The first part of this paper is devoted to a review and criticism of B.F. Skinner's identification of moral or ethical principles with positive negative reinforcers. The second part is devoted to defending the thesis that behaviorists as scientists are not morally neutral as F.H. Kanfer claims. This paper seeks to determine which set of moral…

The Cottage A Ward Behavior Modification Project at the Orient State Institute was designed to implement behavior modification techniques with 67 retarded child residents. Major project objectives included developing self-help skills (such as toilet training); eliminating undesirable behaviors (such as head banging); teaching behavior modification…

Reported is a competency based internship program at Western Carolina Center for the Mentally Retarded for undergraduate students in special education at Appalachian State University. Explained are the consumer based approach embodied in applied training programs, the goal of providing practical and reality-based applications of knowledge…

Operant conditioning procedures were used in four studies to establish instruction following skills in severely and profoundly retarded children. In the first study, a combination of physical guidance, fading, and reinforcement procedures were used to train an 11-year-old boy to follow 25 verbal instructions. In the second study, a transfer of…

Ninety-six second and third grade children were exposed to one of six types of videotaped models. Children witnessed an adult female practice either charitable or selfish behavior. One-third of the subjects in each group heard the model exhort either charity or greed or verbalize normatively neutral material. Following this exposure, half the…

Four selected subtests from the WISC, Arithmetic, Digit Span, Picture Arrangement and Block Design, were administered to 111 pupils in the third and fourth grades at Florida State University Elementary School. Social reinforcers, i.e., verbal approval and disapproval, were systematically presented to the examinees after specified items and between…

Approximately 150 references to speed reading published during the past 40 years, including 50 new entries, are included in this revised annotated bibliography. The new entries relate mainly to research but also include some references to theoretical discussions. The references are grouped into the categories of tachistoscopic and controlled…

Described are the curriculum, behavioral modification program, summer activities, and parent involvement in the Papillion (Nebraska) Title III elementary level "engineered classroom" program for emotionally disturbed students. Noted is program initiation after parents and teachers became upset over poor academic progress and behaviors of…

Twenty-eight families who indicated an interest in learning child management skills were included in a training program involving four groups from three elementary schools in Lincoln, Nebraska. Sessions were held once a week for 7-12 weeks. The parents were taught child management skills through the use of operant techniques which they utilized in…

Visual fixation on one of two blank targets was reinforced with either visual or auditory stimuli in one of 3 intensity sequences: (1) low, medium, high; (2) medium, high, low; and (3) high, low, medium. An analysis of variance of learning scores for the 48 14-week-old infants resulted in a significant interaction of intensity and order and in a…

With the recognition of a functional relationship between anti-social behavior and the environment in which it occurs, and hence of the appropriateness of environmental intervention, there has been an increasing appeal for the use of behavior modification with criminals and delinquents. This has led to the development of many sound programs in the…

Thirty-three adult male employees at a chemical plant completed a Worker Opinion Questionnaire (WOQ) designed to yield a measure of worker satisfaction. The quality of their job performance was obtained by means of supervisor ratings. Eighteen of the subjects were involved in "skilled labor and fifteen in "unskilled" labor. It was hypothesized…

Three language models (Staats, Lenneberg, and Piaget) are reviewed, and implications for reading are suggested. Staats' behaviorist stance maintains that imitation, mediation, generalization, and discrimination are key concepts in language learning behavior. Critics contest the importance of these concepts and claim that behaviorists cannot fully…

Presented is the teacher handbook for EDUCOURSE I, a program designed to increase attending behaviors of educable mentally handicapped students by means of an inservice course in behavior modification techniques. Four instructional sequences consider assessment of interfering behaviors, eliciting attending behaviors, using teacher-attention to…

Approximately 150 references to speed reading published during the past 40 years, including 50 new entries, are included in this revised annotated bibliography. The new entries relate mainly to research but also include some references to theoretical discussions. The references are grouped into the categories of tachistoscopic and controlled…