults provided highly reliable self-reports regarding their use of alcohol. Test-retest correlations for a criterion interval of 90 days were .96, .93, and .97 for the numbers of abstinent, moderate-drinking, and heavy-drinking days, respectively. Analyses also showed that white female subjects generally provided more reliable reports of abstinent and heavy-drinking days and that white female interviewers gathered more reliable reports across the three drinking disposition categories. These findings suggest that nonalcoholic young adults' retrospective reports of their drinking behavior can be reliably assessed using the time-line methodology. Future research is required to determine the validity of these self-reports and to understand the differential influence of subject and interviewer characteristics on the levels of reliability found.     

APPLICATION OF A SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM IN THE MODIFICATION OF INTERPERSONAL DEFICITS AMONG RETARDED ADULTS: A CLINICAL REPLICATION

Six mentally retarded adults, equally divided into two treatment groups, were provided with individualized social skills training programs. Treatment, evaluated via a multiple-baseline design strategy, was sequentially and cumulatively applied across target behaviors over a four-week intervention period. Behavioral observation probes and social validation measures served as the primary dependent variables. Results indicated that (a) treatment was effective for virtually all behaviors across all subjects, (b) improvements occurred for both training and generalization scenes, and (c) behavioral performance was maintained one month following the termination of treatment.     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS TRAINING ON THE SOCIAL SKILL ACQUISITION OF MODERATELY AND MILDLY RETARDED ADULTS

Sixteen moderately and mildly retarded adults were selected from a group residential facility and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a 12-session interpersonal skills training program consisting of instruction in the following areas: (1) Introductions and Small Talk, (2) Asking for Help, (3) Differing with Others, and (4) Handling Criticism. The social skills instructional package included verbal instruction, modeling, role playing, feedback, contingent incentives, and homework. As a result of this training program, moderately and mildly retarded adults acquired new social skills as evidenced by performance on a situation role play assessment. These gains generalized to untrained role play situations but did not result in significant group differences when assessed in a more natural setting (i.e., local grocery store).     

IDENTIFYING THE EDUCATIVE AND SUPPRESSIVE EFFECTS OF POSITIVE PRACTICE AND RESTITUTIONAL OVERCORRECTION

Two major features of the overcorrection procedure, restitution and positive practice, were analyzed for their educative and suppressive properties in the treatment of profoundly retarded adults. Positive practice techniques that were topographically similar and dissimilar to the target behavior were studied. Eating behavior and puzzle performance were observed. Restitutional overcorrection and both forms of positive practice were effective for suppressing inappropriate behaviors. Even when appropriate behaviors had been acquired by positive practice, restitution and dissimilar positive practice were generally ineffective for increasing their rate of occurrence. However, topographically similar positive practice was successful as a means of teaching new appropriate behaviors.     

EFFECTS OF CONTEXTUAL COMPETENCE ON SOCIAL INITIATIONS

The frequency of social initiations and satisfaction with interactions in three dyads, each consisting of 1 student with disabilities and 1 nondisabled peer, were assessed under two alternating conditions: Condition 1 assessed the interactions around a set of four trained computer games, and Condition 2 assessed interactions when students were playing a set of four untrained computer games. Training was conducted with a multiple baseline design across participants and was followed by social interaction probes using an alternating treatments design. The results indicated greater frequencies of social initiations by 5 of 6 participants, higher degrees of game satisfaction by all participants, and equal or higher degrees of peer satisfaction by 5 of 6 participants when playing trained games in comparison to untrained games.     

Measuring rationality independent of social desirability

The development of a test to measure Elli's concept of rationality is described. In the first study discussed, a 58-item test is developed to measure rationality, and the reliability and convergent validity of the test is described. In a second study, the discriminant validity of the test is examined. An attempt is also made to reduce social-desirability content in the test by eliminating items most highly correlated with a Social Desirability Scale. The final 44-item test is found to be high in both reliability and validity. The factor structure of the test is also examined.