Graduation Year

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

Degree Granting Department

Child and Family Studies

Major Professor

Catia Cividini-Motta, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Kimberly Crosland, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Natalie Mandel, Ph.D.

Keywords

accumulated reinforcers, distributed reinforcers, off-task behavior, classroom management, , disruptive behavior

Abstract

Though effective classroom management can increase student academic achievement and decrease disruptive behavior (e.g., Beaman & Wheldall, 2000; Marzano et al., 2003), many classroom teachers receive inadequate training on effective classroom management strategies (Reinke et al., 2011; U.S. Department of education 2000). Reinforcement-based interventions using differing reinforcer arrangements (e.g., accumulated, distributed) have been shown to be effective at reducing disruptive behavior (Fulton et al., 2019; Robinson & St. Peter, 2019); however, previous studies have not evaluated the relative efficacy of different reinforcer arrangements as teacher implemented classroom management strategies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of accumulated and distributed reinforcer arrangements, used within a classroom setting, on decreasing disruptive and increasing on-task behavior. Results indicated that the accumulated arrangement led to a greater reduction in off-task behavior for both participants.

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