Study objective: The present study proposes a new self-control choice paradigm that includes loss of rewards, which has not been considered in previous studies, and examines the validity of the new paradigm by investigating the relationship between self-control choice and delay discounting. The second objective of this study was to investigate effects of varying amounts of instruction on self-control choice. Design: Between-subjects design. Setting: An experimental room. Participants: University students (N=45). Independent variables: Amount of instruction for measuring self-control choice, and delays in reward and reward amounts for measuring delay discounting. Measure: Choice proportion for the self-control alternative, and area under the curve (AUC) as an index of delay discounting. Results: Choice proportion for the self-control alternative obtained in the rich instruction condition was positively correlated with the area under the curve. Moreover, the self-control choice proportion was higher in the rich instruction condition than in the poor instruction condition. Conclusion: The positive correlation between self-control choice and the area under the curve suggests that the new self-control choice paradigm was able to measure individual differences in self-control when participants understood the rule about contingencies. Furthermore, the observation that the self-control choice proportion in the rich instruction condition was higher than in the poor instruction condition is consistent with the results of a previous study.

Study objective: In order to investigate improving academic achievement through cooperative learning with interdependent group contingencies, the conditions under which students with special needs interacted with others in group learning were examined. Design: Multiple baseline designs across 2 students. Setting: Math classes. Participants: 2 Japanese part-time high school students. 1 student was diagnosed with mental retardation, and the other with autism spectrum disorder. Independent variables: 3 conditions were examined: individual learning, group learning with an interdependent group contingency, and adding roles in group learning with an interdependent group contingency. Measures: Interactions between students with special needs and their peers, and their academic achievement. Results: The student with mental retardation participated in interactions with other students in cooperative learning with group contingencies and also in the condition of adding roles. The student with autism spectrum disorder showed non-verbal interactions only in the condition of adding roles. Conclusion: Cooperative learning with group contingencies by adding roles appeared to be effective for improving the academic achievement of 2 students with special needs.

In vocal response training, children with developmental disorders are sometimes required to speak in a way that is similar to sample vocal responses by a trainer. Traditionally, speech similarity is assessed from the impressions of the trainer and/or other observers. The use of quantitative measurements should enable more effective training and greater improvement of the skills of the trainee. The present paper introduces a method of sound analysis of speech similarity that uses the freeware Praat.

The purposes of the present study were to analyze relations between the participation of specialists and people in the supporting environment in studies of the functional assessment of behavioral problems that reported large effects, and to discuss future directions for this research area. Research articles (N=36) published in Japan from 2000 to 2013 were reviewed and the profile of the participants and concerned people analyzed from the time of assessment to the design of an intervention plan, based on the criteria for functional assessment and the method of calculation of effect size of Ogasahara, Asakura, and Suenaga (2004, in Japanese). When the studies were categorized by effect size, using the criteria of Ogasahara et al. (2004), it was found that 23 studies reported a large effect, whereas 13 studies reported a small effect. Features of studies reporting a large effect included having a practitioner trained in behavioral assessment (e.g., the researcher) and having the involvement of people from the supporting environment in all steps from assessment to decisions on the target behaviors. The results indicated that practitioners collaborated on all steps of the functional assessment or the assessment and selection of target behaviors with people from the supporting environment in many of the studies reporting a large effect. The discussion suggests that future researchers focus on consultation methods in the steps of selection of the target behaviors and concrete methods of collaborating with people from the supporting environment and evaluation of the frequency of performance by people from the supporting environment.