Psychology
in
the Schools
Volume
31.
April
1994
GOAL SETTING, RESPONSIBILITY TRAINING, AND FIXED RATIO
EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL SETTING
REINFORCEMENT: TEN-MONTH APPLICATION TO STUDENTS WITH
WILLIAM
J.
RUTH
Board
of
Cooperative Educational Services
Southern Westchester, New York
Reviews of treatment strategies
for
students with emotional disturbance (ED) have
noted that most studies (a) do not involve entire classes
or
groups
of
classes, (b) are
not conducted in public schools, and (c) do not report data for an entire 10-month
school year (September to June). This study applied goal setting
(GS),
responsibility
training (RT), and fixed ratio reinforcement (FRR) to three classes
of
students with
ED in a public elementary school from September to June.
GS
included daily, weekly,
and monthly goals
for
behavior and work earnings mints). RT included a level system
with different reinforcers and privileges
for
each level, and nonisolated time out with
problem solving. FRR included reward contingencies
for
behavior and work earn-
ings. Data for
10
months indicated that (a) goals were consistently earned at high
levels, (b) the percentage
of
students attaining higher RT levels progressively increased,
and (c) time-out levels progressively decreased, with yearend spikes below prior peak
levels. Findings supported the
use
of
GS,
RT, and FRR for students with ED
in
public
school to encourage appropriate behavior and work effort over
10
months. Method
limitations and research implications are discussed.
A variety
of
treatment strategies have been applied to students classified as seriously
emotionally disturbed (SED), emotionally disturbed (ED), and behaviorally disordered
(BD). In general, literature reviews support the efficacy of school-based treatment
for
this population, but recommend improvement in research methodology (see Schloss,
Schloss, Wood,
&
Kiehl, 1986; Singh, Deitz, Epstein,
&
Singh, 1991; Skiba
&
Casey,
1985; Skiba, Casey,
&
Center, 1986,
for
review). In addition, few studies have been
conducted with this population in public school settings over extended time periods (see
Singh et al., 1991). Specifically, most studies (a) do not involve entire classes
or
groups
of
classes
of
students with ED, (b) are not conducted in public schools, and (c) do not
report data
for
an entire 10-month school year (September to June).
This study involved a 10-month treatment application across three classes of students
with ED in a public elementary school. In addition, two strategies employed, goal setting
and responsibility training, offer new contributions for this population. First, goal setting
(Locke, 1968; Locke
&
Latham, 1984), a motivational technique studied in industrial
settings, has not been applied to students with
ED
to encourage appropriate behavior
and work effort. Second, responsibility training (Naylor, 1989), a school-based treat-
ment program that combines Glasser’s (1986, 199Oc) control theory with cognitive-
behavior therapy, has received sparse empirical support. Last, fixed ratio reinforcement
was employed because
of
its high predictability and high resistance to response extinc-
tion (Ferster
&
Skinner, 1957; Reese, 1978).
The author is grateful
for
the dedication and assistance of the BOCES staff involved in this project: Nancy
Fraher. Pam Jacobs, Kathy Leary, Marilynn Pam, Randy Foster, Elaine Archibald, Anne Vitiello, Emily
Castracucco, and Rick Pfeiffer.
Correspondence and requests
for
reprints should be sent to William
J.
Ruth,
280
North Central Avenue,
Suite
135,
Hartsdale, New York
10530.
146
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