The effects of interdependent group contingencies on the academic performance of students with serious emotional disturbances : randomizing target behaviors, criteria, and reinforcers

This investigation examined the effects of randomizing components in an interdependent group contingency program for academic assignment accuracy of five Seriously Emotionally Disturbed (SED) male students in a self-contained multi-grade classroom in southeastern United States. A multiple baseline design across target behaviors was used to evaluate the effects of the group contingency program on students' academic performance (i.e., independent seatwork assignments in spelling, mathematics, and English). The design included four phases. During baseline, no additional consequences were received for academic performance. During the randomized interdependent group contingency intervention phases in spelling, mathematics, and English, students received access to rewards contingent upon the average performance on independent seatwork assignments. For all interventions, rewards were randomly selected, as were the criteria for earning the reward. Results suggest that all three intervention phases were successful in increasing the classwide average percent correct data for all three subjects.