Study objective: The present study examined whether word-reading behavior could be acquired through the use of a sequential stimulus pairing procedure. The study also investigated whether the participant could learn to read hiragana syllables, words, and phrases. Design: A multiple probe design across stimulus sets was used to assess effects of the sequential stimulus pairing procedure. Setting: A playroom at the university. Participant: A preschool boy with autism spectrum disorder who had severe intellectual disabilities. Training: In the training, each hiragana syllable, word, spoken sound, and picture stimulus was presented sequentially on a computer monitor. The child was instructed to respond with spoken sounds. Measures: Proportion of correct reading and picture naming was analyzed. Social validity was evaluated from the responses of a third party who did not know the purpose of the research. Results: The child became able to read the word stimuli that were used in training and maintained this skill 1 month later. He also increased his reading of hiragana syllables, words, and phrases that had not been used in the training. Moreover, in the follow up done after he had entered elementary school, his reading skills were found to have improved further. The evaluation by the third party indicated that the child’s reading accuracy, reading fluency, and enjoyment of reading had improved. Conclusion: The present study suggests that the sequential stimulus pairing procedure appeared to have been an effective procedure for teaching reading to this preschool child with autism who had severe intellectual disabilities.

Study objective: The present study investigated effects of the number of rule-givers on rule control. Design: A between-group design with 3 conditions. Setting: Participants were exposed to 2-component multiple schedules individually in an experimental room; they then shared ways to earn points (rules) with other participants as rule-givers (confederates) in an adjacent room. Participants: Undergraduate students (N=66). Independent variables: The number of rule-givers (0, 1, or 2) who provided rules that did not describe appropriate schedule contingencies to the participants and the distribution of points depending on response rates were manipulated as between- and within-participant factors, respectively. Measures: Response rate under 2-component multiple schedules and choice of rule. Results: A trend analysis revealed a significant linear relationship between the number of rule-givers and rule-following responding. The correlation between self-rule and responding for the 2-rule-giver group was not significant. Conclusion: The results were consistent with findings in social psychology that social influence is a function of group size. The results suggest that both internal and external rule control are affected by the number of rule-givers.

Study objective: To examine the effects of self-monitoring of attention (SMA) and self-monitoring of performance (SMP) on the skill of tracing Chinese characters (kanji). Design: Reversal single-case design (ABABC). Setting: A room at the university or the participants’ homes. Participants: 3 elementary school children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Intervention: In the self-monitoring of attention condition, participants self-monitored their on-task behavior every 30 seconds and self-recorded the result on a self-monitoring sheet. In the self-monitoring of performance condition, participants self-monitored their accuracy of writing after completing the task. Measures: On-task behavior and accuracy of writing. Results: In the self-monitoring of attention condition, all participants’ on-task behavior improved, but the accuracy of writing by one of the three participants decreased. The accuracy of writing by another participant did not change. However, the accuracy of their writing increased in the self-monitoring of performance condition. Conclusion: A high ratio of correct responses and skill in self-monitoring writing may be needed in order to influence academic performance.

Study Objective: To investigate effects of applying a token economy (TE) to a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who needed improvement in getting to school on time and doing his homework. Design: AB design with follow-up. Setting: An interview room in a support office. Participants: One 9-year-old boy and his parents. Intervention: After receiving psychoeducation, the parents were instructed on how to implement a token economy in their home, and a token economy script was created for the child. After the second interview, the parents were requested to run the script and record the child’s target behavior once a day. The parents were also advised to focus on whether or not the script was executed. Further, the parents were given line-graph feedback on changes in their child’s behavior about once every 2 months. Measures: The number of minutes the boy was late for school, the percentage of completion of his homework, and the percentage of execution of the token economy script by the parents. Results: After the intervention, the child immediately began getting to school on time. Meanwhile, his homework behavior slowly improved, corresponding to the percentage of the token economy script that was executed by the parents. Conclusion: The token economy was effective in improving the boy’s behavior. However, in order for the token economy to become functional as home support, it was necessary for experts not only to prepare and provide the script to the parents, but also to provide regular feedback on the execution of the token economy and the range of effects.

Study objectives: Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder during pseudo-meals to use chopsticks, and examining the effects of the training and generalization to actual meals. Design: Inter-subject multiple-baseline design. Setting: Research facilities and the participants’ homes. Participants: 2 preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. Intervention: A behavior analysis approach using visual prompts and reinforcement was employed. The training in the skill of holding chopsticks included a time-delay procedure, visual prompts, and reinforcement of appropriate responses during the pseudo-meals. The training in the skill of picking up an object with chopsticks was also conducted with reinforcement of appropriate responses during the pseudo-meals. Outcome measures: The percentage of appropriate responses calculated from the number of prompts required for holding chopsticks, and the percentage of the appropriate responses when picking up an object with chopsticks during pseudo-meals. Parent’s ratings of chopstick use and the performance of holding the chopsticks during actual meals. Results: The children’s skill in using chopsticks improved greatly during the pseudo-meals; this improvement generalized to actual meals. Conclusion: Behavior analysis training in chopstick use during pseudo-meals may be useful for improving chopstick skills in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Study objective: Examination of effects of errorless guidance provided to a child with Down’s syndrome who spat out food and drinks during lunch at her special needs education school. Participant: A fourth-grade elementary school student with Down syndrome and intellectual disability who exhibited inappropriate behavior with others, such as spitting out food and milk and dumping the food from her plate onto the table. Setting: Lunchroom at her school. Intervention: Errorless guidance was provided about the inappropriate behavior of spilling milk and spitting milk and food toward people as follows: (a) a screen was placed in front of her; (b) after she swallowed some milk, she was given a small amount of food in a dish; (c) when she put food into her mouth, a teacher’s hands were held in front of her. Measures: Inappropriate behavior occurrence rate and milk intake. Results: 7 weeks after the introduction of the intervention, her inappropriate behavior ceased to occur; this change was maintained as measured in weekly observations continued for 15 weeks after the termination of the intervention. Her eating skills also improved. Conclusion: Errorless guidance, which is often used to teach behavior, was used to correct problem behavior that had been occurring during meals.

