The effects of prompting and feedback on drivers' stopping at stop signs.
A volunteer holding a “Please Stop—Thank You” poster more than tripled complete stops at a campus intersection.
01Research in Context
What this study did
A student volunteer stood beside a campus stop sign holding a poster that read “Please Stop—Thank You.”
Researchers counted how many drivers made a full stop. They also watched an untreated stop sign nearby.
The team used an ABA design: baseline, poster, then back to baseline again.
What they found
With the poster, full stops jumped from 13% to 52%.
When the poster left, stops dropped back to 15%.
The untreated sign also gained some stops, moving from 10% to 24%, showing light generalization.
How this fits with other research
VanHouten et al. (2022) later scaled the same idea city-wide. They paired feedback signs with brief police enforcement and doubled driver yielding at crosswalks. The 2006 poster was a one-corner pilot; the 2022 study proves the tactic travels.
Christopher et al. (1991) tested public posting on speeding in Iceland. A daily “% not speeding” sign cut average speeds by 5 km/hr. Both studies use simple visual feedback to shift driver habits, just aimed at different rules.
Therrien et al. (2005) swapped drivers for restaurant staff. A door chime plus manager feedback lifted greetings from 6% to 100%. The same prompt-plus-feedback package tripled behavior in two worlds—meals and motors.
Why it matters
You can boost compliance anywhere with a clear prompt and quick “thank you.” Try a sign, a sticker, or a spoken cue followed by immediate praise. One volunteer and a poster changed half the drivers in an afternoon—no tech, no tokens, no budget. Pick a low-rate behavior, add a prompt, give fast feedback, and watch the graph climb.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Make a 8×11 sign that says “Please ___—Thank You,” stand where the behavior happens, and count the change for 20 minutes.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Complete stops at a high-traffic intersection on the campus of a public university were increased with a prompting and consequence intervention. Data were collected at two opposing stop signs (Stop A and Stop B); however, the intervention was implemented only at Stop A. During the intervention, a volunteer stood next to Stop A holding a poster that read, "Please Stop--I Care," with "Thank You For Stopping" on the reverse side. The poster was held by the volunteer so that drivers approaching Stop A could read the sign. Drivers approaching Stop B could see the volunteer but could not read the sign. When vehicles approaching Stop A made a complete stop, the volunteer flashed the "thank you" side of the poster to the driver. The strategy was evaluated using a multielement design. The intervention increased stops completed at Stop A from a baseline average of 13% to an intervention average of 52%. Stop B also showed improved stopping, from a baseline average of 6% to an intervention average of 28%. Data showed no relation between complete stops made and the drivers' use of turn signals and safety belts.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2006 · doi:10.1901/jaba.2006.49-04