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The present study attempted to assess experimentally, functional relationships between home and school settings. Two children, both considered deviant in their homes and in their schools, were observed in both settings. The observations revealed that the children's deviant behaviors at home were quite similar to their deviant behaviors at school. Contingency operations were then performed in the children's homes. Results showed that the children's behavior changed predictably in the homes and remained at baseline level in school.

Lever‐pulling avoidance behavior of 24 monkeys was actively shaped with a manual shock control box and a closed‐circuit TV system. A negative reinforcement procedure was used wherein a periodically occurring body shock was postponed each time the subject moved toward the lever. All subjects were trainable with this method, two‐thirds of them in fewer than five, 1‐ to 2‐hr sessions. Negative reinforcement was more effective than a punishment procedure.

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Interspersed reinforcement and extinction during discrimination learning generate a U‐shaped gradient of inhibition about the stimulus correlated with extinction. The present work showed that extinction is not a necessary determinant of inhibitory stimulus control. In Exp. I, a reduction in the rate of reinforcement, through a shift from a multiple variable‐interval 1‐min variable‐interval 1‐min schedule to a multiple variable‐interval 1‐min variable‐interval 5‐min schedule, resulted in a post‐discrimination line orientation gradient of inhibition about the stimulus correlated with the variable‐interval 5‐min schedule. In Exp. II, the rates of reinforcement, correlated with a pair of stimuli, were held constant during a shift from a multiple variable‐interval 1‐min variable‐interval 1‐min schedule to a multiple variable‐interval 1‐min differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate schedule. Inhibitory stimulus control about the stimulus correlated with the differential reinforcement of low rate was obtained. In both experiments, a reduction in the rate of responding during one stimulus and behavioral contrast during the other stimulus preceded the observation of inhibitory stimulus control.

Painful mechanical tail‐pinch elicited aggressive responses in paired rats; response‐contingent electric shock to either forepaws or hindpaws suppressed fighting and stereotyped aggressive postures, including those in which dominance was expressed. There was no evidence that aggression was facilitated by shock that was contingent on pain‐elicited aggressive responses. Aggressive responding recovered when shock was discontinued.

This study was based upon a repeated acquisition technique that systematically generated superstitious chains of responses. Several procedures were investigated in an effort to modify the amount of superstitious chaining. The effects of a large work requirement, a stimulus correlated with non‐reinforcement after inappropriate responses, an equivalent time delay after inappropriate responses, and extensive training were examined. The presentation of a stimulus correlated with non‐reinforcement was found to be the most effective technique for reducing superstitious chaining; the time delay was the least effective.

Four pigeons were trained to respond on one of two keys in the presence of one color‐form display, and on the other key when a second color‐form display was present. Both responses were maintained on a 2‐min variable‐internal schedule of reinforcement. Subsequently, stimulus control acquired by components of the compound stimuli was determined by brief test probes in which the colors and forms separately, and in novel combinations, appeared on the display screen. When either color component was present, both choice of response key and response rate were like responding to the training compound display containing that color. When the forms were presented separate from the colors, generally low and comparable rates of responding occurred on both keys.

Pigeons were trained under a schedule in which reinforcement was made available at varying periods of time after a prior reinforcement. The first key peck after a reinforcer was available began a timer and a second key peck, which exceeded a specified minimal time interval, produced the reinforcer. It was shown that a contingency which contains a minimal inter‐response time does not necessarily weaken stimulus control by an exteroceptive stimulus.

Compared with the data of goldfish trained only with stimuli correlated with reinforcement, interspersed reinforcement‐stimulus and extinction‐stimulus trials resulted in sharper stimulus control and a marked reduction in the percentage of key‐presses emitted in the presence of stimuli located near the extinction stimulus on the test dimension. If non‐reinforced trials were not interspersed with reinforced trials, there was no sharpening of stimulus control and less reduction in key presses in the presence of stimuli near the extinction stimulus on the test dimension.

Three groups of 12 pigeons each were trained to discriminate between lights of 550 mμ (SD), correlated with 1‐min variable‐interval reinforcement and 570 mμ (SΔ), correlated with extinction. Group A was tested for wavelength generalization in extinction 1 min after meeting the discrimination criterion; Group B was tested 24 hr later; Group C was tested 24 hr later after a 3‐min (reinforced) warm‐up with the SD. The post‐discrimination gradient of Group B was significantly flatter and showed significantly greater area shift than that of Groups A and C. The gradient of Group C was similar to that of Group A, indicating that the warm‐up eliminated the effect of the delay period.