This article discusses the use of behavior-specific praise (BSP), an effective technique for promoting prosocial behavior and managing classrooms. It addresses the criticism that BSP may reduce students' intrinsic motivation and offers directions on how to use BSP to provide students, especially those with challenging behaviors, with useful…

Students' misbehaviors at younger ages can lead to more significant issues at the high school level such as dropping out, drug and alcohol abuse, and incarceration. The purpose of this study was to examine high school students' perceptions of positive reinforcement and punishment practices in their high school's behavior system. Two specific…

In this article, we describe practical, usable ways teachers can build rapport with students, particularly students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. By establishing rapport, teachers can increase the effectiveness of the social and emotional learning curriculum and interventions delivered. Specifically, the warm welcomes,…

Teachers in contemporary elementary classrooms are adopting diverse teaching strategies to encourage learners' motivation and engagement. This study aimed to identify ways of enhancing students' motivation and engagement in religious education classes at elementary levels. The study employed a systematic review design, utilising an online search…

Effective use of classroom management practices is critical to creating positive classroom climates supporting students' academic and behavioral outcomes, and teachers in rural areas have a strong need for training in classroom management. One classroom management practice with significant support is behavior-specific praise (BSP). Research shows…

This study examined the role of positive and negative feedback on goal commitment and energy investment among English as a foreign language learners who experienced directed motivational currents (DMCs). To this purpose, a systematic methodology was used to identify language learners with a DMC experience (six students, four females, two males,…

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the impact of a novel multicomponent nutrition education program (United for Healthier Kids; U4HK) on the diet consumed during school lunch among preschool children. Methods: The program comprised four tools: hero plates, hero content, hero menus, and hero books and stickers. The program was implemented for 16…

Students' challenging classroom behaviour remains problematic in some primary schools, causing daily disruptions. In South Africa, alternatives for managing student behaviour have proven ineffective, leaving teachers to grapple in classrooms. To gain insights into "what teachers are doing to curtail the problem," fifteen teachers were…

This article provides a conceptual framework for using fixed-interval praise delivery in the educational setting. Fixed-interval praise delivery can be conceptualized as an antecedent-based strategy that disrupts the natural behavior to contingency relationship in a four-term contingency model (Establishing…

The current study describes the use of a procedure called the "potty party", an all-day toilet training method using basic learning principles of "errorless" discrimination with 3 children with incontinence diagnosed with autism. At the start of treatment days, each participant was greeted and prompted to request the bathroom.…

Behavior analysts and educators often recommend using praise, particularly descriptive praise, despite mixed empirical findings to support this recommendation. We evaluated the effectiveness of praise as a reinforcer during a reinforcer assessment using known tasks with preschoolers in Experiment 1. Praise functioned as a reinforcer for 2 of 6…

The quality of the relationship that develops between a student and teacher has been connected to pivotal instructional and behavioral outcomes for students. The student-teacher relationship can specifically be harnessed to reduce minor behavioral infractions. However, it is an element of the learning environment that is often overlooked. This…

The precision request (PR) is a semi-scripted request sequence incorporating antecedent and consequence procedures designed to improve compliance. In a previous study, we demonstrated that PR can increase the compliance of students receiving special education services under the category of emotional disturbance (ED). However, the PR includes a…

The present study evaluated the effects of two reinforcement contingencies on teacher use of behavior-specific praise (BSP) in the classroom. An alternating treatments design was used to compare the implementation of both an independent and interdependent contingency to increase frequency of BSP delivery. Four general education elementary school…

In Experiment I, I tested the effects of a vicarious reinforcement procedure on the establishment of conditioned reinforcement for observing books (CR+ for observing books) using a pre- and post-intervention embedded with a multiple probe design across two dyads. All four participants could textually respond to kindergarten or first-grade level…