Graduation Year

2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Child and Family Studies

Major Professor

Kwang-Sun Blair, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Committee Member

Kimberly Crosland, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Committee Member

Donald Kincaid, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Keywords

Group contingency, student choice, teacher choice, disruption, academic engagement, class-wide intervention

Abstract

The Caught Being Good Game (CBGG), a variation of Good Behavior Game, is an interdependent group contingency, which focuses on giving students points for engaging in appropriate, rule-following behavior. The present study aimed to expand the literature on CBGG by targeting students in general education classrooms and comparing the impact of student-chosen versus teacher-chosen contingency criteria on disruptive behavior and academic engagement. Four students who were at-risk for developing emotional disorders in two general elementary classrooms were targeted in the study. A multiple-baseline across participants design with an embedded alternating treatments design was used to evaluate the outcomes of the CBGG. Results indicated that the CBGG intervention resulted in decreasing disruptive behavior and increasing academic engagement for all four students although data demonstrated limited experimental control. Moderate differences in improvement in classroom behavior were observed when comparing teacher-chosen and student-chosen contingency criteria; however, the teacher-chosen criteria condition led to overall lower levels of disruptive behavior and higher levels of academic engagement. Social validity assessments indicated that both the teachers and the students found the intervention to be acceptable.

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