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Goal setting and behavior contracting for students with emotional and behavioral difficulties: Analysis of daily, weekly, and total goal attainment
Author(s) -
Ruth William J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6807(199604)33:2<153::aid-pits8>3.0.co;2-s
Subject(s) - psychology , goal setting , goal orientation , behavior change , contingency , contingency management , developmental psychology , aggression , behavior management , applied psychology , social psychology , intervention (counseling) , linguistics , philosophy , psychiatry
Goal setting and behavior contracting were combined for students with emotional and behavioral difficulties in a public elementary school. Attainment for daily, weekly, and total contract goals were analyzed over 5 years across 43 special education students. Goal setting involved goal specificity, goal difficulty, goal acceptance, and performance feedback. Behavior contracts involved a main goal, target behavior, recording, feedback, and reward contingency. Contracts focused on low‐frequency behaviors to be increased (e.g., cooperation), or high‐frequency behaviors to be decreased (e.g., aggression). Mean completion time for contracts was 6.4 weeks. Results indicated high and consistent attainment percentages for daily (75%), weekly (72%), and total (86%) contract goals. Findings suggest that the motivational aspects of behavior contracting and goal setting may combine to produce maximum success for students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Limitations and implications are discussed. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.