Operant conditioning principles in the treatment of learning and behavior problems with delinquent boys.

Abstract

Thirty-two delinquent boys, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years were given 18 consecutive weekly lessons of programmed reading instruction. The subjects were randomly assigned either to a group reinforced with monetary tokens, or to a group that was nonreinforced. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was employed to analyze the data. Results indicated that both groups showed significant improvement in reading skill from pretesting to posttesting, but that the reinforced group showed significantly more improvement than the nonreinforced group. Teacher ratings of general classroom behavior showed concomitant improvement for the reinforced group. These results were discussed in the context of applying conditioning principles to learning problems and the role of the counseling psychologist as a consultant to teaching personnel.

A Brief Review of Classroom Group‐oriented Contingencies

“…Likewise, making teacher attention contingent upon the individual behaviors of all students in a classroom has been reported to increase the rate of study behavior (Hall, Panyon, Rabon, and Broden, 1968;Kazdin and Klock, 1973), to decrease the rate of disruptive behavior (Hall, Fox, Willard, Goldsmith, Emerson, Owen, Davis, and Porcia, 1971;Madsen, Becker, Thomas, Koser, and Plager, 1968;McAllister, Stachowiak, Baer, and Conderman, 1969), and to increase the rate of following instructions (Schutte and Hopkins, 1970). Finally, the use of individually administered token reinforcers for whole classes has been reported to increase the rate of study behavior and academic performance (Bednar, Zelhart, Greathouse, and Weinberg, 1970;Bijou, Birnbrauer, Kidder, and Tague, 1966;Birnbrauer, Bijou, Wolf, and Kidder, 1965;Birnbrauer and Lawler, 1964;Bushell, Wrobel, and Michaelis, 1968;Chadwick and Day, 1971;Clark, Lachowicz, and Wolf, 1968;Ferritor, Buckholdt, Hamblin, and Smith, 1972;Glynn, 1970;Haring and Hauck, 1969;Hewett, Taylor, and Artuso, 1967;Knapczyk and Livingston, 1973;McIntire, Davis, and Pumroy, 1970;McKenzie, Clark, Wolf, Kothers, and Benson, 1968;McLaughlin and Malaby, 1972a;Nolen, Kunzelmann, and Haring, 1967;Wolf et al, 1970;Wolf, Giles, and Hall, 1968;Zimmerman, Zimmerman, and Russell, 1969) and to decrease the rate of disruptive behavior (Ayllon and Roberts, 1974;Broden, Hall, Dunlap, and Clark, 1970;Drabman, 1973;Drabman, Spitalnik, and O'Leary, 1973;Kuypers, Becker, and O'Leary, 1968;…”

THE EFFECTS OF TOKEN REINFORCEMENT ON THE BEHAVIOR OF DELINQUENTS IN COTTAGE SETTINGS1

“…DESCRIPTORS: token economy, correctional institution, social behavior, token reinforcement, delinquents Behavioral interventions with delinquents and predelinquents have involved parent-training programs (Eyberg and Johnson, 1974;Patterson, 1974;Patterson, Cobb, and Ray, 1973;Patterson Reid and Hendriks, 1973;Wiltz and Patterson, 1974), contingency contracting (Alexander and Parsons, 1973; Stuart, 1971;Stuart and Lott, 1972;Stuart and Tripodi, 1973), negotiation of conflict situations (Kifer, Lewis, Green, and Phillips, 1974), academic programming (Cohen, 1972;Martin, Burkholder, Rosenthal, Tharp, and Thorne, 1968), and community based, residential token economies (Bailey, Wolf, and Phillips, 1970;Harris, Finfrock, Giles, Hart, and Tsosie, 1975; Phillips, 1968;Phillips, Phillips, Fixsen, and Wolf, 1971 (Bednar, Zelhart, Greathouse, and Weinberg, 1970;Burchard, 1967;Burchard and Barrrera, 1972; Burchard and Tyler, 1965;Fineman, 1968;Graubard, 1969;Hauserman, Zweback, and Plotkin, 1972;Horton, 1970;Meichenbaum, Bowers, and Ross, 1968;Tyler, 1967;Tyler and Brown, 1968). With the exception of anecdotal reports describing largescale token economy programs (Cohen and Filipczak, 1971;Jesness and DeRisi, 1973;…”

Differential Association and Learning Principles Revisited

“…However, such a task is beyond the scope of this analysis. Barlow, et al, 1969;Bednar, et al, 1970;Belcastro, 1969;Brown and L'Abate, 1969;Buehler, et al, 1966;Burchard, 1967;Clements and McKee, 1968;Cohen, et al, 1969;Colman and Baker, 1969;Jesness, 1970;Kleinknecht, 1969;Martin, et al, 1968;Meichenbaugh, et al, 1968;Milan, 1971;Perkins, 1967;Phillips, 1968;Schwitzgebel, 1967;Schwitzgebel and Kolb, 1964;Staats and Butterfield, 1965;Brown, 1967, 1968).…”