Increasing Independent Seatwork: Breaking Large Assignments into Smaller Assignments and Teaching a Student with Retardation to Recruit Reinforcement

Abstract

A withdrawal design was used to evaluate the effects of a multicomponent intervention on independent seatwork and student-teacher interactions in a student with mild mental retardation. During the intervention phase, long assignments were changed to multiple, briefer assignments. After completing each brief assignment, the student recruited social reinforcement and the next brief assignment from the teacher. Results showed that this procedure increased the amount of independent seatwork the student completed without decreasing accuracy levels. Interaction data suggested that the intervention decreased teacher disapprovals and did not require additional teacher time. The discussion focuses on applied implications of the current study and plausible causal mechanisms that account for the current findings.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Monica A. Wallace

Monica A. Wallace is a Ph.D. Candidate at The University of Tennessee who is currently completing her internship. Her research interests include the identification and manipulation of variables that influence academic success, choice behavior, and assessment, prevention, and remediation of pre-school students.

Elizabeth A. Cox

Elizabeth A. Cox recently completed her Ph.D. in school psychology. She is currently working as a school psychologist in Eastern Tennessee. Her research interests include assessment of cognitive underpinning of reading skills and classroom modification procedure designed to enhance student academic performance.

Christopher H. Skinner

Christopher H. Skinner is Professor and Coordinator of School Psychology Programs at The University of Tennessee. His research interests include prevention and remediation of children's academic and social problems, applied experimental research, behavioral assessment, and applied behavioral analysis. He received his Ph.D. from Lehigh University in 1989 and is currently serving as co-editor of Journal of Behavioral Education.