Use of social reinforcement procedures to help a child substitute already established walking behavior for recently reacquired crawling behavior was studied in a nursery school situation. Adult attention was systematically given as an immediate consequence of one behavior and withheld as an immediate consequence of the other behavior. Results indicated that (a) adult attention had powerful reinforcement values; (b) reversal of reinforcement procedures had distinct positive effects; and (c) systematic use of reinforcement principles brought about rapid changes in behavior, seeming to facilitate both child learning and adult teaching. 1 The authors gratefully acknowledge indebtedness to S. W. Bijou, D. M. Baer, and J. S. Birnbrauer, without whose counsel and encouragement this study would not have been possible. R. G. Wahler also contributed generously to the development of observation techniques.
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