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DEVELOPING POSITIVE SOCIAL‐EMOTIONAL BEHAVIORS: A STUDY OF TRAINING AND GENERALIZATION EFFECTS 1
Author(s) -
P.Cooke Thomas,
Apolloni Tony
Publication year - 1976
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 - 10.1901/jaba.1976.9-65
Subject(s) - multiple baseline design , generalization , psychology , praise , generality , developmental psychology , session (web analytics) , psychological intervention , reinforcement , behavior change , clinical psychology , audiology , intervention (counseling) , social psychology , psychotherapist , medicine , psychiatry , mathematical analysis , mathematics , world wide web , computer science
Four handicapped children were taught four positive social‐emotional behaviors: smiling, sharing, positive physical contacting, and verbal complimenting, using instructions, modelling, and praise. Rates of these behaviors were shown to increase in four trained subjects using a within‐subject multiple‐baseline experimental design. The generality of the behavior change was investigated by integrating three untrained subjects with the trained subjects in a setting free of adult‐imposed contingencies and through a series of follow‐up observations. Three trained subjects evidenced collateral increases in the generalization setting on at least one other behavior when training in smiling was conducted. One trained subject showed generalization session increases for each behavior when training was conducted to increase that behavior. All three untrained subjects demonstrated increased rates of smiling and sharing when interventions were conducted to increase those behaviors with the trained subjects. There was no appreciable generalization of verbal complimenting by either the trained or the untrained subjects. Both trained and untrained subjects generally maintained their increased rates of smiling, sharing, and positive physical contacting across four weeks of follow‐up observations.