Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of The Relative Reinforcement Value Of Response-Contingent Visual And Auditory Stimuli In A Multiple-Choice Learning Task With Institutionalized Retardates, William Robert Grimes

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this experiment was to determine if simple auditory and visual sensory stimuli were effective reinforcers with mentally retarded children and, if so whether one stimulus was superior to the other. In order to make this determination, a group of eighteen female patients between the ages of seventeen and twenty-seven, having IQ's ranging between 37 and 98, and classified as functioning in adaptive behavior level-III, were assigned by random sampling techniques to three equal groups to participate in a multiple-choice learning situation. The groups of subjects were exposed either to one of the two sensory stimuli (light flash …

A Comparative Study Of Flexibility Between Institutional And Community, Male, Adolescent Retardates, Casper Ferneti

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This study was undertaken for the purpose of investigating the possibility of an appreciable difference in flexibility between institutional and community male, adolescent, retardates. The property of flexibility was chosen for investigation since the development of this attribute seems to be critical to occupational success in terms of satisfactory, inter-personal relationships. To begin with, an incidental sample was selected from the two Shawnee County special education classrooms in Topeka, Kansas. Matched for chronological age and verbal IQ, a second sample was chosen from the Parsons State Hospital and Training Center, Parsons, Kansas. A test was developed to measure spontaneous semantic …

Acquisition And Extinction Of An Avoidance Response By Mildly Retarded Girls, Enrique E. Corte

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of some of the variables operating on the acquisition and extinction of avoidance behavior by mildly retarded adolescent girls. The subjects observed were 20 patients of Parsons State Hospital and Training Center. All the subjects were 15 years of age or older and none of them had reached her twenty-first birthday at the time that the experiment was run. They had adaptive behavior levels of I, II or III.

The subjects were randomly assigned to one of two replications and to one of two experimental conditions (extinction and control). All the subjects were brought into …

Fingerpainting As A Psychodiagnostic Tool With Mentally Retarded Emotionally Disturbed Children, Beverly G. Knox

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Finger painting indicates potential for consideration as a diagnostic tool in view of its particular plasticity and effectiveness with all ages, cultures and most handicaps. There is, however, confusion in the method of administration, the amount of structure to provide during the painting process, and the observational points significant in providing useful evaluative material. Those various methods include: (1) An extensive systematized checklist for observation in a highly structured setting; (2) a more permissive atmosphere with suggested significant characteristics inherent in the finger painting task which should be clinically observed, and (3) a more recently developed objective ratings scale for …