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The purpose of this study was to determine the applicability of sociobehavioral principles and techniques for influencing or changing the behavior of adults in a learning group. The behavior on which this study focused was off-task behavior, defined as that behavior inconsistent or incongruent with the lesson plan for that particular day, or with the subject being discussed. Behavioral data were collected through the use of video equipment and an instrument developed by the experimenters. Working hypotheses stated that: (1) the level of off-task behavior, demonstrated before the experimental condition, would decrease when the three variables of social reinforcement, extinction, and a discriminative stimulus were applied as the experimental condition; and (2) the level of off-task behavior would return to its pre-experimental level when systematic social reinforcement was removed. The findings corroborated these hypotheses. It was concluded that systematic social reinforcement was a necessary condition for bringing about behavioral change, but the data did not permit speculation on whether social reinforcement alone would have effected the observed results. (Author)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert