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Evaluation of increasing antecedent specificity in goal statements on adherence to positive behavior‐management strategies
Author(s) -
Cohrs Corey M.,
Shriver Mark D.,
Burke Raymond V.,
Allen Keith D.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1002/jaba.321
Subject(s) - praise , antecedent (behavioral psychology) , psychology , multiple baseline design , goal setting , behavior change , behavior management , contingency management , baseline (sea) , reinforcement , developmental psychology , goal orientation , clinical psychology , positive behavior support , applied psychology , social psychology , intervention (counseling) , psychiatry , oceanography , geology
We evaluated the impact of antecedent specificity in goal statements on adherence to positive behavior‐management strategies. Teaching staff were recruited from 2 different school settings where there were routine expectations to use behavior‐specific praise in the classroom, but adherence was poor. In a concurrent multiple baseline design, the use of behavior‐specific praise by 4 participants was found to be unaffected by goal statements that increasingly specified the behavior to be used and the conditions under which the behavior should occur. However, adherence by 3 of the 4 participants did change when goal statements included teacher‐specified frequencies with which the behavior should occur. Results were systematically replicated in a second study in which, in a concurrent multiple baseline design, 3 participants showed marked increases in adherence when goal statements specified the target behavior, the conditions under which it should occur, and the frequency with which it should occur.