The participant was a 52 year-old woman, diagnosed with a profound intellectual disability, who engaged in high rates of severe self-injurious behaviors (SIB) predominantly in the forms of head banging and head hitting. A series of analyses and interventions was implemented to establish appropriate toileting behavior in the natural environment. Treatment consisted of conjugate reinforcement for optimal toilet positioning with the absence of SIB, episodic positive reinforcement of eliminating in the toilet, and programed generalization across environments and staff. Results showed the maintenance of optimal toilet positioning, decrease in SIB (under 1 instance per min), and appropriate eliminating in 96.3% of all available sessions. Direct support staff were trained to implement the program with 100% fidelity.

Parent intervention programs that assist parents in increasing their skills in behavior management techniques have experienced considerable success over the last 20 years. Parent training not only aids the parent in changing the child's behavior but may be beneficial in preventing future problems. When a program of this type is utilized with low income populations, cost effectiveness becomes an important issue. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of a parent intervention program when utilizing a group format versus a personalized, one-to-one approach to training. The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) was administered pre and posttreatment to 10 parents of children enrolled in Project Head Start. The experimenter examined the ECBI test results for the subjects in the group condition and personalized condition. Results were mixed with subjects in the group approach decreasing the frequency of their children's problem behaviors while subjects in the personalized condition decreased the number of behaviors that they felt were problems. Although the results indicated that a group approach was more effective in terms of efficiency, further examination of the subjects suggested that the two groups may have consisted of two different populations.

An experiment was designed to test the effectiveness of using standard laboratory environments in producing a broad class of problem behaviors which defined Mother-Child (M-C) interaction difficulties. The effects of four environments, free-time (X), child's game and rules (B), mother's game and rules (C), and clean-up (Z), on the frequency of eight criteria behaviors were tested on 12 M-C pairs over three days of baseline data collection. It was predicted that the frequency of problem behaviors would decrease as a function of environment (X) and increase as a function of environments (B), (C), and (Z). A two factor repeated measures design was used for the baseline data analyses. Analysis of the data confirmed the experimental predictions. It was concluded that the use of standard laboratory environments was effective in increasing the frequency of problem behaviors which define M-C interaction difficulties. These conclusions were discussed in view of the contribution made by the use of' environmental control in the application of behavior modification techniques to M-C interaction difficulties.

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Diversity Studies), in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg July 2017 / This case study research explored a female inclusive diversion programme through the analysis of the lived experiences of the staff and programme participants. The research targeted six staff at the programme and five female participants, between the ages of 14 to 35 years who have completed or are busy completing the iCHOOSE diversion programme. The research is qualitative, drawing on eleven semi-structured interviews, direct observations, and documentation. Five themes were identified using Yin’s (2011) five phases of qualitative data analysis, namely: ownership, personal, equality and equity, performativity, and winding road. The first four themes focused on the participants whilst the final theme highlighted the programme itself in terms of advantages, disadvantages, and success. Key findings highlight the difficulties experienced by female youth participants, which mainly consist of societal perceptions of gender norms making their involvement in deviant and criminal acts more problematic than male’s involvement. In addition, discourse of equality as sameness hinders social justice. This research aims to expand on the current understanding of female youth offenders and add valuable insights to existing literature / XL2018

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a wellness and nutrition education program directed at employees of a health care facility would result in changes in weight, waist and hip circumference, BMI, and nutritional practices. Nine participants completed the five week program including final weight, measurements and post-program survey to determine nutritional practices. All participants attended weekly group classes with topics related to nutrition, physical activity, and behavior changes. Changes in weight, anthropometric measurements, and BMI were calculated. Changes in nutritional practices were analyzed using Minitab statistical software. There were improvements made in weight, anthropometric measurements, and BMI during the program. The improvements in nutritional practices were not significant.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Mathematics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The purpose of this study was to document my enactment of the five key strategies of assessment for learning in my mathematics classroom to account for learners' mathematical understanding. I used a constructivism teaching experiment methodology to explore learners' mathematical activities as they interacted in the classroom. Twenty-five learners from my Grade 10 mathematics class took part in the study. Data were gathered through classroom observations, written work samples from learners, and the teacher's reflective journal. My enactment of the five key strategies enabled learners to participate in classroom discussions, collaborate with their peers, and use self-assessment tools while engaging in classroom interactions. The major findings revealed that, through my enactment of the five key strategies, learners developed conceptual understanding, procedural fluency and strategic competence of the concepts taught. In addition, practices such as the development of lesson plans detailing how the five key strategies will be enacted in the classroom, use of comment – only feedback for grading learners’ work, creating a conducive learning environment to allow the use of peer and self-assessment allowed for a meaningful enactment of assessment for learning in my classroom. Strategies four and five, whose primary goal is to encourage learners' participation in the lesson, were critical in promoting learners' mathematical understanding.

