Precurrent self-prompting operants in children: "Remembering"

In Experiment I, one of three forms of collateral behavior was trained: Differential collateral behavior specific in form to one of two discriminative stimuli; Common collateral behavior of a single form regardless of the stimulus; or Nondifferential collateral behavior of either form regardless of the stimulus. Children were next given a short-delay matching-to-sample task in which the discriminative stimuli served as samples, and the children's previously trained collateral behavior terminated the delay and presented the comparison stimuli. Subjects engaging in sample-specific collateral behavior immediately acquired matching. Subjects engaging in sample-nonspecific collateral behavior failed to acquire matching or did so gradually. In Experiment II the minimal delay in the matching task was varied in a mixed sequence, first with collateral behavior required, and then with collateral behavior prohibited. When emitting collateral behavior Common and Nondifferential subjects showed delay-related decrements in matching while Differential subjects did not. When not emitting collateral behavior all subjects showed delay-related decrements in matching. Common and Nondifferential subjects matched more accurately when prohibited from emitting collateral behavior. Differential subjects matched more accurately when emitting collateral behavior. The results accord with Skinner's (1953, 1968) analysis of precurrent operants.     

Avoiding and seeking self-focused attention

Male and female undergraduates read aloud statements about women which were either attitudinally consistent, discrepant, or neutral relative to their attitudes toward women. Following this, they were given the opportunity to choose to wait in front of a mirror or a nonreflecting wall. Subjects engaging in attitudinally discrepant behavior avoided self-focusing stimuli; those engaging in attitudinally consistent behavior sought contact with self-focusing stimuli. Intermediate tendencies to seek or avoid self-focused stimuli were demonstrated by subjects reading attitudinally neutral material. The theory of objective self-awareness was extended by demonstrating that self-focusing stimuli are not just avoided in response to negative discrepancies, but are sought out in response to attitude-behavior consistencies.     

A METHOD FOR INTEGRATING AN AUTISTIC CHILD INTO A NORMAL PUBLIC-SCHOOL CLASSROOM1

This study investigated the feasibility of using behavioral techniques to integrate an autistic child into a normal public-school class with one teacher and 20 to 30 normal children. The results showed: (1) that during treatment by a therapist in the classroom, the child's appropriate verbal and social behaviors increased, and autistic mannerisms decreased; and (2) training teachers in behavioral techniques was apparently sufficient to maintain the child's appropriate school behaviors throughout kindergarten and the first grade.     

Differential effects of fixed- and variable-time feedback on production rates of elementary school children

The performance of 26 third-grade students who worked on individual weekly academic tasks was compared under fixed- and variable-time "home reports". During fixed-time home reports, each student was given a report to take home on Friday that indicated the quantity of work the student had completed that week, contained comments concerning the quality of the work, and had a space for parental remarks and signature. The same report was given during the variable-time reports, except that seven to nine students were randomly selected each day to receive a home report. During variable-time reporting, students completed more assignments and completed assignments on a greater percentage of available workdays than during fixed-time reporting. The teachers' preference for the variable-time reporting was one additional advantage for the variable system.     

A parent advice package for family shopping trips: development and evaluation

THIS ARTICLE REPORTS ON THE PRIMARY STEPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PARENT ADVICE FOR POPULAR DISSEMINATION: (a) developing advice for one specific problem situation, family shopping trips; (b) testing the advice program for benefit to children and convenience to adults; and (c) packaging the advice so it can be used successfully by interested parents. Systematic observation of 12 families using the written advice package on shopping trips revealed its effectiveness in reducing child disruptions and increasing positive interactions between parents and children. These findings, along with interview information from families, showed that the package is usable, effective, and popular with both parents and children, and thus is ready for dissemination to a wide audience of parents-a step that in itself should involve research and evaluation.     

ASSESSING AND TRAINING TEACHERS IN THE GENERAUZED USE OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION WITH AUTISTIC CHILDREN1

This study investigated the feasibility of developing reliable, valid criteria for measuring and training the skills necessary to teach autistic children. The behaviors of 11 teachers and 12 autistic children were recorded in a series of different teaching situations. Teacher-training was initiated at different times for different teachers. The results showed: (1) it was possible to assess empirically whether a teacher was correctly using defined behavior-modification techniques; (2) generally, for any given session, systematic improvement in the child's behavior did not occur unless the teacher working in that session had been trained to use the techniques to a high criterion; (3) all 11 teachers were rapidly trained to use these techniques; and (4) the teachers learned generalized skills effective with a variety of children and target behaviors.     

TEMPORAL AND CLIMATIC VARIABLES IN NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION1

Home-observation data on 5- to 7-yr-old boys collected over 2 yr were examined for systematic variations in rates of desirable and undesirable behaviors associated with several temporal and climatic variables. Significant effects associated with time of day, day of the week, precipitation, and temperature were found. No significant effects on the naturalistic observation data were found for environmental factors associated with lunar phase. It was noted that the correlational nature of the findings did not obviate the necessity for control of the influence of temporal and climatic variables. Several methodological strategies for such control were discussed.     

THE EFFECT OF EXPERIMENTER FACIAL ORIENTATION DURING IMITATION MAINTENANCE1

The training and maintenance of imitative responding has become an important therapeutic process with language-handicapped children, as indicated by Garcia and DeHaven (American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 1974, 79 , 169–178). Typically a training “package” is used, that might entail the use of operant shaping, fading, reinforcement, and punishment techniques designed to increase correct imitation and decrease incorrect responding. Only recently have studies begun to concentrate on the components of these training “packages”. Steinman (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1970, 3 , 159–167) highlighted the roles played by less conspicuous but functionally important components of these packages. The present study attempted to provide a systematic extension of this work within an applied context. Using subjects who were responding at high levels during an imitation-maintenance procedure, experimenter facial orientation (experimenter's eyes and head oriented towards the subject's face and head), was systematically manipulated for experimentally determined “types” of imitative behavior. Differential responding within these parameters provided an evaluation of facial orientation as a functional component within this training package. Three retarded children participated in the study. Two types of topographically different imitative responses were defined for experimental purposes (“standing” and “sitting”). Each subject progressed through four conditions of the study, which called for the reinforcement of all imitative responses. But during preselected conditions, experimenter facial orientation was removed from the therapeutic package for one of the two topographical types of imitation. Results indicated that imitation of the two topographical types of models was dependent on the presence of experimenter facial orientation within the experimental procedure.