The Relation Between Task Demands and Student Behavior Problems During Reading Instruction: A Case Study

Abstract

Demand is placed on students in a variety of ways and, in some cases, affects whether or not a student engages in problem behavior. The authors' purpose in this study was to investigate the variables that influence demand and examine how changes in those variables affected a child's behavior. The authors used parametric design in which the difficulty of reading material was systematically changed with two correction procedures (i.e., instructional routines) model/test/delayed test and sound-out/test/delayed test. The authors recorded oral reading and problem behaviors under all experimental phases. The results showed an interaction between material difficulty and the instructional procedure implemented.

Keywords:

• correction procedures
• instructional demand
• response effort
• task demand