The effect of a covert behavioral self-control procedure on the on-task behavior of elementary school children : a time series analysis

In this investigation, five students in each of three groups were used to investigate the effect of in-structions to engage in Covert Positive Reinforcement(CPR) on the on-task behavior (OTB) of elementary schoolchildren. The effect of a covert modeling control procedure was also investigated. Group I was exposed to anABAB sequence of conditions, in which the A condition were baseline conditions, and the B conditions were CPRconditions. Group II was exposed to an ABACA sequence, in which the A conditions were baseline conditions, the Condition was a CPR condition in which CPR was implemented in a classroom situation with all students in the classroom,and the C condition was a CPR condition in which the CPRprocedure was implemented in a small group situation (three students received CPR, while two received an Attention-Control procedure). Group III was exposed to an ABACDE sequence of conditions. The A conditions were baseline conditions, and the B condition was a covert modeling control condition, in which the covert modeling procedure was imple-mented in a classroom situation, with all students partici-pating. The C condition was a covert modeling condition in which the covert modeling procedure was implemented in a small group setting. The D condition was a CPR condition in which CPR was implemented in a small group setting,while the E condition involved CPR procedures which were administered on an individual basis. During the CPR and covert modeling control conditions, the students were asked to rate how clearly they could imagine the covert images.

Data analysis procedures included the use of an Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average time series analysis procedure, and a Shewhart Chart analysis procedure. A secondary purpose of this investigation was to demonstrate the use of these complimentary procedures in the evaluation of behavior therapy programs. Additionally, a Kendall's Tau coefficient was computed between each student's ratings of image clarity and changes in OTB from baseline to CPR or the covert modeling control condition.

The results of this investigation for Groups I, II, and III indicated no clear effect for any of the CPR or covert modeling control conditions. There were, however, some indications of the presence of possible trends toward an effect for CPR in Group I, but any interpretation of these possible trends was obscured by an insufficient number of days in each CPR condition. None of the Tau coefficients were significant, indicating the absence of a relationship between subjective ratings of image clarity and changes in OTB for this group of students. The results were dis- cussed in terms of several factors which might have resulted in the lack of significant changes in OTB due to CPR. Suggestions were made as to how these factors might be controlled in subsequent CPR studies.