Publication Date

1992

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Repp, Alan C.

Degree Name

M.S. Ed. (Master of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education

LCSH

Performance in children; Reinforcement (Psychology); Achievement motivation in children

Abstract

Two treatments were compared for this study — one being a consequential reinforcement-based, and the other a stimulus-based treatment. The consequential treatment employed was the Premack principle whereby the subjects earned their reinforcers contingent on task completion. The stimulus-based treatment used was an embedded strategy that involved embedding reinforcers within the task. The purpose of this study was to determine if either strategy could increase the performance levels of students operating within a negative reinforcement paradigm. The treatments were then compared to,determine which strategy was more effective. Reduction of inappropriate behavior and compliance to teacher requests were also investigated. Two male students attending a regular division junior high school served as the subjects. Both students performed academic tasks that were on their individualized educational programs. An alternating treatment design was used and the treatments were alternated at random. The results indicated that the stimulus-based embedded strategy was more effective in increasing academic behaviors and reducing inappropriate behaviors in both subjects. The consequential reinforcement-based strategy was also effective in increasing performance levels of both subjects, but not to the extent of the embedded strategy. The results have direct implications for educational programming for persons with developmental disabilities and suggest further research in the use of stimulus-based treatments in classroom settings.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-93)

Extent

vi, 93 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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