Disruptive behavior in a classroom setting has the potential to interrupt the learning for all of the students within that classroom setting. As the volume of this behavior increases, teachers are required to spend more time managing behaviors instead of implementing quality instructional practices. Interdependent group contingencies are an…

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at greater risk for reading difficulties, and for many children, the promotion of reading fluency is an appropriate intervention goal. However, few studies have specifically examined the use of repeated reading (RR) with young children with ASD. The present study used a RR intervention in…

A lot of progress has been made in understanding the impact of social and emotional skill building on young children and their ability to engage in expected school behavior. While much of this progress has been directed through the implementation of tiered intervention provided through a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS)…

A recent intervention, the Step it UP! game (Galbraith & Normand, 2017), consists of an interdependent group contingency to increase student physical activity. In addition, previous research demonstrated that adult interaction may reinforce physical activity (Larson et al., 2014). We extended research on the Step it UP! game by comparing the…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a simple contingency contracting intervention on the correct use of punctuation marks in freely produced texts by elementary school children with learning disabilities. This approach can be considered a promising strategy for facilitating the development of academic skills in…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often have difficulties initiating and maintaining reciprocal conversations with others. In this study, we examined if an interdependent group contingency would improve reciprocal conversation of children with ASD when they were paired as conversational partners. We also assessed children's social…

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an effective intervention to reduce disruptive behavior. The GBG typically involves immediate stimulus presentation (e.g., delivery of a token) following disruptions; however, experimenters have also removed tokens contingent upon disruptions. In the present study, we compared the effects of the GBG-stimulus…

More than half of students in the USA perform below a proficient level in math. Although evidence suggests that intervention in elementary school is critical to supporting struggling learners, and there are several research-supported instructional practices to support students with math difficulties, the existing research is limited with regard to…

We conducted a preliminary investigation of a randomized dependent group contingency to decrease disruptive behavior during hallway transitions. Two first-graders, identified by their classroom teacher, participated in this study. A multiple baseline across transitions was used to evaluate the effects of the randomized dependent group contingency…

Several studies have suggested that contingent adult imitation increase nonverbal communication, such as attention and proximity to adults, in children with autism spectrum disorders. However, few studies have shown the effect of contingent imitation on verbal communication. This study examined whether children with autism were able to promote…

Students may engage in behavior during instruction that impacts the acquisition of skills. Intervening on student behavior using group contingencies may be more efficacious than other intervention methods. Directly programming for generalization of treatment effects may increase the durability of behavior change and further increase the efficacy…

Math fact fluency is critical for understanding complex mathematics. Explicit timing interventions have shown promise for improving math fluency, and they may benefit from being paired with group-oriented contingencies. Further, investigations of independent and dependent group-oriented contingencies would help to identify their relative…

Group contingencies (GCs) vary in a variety of dimensions that may influence their efficacy and acceptability. This study evaluated the relative impact of four different GC types (independent, interdependent, dependent, and randomized) on classwide appropriate and disruptive student behaviors as well as how implementation of a teacher's preferred…

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a universal prevention program designed to increase academic engagement and to decrease disruptive behavior in elementary school-age children. Teachers and other school personnel use interdependent group contingencies to improve students' behavior in the classroom. Previous research indicates the GBG is efficacious…

As the number of children affected by obesity increases in the United States, it is necessary to intervene with preventive and intervention techniques that will enact change. Because children spend a significant amount of their time in school, it is of particular interest to target strategies during the school day. Given the recommendations for…