Association for Behavior Analysis International

Classrooms are complex environments that require teachers to implement a variety of classroom management strategies to minimize problem behavior and maximize learning time. Given the difficulty of selecting and implementing behavioral interventions in the school setting, there is a need for interventions that are contextually fit with the school environment. This symposium presents findings from three papers on improving individual student behavior in pre-K through 2nd-grade classrooms. The third study compared use of auditory feedback to visual feedback in implementing an interdependent group contingency to improve on-task behavior of three students with disabilities and explored whether incorporating student choice into the feedback would enhance the outcomes for student behavior. The second study evaluated the use of the presession paring to decrease problem behavior and increase on-task behavior of four students with and without disabilities. The third study examined the use of the Teaching Tools for Young Children with Challenging Behavior (TTYC) by classroom teachers to improve classroom behavior of three students with and without disabilities. All three papers reported positive outcomes when using the interventions for students with and without disabilities who engage in problem behavior during classroom activities or routines.

Graduate Students, Practitioners, BCBA

The presentation describes the outcomes of using an interdependent group contingency for three 2nd-grade students with disabilities served in general education classrooms. Group contingencies are efficient and effective behavioral interventions that allow teachers to apply a reinforcement criterion to a large group of students. However, most research on group contingencies has not examined the impact of types of teacher feedback and student choice of teacher feedback incorporated in using the group contingencies. The current study used a multiple baseline across participants design with an embedded alternating treatments design to explore the use of an interdependent group contingency that compared the effectiveness of incorporating auditory or visual feedback to improve on-task behavior of three students in public elementary school classrooms. The study also explored whether incorporating student choice into the feedback would enhance the outcomes for student behavior. Results indicated that the interdependent group contingency intervention was successful in increasing the on-task behavior of all three participants. Results indicated that while both auditory and visual feedback were effective in increasing on-task behavior of all three students, two of the students engaged in slightly higher levels of on-task behavior when auditory feedback was used. When students were given the option to choose what type of feedback would be used, two of the three students favored auditory feedback over visual feedback, and on-task behaviors maintained for all three participants. These results have implications for the use of auditory feedback and choice in classroom setting as part of a group contingency.

Presession pairing is an antecedent intervention that has shown to decrease problem behavior of elementary school children with autism, whose problem behavior is maintained by social reinforcement. It has also shown modest increases in academic responding. However, the research on presession pairing has not examined its efficacy or acceptability in the natural classroom setting when implemented by the teacher. This presentation introduces the results of a study on the use of presession pairing, which targeted four elementary school students with and without disabilities and assessed its impact on student behavior during academic time periods. A multiple-baseline design across participants was used to demonstrate that the presession pairing successfully decreased problem behavior and increased on-task behavior in all students whose problem behaviors were maintained by escape or attention. The social validity assessment indicated that the teachers found the presession pairing intervention contextually fit, easy to implement, and effective for all students in the classroom.

The Teaching Tools for Young Children with Challenging Behavior (TTYC) presents a useful tool to disseminate evidence-based practices into the classroom setting for teachers to create lasting behavioral changes in young children. This presentation outlines the impact of using the TTYC by classroom teachers for students ages 4-6 years old with and without disabilities. A multiple-baseline across participants design was employed to demonstrate the outcomes of the TTYC in increasing appropriate classroom behavior and reducing problem behavior of the target children. The results indicated that the teachers’ fidelity of implementing the behavior intervention plans designed using the TTYC was relatively high with the exception of a few sessions. The teachers’ implementation of the plans resulted in increased appropriate classroom behavior and decreased problem behavior for all three child participants. The data indicated an association between implementation fidelity and changes in child behavior. When the teachers had difficulty implementing the steps for implementing intervention strategies, the children’s problem behavior increased, resulting in decreases in appropriate classroom behavior.