Collateral social development accompanying reinforcement of outdoor play in a preschool child.
Praising a preschooler for using outdoor gear can spark more peer talk and cut immature habits without extra lessons.
01Research in Context
What this study did
A preschool boy with developmental delay spent most recess time alone.
The teacher gave smiles, praise, and attention each time he climbed, slid, or swung.
Staff simply counted and reinforced his use of outdoor play equipment.
What they found
Motor play jumped.
At the same time the child talked and played more with peers.
Baby-like behaviors such as rocking and thumb-sucking dropped without anyone targeting them.
How this fits with other research
Lord et al. (1986) did the same thing but saw no social gains.
The difference: they used adult-led drills, not natural play plus social praise.
Zeiler (1969) got similar peer gains by showing kids a short film of friendly models, proving social increases can come from different doors.
Myers et al. (2015) later tested a full motor curriculum in preschoolers with autism; skills rose, yet social scores stayed flat, again hinting that simple reinforcement may be key.
Why it matters
You can grow two skills for the price of one. Pick a solitary child, pick a favorite playground item, and praise every use. Track minutes on equipment and check if peer chatter follows. If it does, you just saved hours of separate social training.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A 3-yr-old preschool girl with deficits in both motor and social repertoires was socially reinforced by teachers for use of outdoor play equipment, as a contribution to her motor skills and as a tactic to produce increased social contact with other children. Her use of outdoor play equipment, and various examples of her social interaction with both teachers and children were scored in the course of experimental development and analysis of her rate of equipment use. Equipment use increased greatly under the social reinforcement contingency; certain desirable examples of social interaction with other children showed a collateral development; other examples of adult-oriented development remained constant; and one class of undesirable baby-like behavior decreased markedly. Thus, the study provided a picture of what other behavior changes may take place in the course of behavior modification aimed at a single response class.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1968 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1968.1-167