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EFFECTS OF INFORMATIONAL PROMPTS ON ENERGY CONSERVATION IN COLLEGE CLASSROOMS
Author(s) -
Luyben Paul D.
Publication year - 1980
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.1980.13-611
Subject(s) - psychology , energy (signal processing) , mathematics education , energy conservation , applied psychology , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , medical education , ecology , medicine , statistics , mathematics , biology
A multiple‐baseline design was used with two target classroom groups (n = 28 and 27) in a study to reduce electrical energy waste in college classrooms. A dittoed letter, signed by a faculty member, was sent to each professor in the prompt condition. In the letter the professor was informed that he or she taught prior to an unscheduled period and was asked to turn off lights following the class. The results showed that after the prompt, the percentage of rooms with lights turned off increased by 13% and 6% in each target group. A further analysis of the 10 classrooms that had the lowest baseline rates of turning lights off indicated a 30% increase after the prompt. This study indicates that a minimum prompt procedure was effective in reducing electrical energy waste. The further significance of these results are also discussed.