Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Evaluating The Independent Group Contingency: “Mystery Student” On Improving Behaviors In Head Start Classrooms, Jamie Pasqua

Master's Theses

An increasing number of preschool children exhibit challenging behavior in the classroom. Head Start children are particularly at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders due to numerous risk factors. Unfortunately, some preschool teachers are ill equipped to manage the challenging behaviors that preschool children exhibit. The current study investigated the effects of the group contingency, “Mystery Student,” on improving preschool classroom behaviors. The Mystery Student intervention is a novel, independent group contingency, with an added randomized component. An ABAB reversal design was employed to determine how effective the Mystery Student intervention was at decreasing the disruptive behaviors and increasing the …