A Comparison of Individual and Group Contingencies on Spelling Performance with Special Education Students

Abstract

The effects of individual and group contingencies on the spelling accuracy of 10 special education students were assessed in a counterbalanced multiple-baseline design. Experimental manipulations were introduced at random. During the Baseline condition no consequence for accuracy in spelling was provided. With the Group Contingency, pupils earned points based on accuracy and exchanged them for activity back-up reinforcers based on the average performance of the group. During the Individual Contingency arrangement, the same point totals were awarded by "yoking" pupils to the group behavioral criteria. The results revealed superior accuracy during the group contingency by all 10 pupils. Differences in student preferences with respect to the two contingency arrangements were not found. Negative peer comments were low over the duration of the experiment. The findings were discussed in terms of east of implementation in a special classroom setting and research data from other studies were provided.