ABSTRACT
Behavioral deficits of children should be described as developmental rather than mental retardation. The vast majority of measurement procedures for identifying retarded persons assess only the behavior of the individual in comparison with the behavior of a normative sample of persons who have the same chronological age. The principles of behavior derived from the experimental analysis of behavior, including the operations of reinforcement, extinction, punishment, stimulus control, and schedules of reinforcement, are generally well known, scientifically demonstrable as important independent variables, and useful in the control and modification of deviant behavior. However, the scientific validity of these principles is restricted to those instances in which the response being investigated is in the repertoire of the organism and is well defined.
