Token Economies - Applications of Principles of Learning and Behaviour - Essay Example

? Token Economies Applications of Principles of Learning and Behaviour [Pick the Intervention is researched to be a distinct and deliberate mechanism of introducing the concept of change (regarding any object or situation) into peoples' opinions, behaviours and feelings. The aim of intervention has a positive side that enables a person to directly confront their changed opinions in a less threatening way and how they actually react to these self-destructive behaviours, affecting them and the people around (Edwards et al., 1995). Intervention is regarded as a respectful and neutral way of allowing people to see through their own behaviours, assess themselves on different ground supported by factual information and its affect on their lives and personality (Hazelden.org). It offers help to self destructive persons by enabling them to listen and think. Self monitoring, a well recognized type of intervention is now frequently used within general to special class of students as an effective intervention that is found to increase their academic performance and thereby enhancing self control (Harris et al., 2005). Self monitoring is that type of behaviour intervention that is used in context to recording behaviours of one’s own self (Kerr & Nelson, 2006). Self-monitoring approaches have two common types. The first one is attending to one’s own behaviours, measuring and recording them known as SMA - self-monitoring of attention, whereas the second one is attending to one’s own academic based performance, measure and recording them known as SMP - self-monitoring of performance (Maag et al. 1993). On an average research studies have clearly shown the increased significance and effectiveness of SMP rather than SMA when assessed on various tasks (Reid and Harris, 1993). While on the other hand when the hyperactivity disorders are studied, SMA is found to show more improvements in learning and memorizing spelling than SMP (Harris et al. 2005). Another study recognized the academic performance, memorizing speed, accuracy and productivity of general or special up to nine grade students is found to be increased by applying self monitoring intervention, behaviourally and academically (Todd, Horner and Sugai, 1999). The students who have difficulties in learning, keeping pace with the academic curricula and face academic and behavioural difficulties in understanding are taught with self monitoring interventions (Carr & Punzo, 1993). With strategies of self monitoring interventions, the students are enabled to perform and improve their academic and behavioural abilities and recognize their talents and capacities to perform act and recognize their own behaviours (Hoff and DuPaul, 1998). These are considered to be the most useful, effective, organized, simple and easy to implement and monitor strategies for students facing learning and behavioural difficulties. Self monitoring is therefore offered from the preschool age and continuing up to the adulthood and helps in enhancing the innate cognitive functioning and independent functioning through self help. According to yet another study, positive feedback and improvements have been drawn and recorded after the implementation of self monitoring strategies behavioural interventions by elementary school teachers among disabled students. These studies are conducted in school setting therefore they are regarded as interventions. The method involved in the first study was selecting five students as the target objects having some types of disabilities and according to the ACT REACT paradigm, they were exposed to solve maths questions by their teachers which they found problematic, that was their main area of problem identified as lack of engagement. This study was conducted in an elementary school setting and these five children were seated among 21 other students in a fourth-fifth grade multi-age group classrooms attended by a teacher and an instructor who taught the students different math principles for different time lengths mostly 5-15 min/new skill. The performance was recorded and stored by the students as well as the teachers in a printed ACT REACT self monitoring MS Word sheet. This process went in for 5 months, 4 days a week from 2003-2004 (Rock and Thead, 2007). Two interventions that were used were ACT RAECT self monitoring strategies and recording of assessment on sheets. The results showed incredible performance results. On the whole, there were seen improvements in engagements abilities of these five students with more or less in other areas. The findings of these interventions concluded the same results with previous researches with improvements in areas of learning, reading and engagement skills. The productivity of the targeted class had been found to increase (bray, et al., 1998). The results indicated that ACT REACT approach to self monitoring intervention is effective whilst studying general to special case students with disabilities in a class setting (Rock and Thead, 2007). The only limitation is the scant literature and research work on self monitoring intervention in addition to potential bias data collection. The second study is a case study that comprises of five ease steps including the identification of targeted behaviour, selection of a self-monitoring design, selection of reinforces and their impact on students learning, enable students to learn he system and lastly fading role of adult included