The purpose of this study was to examine variables that affect self-control in the context of academic task completion by elementary school children with autism. In the baseline assessment of Study 1, mathematics problem completion was shown to be an aversive event, and sensitivity to task magnitude, task difficulty, and delay to task completion…

We examined college students' participation in a game activity for studying course material on their subsequent quiz performance. Game conditions were alternated with another activity counterbalanced across two groups of students in a multielement design. Overall, the mean percentage correct on quizzes was higher during the game condition than…

We examined college students' procrastination when studying for weekly in-class quizzes. Two schedules of online practice quiz delivery were compared using a multiple baseline design. When online study material was made available noncontingently, students usually procrastinated. When access to additional study material was contingent on completing…

We examined the effects of teaching overt precurrent behaviors on the current operant of solving multiplication and division word problems. Two students were taught four precurrent behaviors (identification of label, operation, larger numbers, and smaller numbers) in a different order, in the context of a multiple baseline design. After meeting…

Interteaching is a new method of classroom instruction that is based on behavioral principles but offers more flexibility than other behaviorally based methods. We examined the effectiveness of interteaching relative to a traditional form of classroom instruction--the lecture. In Study 1, participants in a graduate course in special education took…

Two young boys with autism who used the picture exchange communication system were taught to solve problems (improvise) by using descriptors (functions, colors, and shapes) to request desired items for which specific pictures were unavailable. The results of a multiple baseline across descriptors showed that training increased the number of…

We compared the effects of guided lecture notes versus completed lecture notes on pre- to postlecture improvements in quiz performance across two sections of a college course. The results of a counterbalanced multielement design did not reveal consistent differences between the two note formats on students' mean quiz scores. However, fewer errors…

Leisure items (e.g., games, toys) are commonly made available as controls during attention conditions of functional analyses (Ringdahl, Winborn, Andelman, & Kitsukawa, 2002). However, Ringdahl et al. raised questions about this practice. This paper reviews research that supports and conflicts with the inclusion of leisure items as controls,…

We conducted a brief computer-based assessment involving choices of concurrently presented arithmetic problems associated with competing reinforcer dimensions to assess impulsivity (choices controlled primarily by reinforcer immediacy) as well as the relative influence of other dimensions (reinforcer rate, quality, and response effort), with 58…

We used an assessment that involved competing reinforcer dimensions in a concurrent-schedules arrangement to examine the effects of stimulant medication on impulsivity (i.e., sensitivity of choices to reinforcer immediacy relative to rate, quality, and effort) with 4 students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The assessments were…

This study examined the effects of modeling versus instructions on the choices of 3 typically developing children and 3 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) whose academic responding showed insensitivity to reinforcement schedules. During baseline, students chose between successively presented pairs of mathematics problems…

Recent experiments are reviewed in three areas of research concerning reinforcement schedules: (1) behavioral history effects on schedule performance; (2) the role of instructions in schedule performance of humans; and (3) dynamic schedules of reinforcement. The paper concludes by identifying some general issues concerning reinforcement schedules…

A classroom program to teach public transportation usage (bus-riding skills) to five retarded persons (18-24 years old) was evaluated. (Author/BD)

Four autistic or autisticlike preschoolers participated in a study which indicated the effectiveness of sequential implementation of imbedded instruction rather than tutoring on enhancing the acquisition of yes/no responses. (CL)

The relationship between compliance with "do" and "don't" requests was examined with six developmentaly disabled children with severe behavior disorders. Generalized compliance occurred only with requests of the same types as the target exemplar ("do" or "don't"). (Author/SEW)