One hundred and seventy male and female volunteers employed at Hubbell Lighting Inc., Christiansburg, Virginia were studied to determine the effectiveness of two alternative educational strategies for lowering elevated blood cholesterol by modifying the diet. Initially three hundred and twenty-eight employees were weighed and tested for elevated total blood cholesterol via a finger-stick procedure using a Reflotron. Two hundred of these employees had elevated total blood cholesterol readings (2: 200 mg/dl) and were invited to participate in the study. The one hundred and seventy employees who consented to participate were divided into plant and office populations and then each of these two subpopulations was then randomized by sex into one of three experimental groups: individuals receiving worksite classes, those who received information on diet and blood cholesterol mailed to their homes, or a control group. Prior to the baseline blood cholesterol test, subjects completed and returned a pre-test questionnaire used to obtain demographic data and assess baseline knowledge, dietary practices and health-relevant attitudes such as self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility to heart disease, and perceived social support. Subjects also completed a three-day food record on the first and eighth week of the study as well as a post-test questionnaire identical to the pre-test questionnaire prior to the second blood cholesterol test which was performed during the tenth week of the study. No significant differences were observed over the experimental period in body weight. knowledge, dietary practices, and health relevant attitudes. Significant differences were observed for the dependent measure of change in blood cholesterol with a group and education level effect identified between subjects receiving worksite classes vs. the control group (p = .0284**) and subjects with only a grade school level education vs. all other education levels (p = .0021 **). Overall. subjects reduced total blood cholesterol levels by 18 mg/dl or 9% with the mean reduction for white and blue-collar groups receiving worksite classes (23 mg/dl or 11% and 19 mg/dl or 9%) significantly greater than the mean reduction for the control groups (13 mg/dl or 6% and 14 mg/dl or 7%). Subjects with only a grade school education reduced their cholesterol levels more than subjects at all other educational levels. The mean reduction in blood cholesterol for subjects receiving information mailed to the home about diet and blood cholesterol was less than the mean reduction for subjects in groups receiving the worksite classes. However. ANOV A revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between these two groups. Since, the mailed home approach is less costly for the employer, these findings suggest that while the two educational interventions may be similar in terms of effectiveness, the mailed home approach is more cost-effective. / Master of Science

The present study examined the effects of adult, film mediated models on the prosocial behavior of school children. Also the effect of congruency and incongruency between the model's response and the response the children were asked to perform was investigated. Thirty third-grade students, 19 female and 11 male, were randomly assigned to three groups. The first group observed a short film of an adult model providing helping (positive) feedback to a young boy who was playing a marble maze game. The second group was treated identically to the first except that the model provided coercive (negative) feedback. The third group observed a neutral (no feedback) model. Each of the three groups was then divided in half. Half of the students from each group were asked to give feedback to an unseen boy who was playing the marble maze game by speaking into a microphone (congruent with model). The other half of the students gave the unseen boy feedback manually by pressing levers (incongruent with model). The results indicated that the students who gave verbal feedback displayed significantly more imitation than those who gave motor feedback. The students who made verbal responses also made statements about the unseen boy's performance on the game that conformed more closely to the type of feedback (positive, negative, neutral) the model provided than those students who made motor responses.

The individual functional analysis (FA) is the most widely used method to identify variables that influence the occurrence of problem behavior. Researchers often modify the FA after the analysis reveals undifferentiated responding. The interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) is one of the most substantial variations of the FA that builds upon the FA modifications. We evaluated the use of the two different functional analytic methods, the FA and IISCA, and the subsequent function-based treatment to reduce problem behavior for three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The individual FA and the IISCA demonstrated differentiated responding for all participants. The treatment based on the results from the traditional FA was effective for all children. We discuss the implications of these findings.