Current rule-utilization research indicated that subjects successively tested multiple conceptual rules, available from natural preexperimental experience, to solve a sorting task. Prior results suggested that older subjects were more efficient in utilizing rules and shifting to unused rules, possibly due to the availability of more conceptual rules at higher age levels. The experimental groups consisted of third, fourth, sixth, ninth graders, and college students. Each of the five groups contained 16 subjects. The rule-utilization procedure was applied to each group. The procedure contained a multitrial, card sorting task. The feedback given at the end of each trial was limited to the correctness of the entire card sort and did not provide information on the correctness of the sorting for any individual card. All subjects in each group were run until they used both bidimensional rules (the conjunctive and the inclusive-disjunctive rule), or until a limit of 30 trials was reached.

Training programs designed to remediate eating deficits of higher level patients have involved some combination of verbal instructions, manual guidance, modeling, and reinforcement. Training methods which incorporate relaxation and imagery to facilitate behavior change have received little attention with this population. The current study was designed to explore the use of relaxation and suggestions as a training strategy to modify the shoveling behavior of moderately and mildly retarded institutionalized clients. Three treatment methods, relaxation-suggestion with reinforcement, modeling-instruction with reinforcement, and relaxation-suggestion alone, were compared. A greater reduction in shoveling behavior was hypothesized for the modeling-instruction with reinforcement group than for either of the relaxation-suggestion groups, and a greater reduction in shoveling behavior was hypothesized for the relaxation suggestion with reinforcement group than for the relaxation-suggestion alone group.