Analysis of the relative efficacy of self-monitoring and feedback in the development of emotion adjectives with hearing-impaired persons.

The team taught deaf and hard-of-hearing adults to count how often they said feeling words like "happy" or "angry" during chats.

Each person got a small counter. They clicked once every time they used an emotion word. Staff gave praise and tips after each talk.

The study used a multiple-baseline design across participants. Conversations were taped before, during, and after training.

Self-monitoring alone pushed emotion-word use up to the same level as hearing peers.

Gains showed up right after training started and stayed high when staff faded the clicks.

Leif et al. (2026) later showed that self-monitoring without rewards fails to boost task engagement in people with IDD. The 1988 study seems to disagree, but the targets differ: emotion words are easy to notice and naturally get social praise, while seatwork does not.

Herrnstein et al. (1979) found that self-monitoring raised on-task math work in hearing kids. The 1988 paper extends that idea to a new population and a new skill—social language.

Duker et al. (1991) added that bigger, clunkier counters create more reactivity. The 1988 study kept the device small, yet still worked, likely because social praise acted as extra fuel.

If you serve deaf or hard-of-hearing clients, try a pocket counter and quick praise for feeling words. No extra tokens needed—the social payoff seems to do the job. Start in structured chats, then move to everyday conversations.