ABSTRACT
This chapter represents components of an ongoing research program of the Jewish Vocational Service of Milwaukee in which concepts of learning and motivation are being applied in the design and testing of sheltered workshop systems for retarded and emotionally disturbed adults. The primary objective of the methods being developed is to establish work environments which maximize the performance of clients in producing consignment goods which meet the production requirements of sheltered work. The chapter describes specific examples of the application of behavioral technology. Approach may be characterized as descriptive, with little commitment to preexisting formal theories other than the framework provided by various learning and related concepts. A more complete technology of rehabilitation requires the development of additional procedures and devices which can work in practice in the management and rehabilitation of the mentally and emotionally handicapped. The effective use of a reinforcer to strengthen behavior requires that the reinforcer immediately follows the desired behavior.
