Study 1 evaluated the use of a behavioral skills training package (BST) to teach three adults with autism spectrum disorders job interview and conversation skills. Participants were asked to have a mock job interview and conversation with the researcher. Participants' behavior was scored according to the conversation and job interview task analyses. The BST package included instruction, modeling, rehearsal, feedback, and reinforcement. A dense or lean schedule of reinforcement was assigned to each social skill based on performance during baseline. Social skills increased for all three participants when the BST package was implemented. Study 2 evaluated if dense or lean schedules of reinforcement affect maintenance of social skills. Two participants from Study 1 participated. Participants' BST data from Study 1 was used as baseline, followed by a maintenance phase. During this phase no instruction, modeling, rehearsal, feedback, or reinforcement was provided. The effect of rate of reinforcement during baseline on maintenance was evaluated.

The mitigation of response resurgence is a topic which has garnered recent attention due to its importance in a clinical setting. The present study examined the mitigation of response resurgence in a human operant study using a computer program to teach multiple response alternatives using a Lag 3 schedule of reinforcement. Of the six undergraduate students who participated in this study, three came under the control of the programmed contingencies. All three of these participants demonstrated higher rates of resurgence in the component which simulated a single response alternative when compared to the component which simulated a multiple response alternative. Areas for future study are discussed.

The problem with which this dissertation is concerned is to determine whether the semester unit plan offers seventh grade students greater academic gain in the basic subject areas than does the quarter unit plan. Texas offers school districts a choice of the two plans. This study is unique in that the district of this study has both plans in operation at the secondary level.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of determining success of selection of classes and satisfaction or dissatisfaction with self-scheduling as opposed to computer scheduling. A survey is made of 468 randomly selected high school students from four high schools in a large metropolitan school district.

In the 8-4 plan there was departmentalized instruction in the high school grades. When the junior high school was organized, it followed the same pattern. The departmental system is predominant in the junior high schools today, but non-departmentalization has become the practice in many of them. Current practices range from complete departmentalization to complete non-departmentalization. The writer's observations and current literature indicate a trend in the direction of non-departmentalized instruction. / Typescript. / "July, 1950." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: R. L. Goulding, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf [30]).

A behavioral approach to teaching in the public school system is difficult because of the inherent difficulty of finding positive reinforcers and administering them simultaneously to large groups of students. This study attempts to apply the same tangible reinforcers to two groups of students under different schedules of reinforcement. The students in the study were in special classes termed "learning adjustment" classes because of their failure to perform at grade level in regular classroom settings. One group was on a continuous schedule of reinforcement using tokens and gold strike stamps as reinforcers. The second group was also on a continuous schedule of reinforcement but with a punishment contingency added. Reinforcers were the same for this group as the first group. The third group was a comparison group. Performance rates were studied under the above schedules of reinforcement and were found to increase the number of arithmetic units completed for each group. Achievement level change in mathematics as measured by the mathematics section of the California Achievement Test was a second major aspect of this study. Although there was a very definite difference in the number of arithmetic units completed by the three groups there was not a corresponding difference in the amount of change in achievement level.

Although the conflicting demands between work and family have been documented for mothers, much less is known about fathers. Specifically, must less is known about how family and work influence the work hours and schedules of fathers and how these influences might vary by class. In this paper, I use multi-methods to compare a relatively affluent group of professionals (physicians) to a group of working class fathers (emergency medical technicians) in how work and family influence their hours and schedules. I find that, on the one hand, the working-class fathers, while saying that their children are not a great influence on the schedules, are more likely to manipulate their schedules in order to participate in the daily care of their children in response to spouses’ employment, or perform “private fathering.” Physicians, on the other hand, are more likely claim the importance of their children on their schedules, but prioritize work demands and participate with their children through their children’s special events, or practice “public fathering.” These differences are class-related, based on the work and family structures in place for each group of fathers.

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