Pcychology
in
the
Schools
Volume
22,
January.
1985
SELF-INSTRUCTION TRAINING:
A POTENTIAL TOOL FOR SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS
MARIAN
C.
FISH
AND ROSETTA PERVAN
The
Graduate
School
and University Cenier
of
ihe
City University
of
New
York
Self-instruction training is a cognitive-behavioral approach
to
self-control in which
children are taught to use covert speech to modify their own behavior. The potential
effectiveness
of
self-instruction training as an intervention technique for school psy-
chologists to enhance student academic and/or social behavior in the classroom
is
the
focus of this review. Research results addressing the practical issues of how, when, and
with whom to use this strategy, its generalizability, and its long-term and comparative
effectiveness are presented. Implications
for
further research in the schools are dis-
cussed.
School psychologists are continually looking for new and effective intervention
techniques
to
enhance student social and academic performance. Since the late 1950s,
behavior modification based on operant techniques has been used successfully by school
psychologists to improve children’s social and academic behavior. These behavioral
programs have been implemented by
external
agents such as school psychologists,
teachers, guidance counselors, or parents who control the contingencies. Recently, there
has been increasing interest in transferring this control from the external agent to the
child. The development of self-control, as it is called, involves teaching children
strategies to effectively modify their own behavior. In particular, cognitive behavioral
methods that emphasize the role of internal mediational processes in changing behavior
have been used. There have been several reviews of the research on the development of
self-control in children using these cognitive behavioral methods (Hobbs, Moguin,
Tyroler
&
Lahey, 1980; McLaughlin, 1976; O’Leary
&
Dubey, 1979; Rosenbaum
&
Drabman, 1979).
These self-control strategies are very appealing to school psychologists for a number
of reasons. First, if children can be taught to effectively control their own behavior, this
would reduce the amount of time and effort that teachers
(or
other external agents) are
spending on these tasks. Second, if self-control
or
mediational strategies can be learned
in
one area, the possibility of generalization to other areas and/or situations is present.
Third, the frequent criticism that behavior modification is intrusive in the natural en-
vironment would be eliminated by using self-control. Finally, the development
of
self-
control seems
to
be a goal advocated by almost all helping professionals, and is highly
valued
in
our
society.
Of the several self-control strategies that have been studied, e.g., self-observation,
self-recording, self-instruction, self-reinforcement, and problem solving, self-instruction
is of particular interest because of its rather straightforward nature. Self-instruction
training is often referred to as “teaching children to talk to themselves.” The child learns
to use covert speech in the form of verbal coping strategies to control overt behavior.
Some advantages
of
using this training technique have been suggested, including the
decreased professional time required, its inexpensive, portable nature, and the lack of
any reported negative side effects.
Reprint requests should be sent to Marian
C.
Fish, Educational Psychology, Graduate School
&
Univer-
sity Center of the City University
of
New
York,
33
W.
42nd St., New
York, NY
10036-8099.
83
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