Graduate Program

School Psychology

Degree Name

Specialist in School Psychology

Semester of Degree Completion

1998

Thesis Director

Kevin Jones

Abstract

Whether teachers find a reinforcer based on a functional assessment more acceptable than an arbitrarily selected reinforcer was investigated. Participants consisted of 94 elementary school teachers from 11 (8 rural, 3 suburban) schools in Illinois. Teachers were asked to complete the Intervention Rating Profile-15 after reading one of the three problem vignettes that described a common behavior problem that was maintained by peer attention. In one condition the proposed treatment included peer attention as a reward; the two remaining conditions included teacher attention and tangible items as rewards. A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant preference for the treatments based on peer attention. There was a significant correlation between acceptability and the reported likelihood of using the intervention. The implications of these results for school-based consultation are discussed.

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