Study Summary
This study explored the effects of having a peer help to mediate a positive behavior support plan designed for a student exhibiting internalizing behaviors and demonstrating risk for social and academic failure. The intervention process began with functional behavior assessment (FBA), from which the function of behavior was hypothesized to be escape/avoidance. FBA results were then matched with an individualized positive behavior support plan (PBSP), founded on a self-management procedure with social skills instruction designed to meet specific student needs. A single subject ABAB design was used to evaluate the intervention. During all intervention phases, the student's socially appropriate classroom behavior exceeded the mean of comparison students from his classroom, and his work completion rate exceeded that required by the teacher. This marked improvement was maintained through systematic fading of reinforcement. Interobserver agreement, which was assessed for 25 percent of the sessions, averaged 90 percent, with a range of 84 percent to 98 percent. The procedure was found to be socially valid according to the teacher, the student, and the peer who participated.
Presentations
Two presentations were given concerning participation of peers in helping students with internalizing behavior. The following links allow the presentations to be viewed as they took place at the conferences.
- Poster presented at the 30th annual Applied Behavior Analysis Convention by Lynnette Christensen and K. Richard Young. peer_mediated_poster.pdf
- Presentation given at the 26th annual TECBD National Conference by Lynnette Christensen, K. Richard Young, Michelle Marchant, and Janet Young. TECBD2002PeerMediated.pdf