Children were trained on a visual discrimination by stimulus shaping, stimulus fading, or trial-and-error. Those who did not acquire the conditional discrimination received a second, different training. More children initially trained by stimulus shaping acquired the conditional discrimination than did those initially trained with stimulus fading or trial-and-error. After a history of fading or trial-and-error training, children were less likely to acquire the conditional discrimination even after the more successful procedure of shaping was later used.

A method for choosing effective teaching procedures for difficult-to-teach children is proposed. Assessment of child responses during teaching that involves gradually increasing environmental support in the learning setting is the basis for choice. The levels of environmental support in which child responses are assessed are (1) trial-and-error procedures; (2) increased environmental support involving analyses of reinforcement systems, incompatible responses, and prerequisite skills, as well as the most effective use of instructional control; and (3) errorless-learning procedures. Effects of instructions upon learning are discussed in terms of instructional detail and pacing, as well as with respect to the role of instructions in feedback and progressively delayed cue procedures. Stimulus shaping and stimulus fading are discussed in terms of the effectiveness of each for teaching children who have difficulty learning with more traditional procedures. The importance of the incorporation of criterion-related cues when utilizing stimulus shaping or fading is emphasized. It is proposed that an assessment of child responses should be made with respect to the three general levels of environmental support, as well as from sublevels within these, in order to choose the simplest but still effective alternative procedure for teaching difficult-to-teach children.

This article discusses and questions a study by Rekers and Lovaas (1974), which sought to "normalize" a young boy's sex-role behavior. The reasons given for treatment and the treatment itself are questioned. The ethical implications of the treatment and its outcome are then discussed, and alternative treatment procedures are suggested. Finally, the experimenters' description of the feminine sex-role is criticized.

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This paper is a selective review of research that addresses the validity of two interpretations of stimulus generalization. One interpretation, referred to as the descriptive stimulus-control interpretation, proposes that during stimulus generalization a continuous relation exists between stimulus and response dimensions. The other interpretation, referred to as the quantal interpretation, proposes that a stimulus-response relation functions as a unit that may or may not occur. From the latter viewpoint, the continuity typically obtained during generalization tests is deemed to be artifactual and to result from averaging across multiple controlling stimulus-response relations. Studies examining the contribution of these multiple relations to generalization gradients are reviewed. With few exceptions, the quantal interpretation appears to better characterize the results of these studies. Implications for peak shift, selection of analytical level, and identification of the behavioral unit are discussed, as well as factors that may determine the acceptability of the quantal interpretation.