Temporal Generalization of Self-Regulation Effects in Under-Controlled Children

Abstract

Four sixth-grade boys described as disruptive and undercontrolled by their teachers and ranging from 11 to 12 years old served in a set of four intensive studies. The basic design of each study was A-B-A-B-A-C-A-C-A where A = Baseline, B = Contrived Self-reinforcement, and C = Natural Self-reinforcement. The first Baseline phase ran 10 days. The final Baseline phase ran 40 days, and all other phases were 5 days in length. Contrived Self-reinforcement included an auditory cue for self-observation, self-recording, self-instructions, and self-administration of pennies and verbal reinforcement. Natural Self-reinforcement included a simplified system of self-recording, self-instructions, and self-administration of verbal reinforcers. Each subject demonstrated clear treatment effects. Summarizing across all four, the median improvement during Contrived Self-reinforcement was 184% for On-task (the target behavior) and 100% for Worksheets Completed (the generalization behavior). During Natural Self-reinforcement median improvement was 194% for On-task and 250% for Worksheets Completed, the second behavior serving as the target during this second treatment condition. During the two-month follow-up temporal generalization occurred for the first month and then disappeared: for On-task median performance = 205% improved in first month and 90% worse in second month; for Worksheets Completed performance = 462% improved in first month and 75% worse in second month, all of the preceding comparisons having been made against performances in the initial two weeks of Baseline. The boys tended to use the self-reinforcement operations very reliably.