in intervention (Dunlap, 1995). The study composed of self monitoring intervention encircled around and 11 year old student named Scott who had been suffering from emotional behaviour disorder. The self monitoring strategy thus applied was to increase hand raising and making appropriate and responsible comments from Scott that was the problem previously. A behavioural plan was developed pursuing self monitoring intervention. The teachers only answered questions that were followed by hand-raising and she reinforced his behaviour rather than punishing and helped in reducing undesired behaviour. Checklists, charts, wrist counters and various other tools were used for assessing self monitoring intervention (Rock and Thead, 2007). The students enjoyed this drill of pressing on wrist counters and this way they were motivated to learn. The students were also reinforced on coming to the teacher to get their data checked to avoid undesired behaviours. Constant monitoring was ensured to confirm accuracy. The results of these interventions were effective in acquiring the desired behaviour from Scott and reducing the undesired one effectively followed by decrease in talking in class and increased hand-raising driven class participation (Dunlap, 1995). The third study included three staff members and two students (Hispanics). The students had language impairment disabilities. The classroom setting (public school setting) was of special group of students, of which two Hispanic students were studied. The study was based on increasing procedural integrity by introducing feedback performance and negative reinforcement by the elementary school teachers. An increase in integrity is negatively related to the student’s low incidence problem behaviour. The overall aim was to identify the effects of procedural integrity whilst observing token economy implementation by ECSE classroom staff and how the students responded to these manipulations in academic behaviours. The three stages include of pre-training, training and implementation. The results showed that self monitoring can effectively increase the token economy implementation when observed in a public school setting (Dunlap and Dunlap, 1989). The positive outcomes of this study included post training sessions with every little external aid for increasing procedural integrity. Studying these interventions, the students were found to show efficacy in academic readiness behaviours. Thus the use of self monitoring designs as interventions in school settings is found to have a positive effect on increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of implementation (Reid, 1996). References Hazelden.org (n.d.). What is an intervention? -- Hazelden. Retrieved from http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/faqintervention.page Rock, M. L., & Thead, B. K. (2007). The effects of fading a strategic self-monitoring intervention on students’ academic engagement, accuracy, and productivity. Journal of Behavioural Education, 16(4), 389-412 Todd, A. W., Horner, R. H., & Sugai, G. (1999). Self-Monitoring and Self-Recruited Praise Effects on Problem Behaviour, Academic Engagement, and Work Completion in a Typical Classroom. Journal of Positive Behaviour Interventions, 1(2), 66-122. Bray, M. A., Kehle, T. J., Spackman, V. S., & Hintze, J. M. (1998). An intervention program to increase reading fluency. Special Services in the Schools, 14(1-2), 105-125. Carr, S. C., & Punzo, R. P. (1993). The effects of self-monitoring of academic accuracy and productivity on the performance of students with behavioural disorders. Behaviour Disorders, 18, 241–250. Dunlap, G. (1995). Self-monitoring of classroom behaviors with students exhibiting emotional and behavioural challenges. School Psychology Quarterly,10(2), 165-77. Dunlap, L. K., & Dunlap, G. (1989). A self-monitoring package for teaching subtraction with regrouping to students with learning disabilities. Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis, 22, 309–314. Edwards, L., Salant, V., Howard, V. F., Brougher, J., & McLaughlin, T. F. (1995). Effectiveness of self-management on attention behaviour and reading comprehension for children with attention deficit disorder. Child & Family Behaviour Therapy, 17(2), 1–17. Harris, K. R., Friedlander, B. D., Saddler, B., Frizzelle, R., & Graham, S. (2005). Self-Monitoring of Attention Versus Self-Monitoring of Academic Performance Effects Among Students with ADHD in the General Education Classroom. The Journal of Special Education, 39(3), 145-157. Hoff, K. E., & DuPaul, G. J. (1998). Reducing disruptive behaviour in general education classrooms: The use of self-management strategies. School Psychology Review, 27(2), 290-303. Kerr, M. M., & Nelson, C. M. (2006). Strategies for addressing behavior problems in the classroom. Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall. Maag, J. W., Rutherford, R. B., & Digangi, S. A. (1993). Effects of self?monitoring and contingent reinforcement on on?task behaviour and academic productivity of learning?disabled students: A social validation study. Psychology in the Schools, 29(2), 157-172. Reid, R. (1996). Research in self-monitoring with students with learning disabilities: The present, the prospects, the pitfalls. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(3), 317-331. Reid, R., & Harris, K. R. (1993). Self-monitoring of attention versus self-monitoring of performance: Effects on attention and academic performance. Exceptional Children. Read More