Study objective: Effects on correct tracing behavior when learning kanji handwriting of self-evaluations and others’ evaluations of pupils’ handwriting. Design: ABAC and AC designs with follow-ups. Setting: A kanji-writing task in lessons in writing Japanese. Participants: Children (N=5) enrolled in special support classes at an elementary school. Independent variables: Study I: Self-evaluations of the quality of the pupils’ tracing of gray kanji characters; Study II: Self- and teachers’ evaluations of the tracing behavior and the concordance of those evaluations. Measure: The percentage of strokes written outside of the gray lines of the kanji characters being traced. Results: In Study I, the conventional method of teaching kanji handwriting had no significant effect on the percentage of incorrect (outside-of-the-lines) strokes made when tracing. The children’s performance improved in the self-evaluation period, but that effect was not long-lasting. When the self-evaluation procedure was no longer being used, the percentage of outside-of-the-lines strokes returned to the pre-intervention level. In Study II, evaluations by the teachers were added and the percentage of outside-of-the-lines strokes decreased. This level of correct tracing performance was maintained after termination of the intervention. Conclusion: Self- and others' evaluations are easy to use in classrooms. In the present study, they were associated with an increase in correct kanji tracing. Because the intervention effect was small for some children, further research is needed to develop more successful teaching methods.

A functional analysis approach to problem behavior for people with autism spectrum disorders or intellectual disabilities has shown its efficacy in many studies. In recent years, this kind of intervention has been increasingly implemented in communities, such as homes, schools, and residential facilities. Difficulties include data collection and evaluation by non-experts, such as parents and teachers. The aim of the present study was to develop an application to assist non-experts in recording behavior in daily settings. The application that was developed can be downloaded for 2 OS versions of Android (for Android devices) and iOS (for i-Phones and i-Pads) from the distribution sites of each OS, and it can used with many devices such as smartphones and tablets. The user of the application arranges various settings, such as a target behavior or observation time, and then categorizes the settings according to the behavior that is to be observed. Data are converted to graphs by 1 tap for convenient analysis. The data entered are stored and accumulated in each device, and can be mailed in .csv format as required, so that editing, processing, and analysis can be performed on a desktop or laptop computer. Strengths and weaknesses of this application were examined by tests at individuals’ homes and residential facilities.

Reinforcement through social interactions is considered necessary in the education and treatment of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, it is possible that social interactions do not function as a reinforcer for some children with autism spectrum disorders. Thus, it is necessary to search for an effective method of establishing social interactions as a conditioned reinforcer. The present study reviews previously published studies in order to examine differences in conditioning that are related to age, diagnosis, method of conditioning, type of neutral stimulus, type of reinforcer, and combinations of different stimuli and reinforcers. A conditioning established ratio was calculated for age, diagnosis, method of conditioning, type of neutral stimulus, and type of reinforcer in 26 studies. Furthermore, a conditioning established ratio was calculated in relation to different combinations of neutral stimuli and reinforcers. The results revealed differences in conditioning related to age, diagnosis, and types of neutral stimuli and reinforcers. In order to develop a method for establishing social interactions as a reinforcer for children with autism spectrum disorders, it is desirable to conduct further research on social reinforcers.

The present paper discusses the acquisition and maintenance of imprinted responses by newly hatched precocial birds. First, Lorenz’s (1935, 1937) ethological view of imprinting is introduced, and then the views of perceptual and associative learning theory, Hoffman and Ratner’s (1973) reinforcement model of imprinting based on respondent conditioning, and the behavior analysis view emphasizing contingencies of reinforcement in imprinting are explained. Next, the ways that precocial birds acquire and maintain their imprinted responses through imprinting from each of these positions are discussed. From the results of laboratory studies about imprinting and also the above discussion, the conclusion is drawn that a behavior analysis viewpoint can adequately explain behavioral processes related to the acquisition and maintenance of imprinted responses. The viewpoint of behavior analysis in the present article is based on suggestions made by Skinner (1966, 1969) and Higuchi, Mochizuki, Moriyama, and Sato (1976, in Japanese). This view does not regard imprinted responses as innate, but rather emphasizes the interaction of phylogenic and ontogenetic contingencies of reinforcement in imprinting. Furthermore, the position of Higuchi et al. (1976) suggests the involvement of contingencies of food reinforcement in the maintenance of imprinted responses. Finally, a study by the present author which verifies Higuchi et al.’s (1976) view is described and the significance of a behavior analytic view of imprinting is discussed.