Abstract
The purposes of our study were: (a) to train a set of observationally determined social behaviors via peer initiation; (b) to determine if effects generalized across classroom settings and to directly intervene if generalization did not occur; and (c) to analyze components of the peer-initiation intervention. After baseline, nonhandicapped preschool children (confederates) were taught to direct social initiations to the three handicapped preschool-aged students. Teachers prompted the confederates to engage the students in social interaction when necessary and rewarded the confederates with tokens. Confederates' initiations to the students resulted in increased frequencies of positive social interaction. There was no generalization to other classroom settings, and the intervention was subsequently implemented in a second and third classroom. Next, the confederates' token reinforcement system was withdrawn, with no apparent deleterious effects on the confederates' or students' social interactions. When teachers substantially reduced their prompts to the confederates, students' social interactions decreased. Finally, reinstatement of teacher prompts resulted in increases in the confederates' social initiations and, consequently, the positive social interactions of the students.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Greenwood C. R., Walker H. M., Todd N. M., Hops H. Normative and descriptive analysis of preschool free play social interaction rates. J Pediatr Psychol. 1981 Dec;6(4):343–367. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/6.4.343. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hartmann D. P. Considerations in the choice of interobserver reliability estimates. J Appl Behav Anal. 1977 Spring;10(1):103–116. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1977.10-103. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johnston J. M., Johnston G. T. Modification of consonant speech-sound articulation in young children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1972 Fall;5(3):233–246. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1972.5-233. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Odom S. L., Strain P. S. Peer-mediated approaches to promoting children's social interaction: a review. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 1984 Oct;54(4):544–557. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.1984.tb01525.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- doi: 10.1901/jaba.1979.12-308. [DOI] [PMC free article] [Google Scholar]
- Stokes T. F., Baer D. M. An implicit technology of generalization. J Appl Behav Anal. 1977 Summer;10(2):349–367. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1977.10-349. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stokes T. F., Doud C. L., Rowbury T. G., Baer C. M. Peer facilitation of generalization in a preschool classroom. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 1978 Jun;6(2):203–209. doi: 10.1007/BF00919125. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Strain P. S. An experimental analysis of peer social initiations on the behavior of withdrawn preschool children: some training and generalization effects. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 1977 Dec;5(4):445–455. doi: 10.1007/BF00915092. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Strain P. S. Identification of social skill curriculum targets for severely handicapped children in mainstream preschools. Appl Res Ment Retard. 1983;4(4):369–382. doi: 10.1016/0270-3092(83)90036-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Strain P. S., Kerr M. M., Ragland E. U. Effects of peer-mediated social initiations and prompting/reinforcement procedures on the social behavior of autistic children. J Autism Dev Disord. 1979 Mar;9(1):41–54. doi: 10.1007/BF01531291. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Strain P. S., Shores R. E., Timm M. A. Effects of peer social initiations on the behavior of withdrawn preschool children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1977 Summer;10(2):289–298. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1977.10-289. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Van Houten R. Social valdiation: the evolution of standards of competency for target behaviors. J Appl Behav Anal. 1979 Winter;12(4):581–591. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1979.12-581. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wahler R. G. Child-child interactions in free field settings: some experimental analyses. J Exp Child Psychol. 1967 Jun;5(2):278–293. doi: 10.1016/0022-0965(67)90013-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]