Classroom Training of Conversational Skills and Remote Programming for the Practice of These Skills in Another Setting

Abstract

The initiation of conversation, particularly with "other directed" topics, appears to be an important prosocial behavior for children and adults alike. This study investigated the feasibility of training conversational skills as a part of an elementary classroom curriculum, and then programming for the practice of these skills with classmates in a lunchroom setting through a remote feedback system. It was found that new conversational repetoires could be trained using small group training sessions, and that their use during the lunch period could be maintained through delayed, intermittent feedback. The conversational changes between the pre- and post-training lunch periods were socially validated with judges who viewed a random selection of videotapes of the classmates, and rated their post-training conversation more appropriate, positive, and effective in drawing others into conversation. These findings suggest that complex prosocial repertoires can be taught rather economically in a classroom using small group training, and that generalization of the repertoires may be promoted by the practice of these skills in other settings where no direct intervention is programmed.