Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Modification of the classroom behavior of a disadvantaged kindergarten boy by social reinforcement and isolation

1969; Elsevier BV; Volume: 7; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0022-0965(69)90044-7

1096-0457

Sally A. Sibley, Martha S. Abbott, Betty P Cooper,

Insect and Pesticide Research

Reinforcement techniques were employed to decrease the disruptive, resistant, and assaultive behaviors and to increase the appropriate social interaction of a while, economically disadvantaged, kindergarten boy. The treatment program involved presentation of teacher attention contingent upon “desirable” classroom behavior, withholding of attention contingent upon “inappropriate” behavior, and social isolation contingent upon “unacceptable” behavior. The subject's behavior was classified according to the Coping Analysis Schedule for Educational Settings (CASES) (Spaulding, 1967), and the teacher's interactions with the subject were categorized according to their content. The subject's behavior and the teacher's interactions with him were recorded simultaneously on a event recorder by an observer who had attained high reliability. The baseline data supported the teacher's contention that the subject was a behavioral problem, particularly in a strictly structured situation. The program was carried out daily in the activities of free-play, discussion, and rest. Some progress was made under the original program, but the subject's inappropriate behaviors were further decreased when they were punished (with isolation) rather than ignored. Extinction of the treatment program (i.e., decreased positive and neutral interactions contingent upon desirable behavior and withdrawal of isolation as an ultimate contingency) was introduced to demonstrate that the teacher's interaction was indeed a major controlling variable. After the successful extinction, the treatment was reinstated with favorable results. Although this description is accurate of the over-all treatment and its effects in general, there were differences in the program and in its effects in the various activities. Time checks were made several weeks after the termination of the official study that indicated that the teacher was maintaining the treatment as an integral part of the child's environment and that he was still responding favorably.