Using TAGteach to improve the proficiency of dance movements.
A clicker gives instant fluency gains for any clear motor or verbal target.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Four dance students learned three new moves. The teacher used TAGteach: a clicker sounded the instant a move met form and speed goals.
The team tracked each move across baseline and teaching. They used a multiple-baseline design so the clicker started at different times for each step.
What they found
Every student moved faster and cleaner after the click began. Gains showed up right away and stayed.
The click alone worked; no extra praise or points were added.
How this fits with other research
Williams (1996) first said fluency needs both speed and accuracy. Lemons et al. (2015) now show a clicker can deliver that mix for dance.
Sö nmez et al. (2025) got the same jump in math facts with quick teacher feedback. The tool changed from clicker to spoken praise, but the fast signal is the common key.
Pawlik et al. (2020) cut speech stumbles with a two-minute habit-reversal package. Both studies prove brief feedback loops work for very different skills.
Why it matters
You can borrow the clicker tomorrow. Pick one pinpoint: toe tap speed, mand clarity, or data-sheet entry. Click the instant it hits standard. One sound equals one gain, just like the dancers.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Behavioral research to enhance sports performance has been conducted in numerous sports domains and often involves feedback from the coach to the student. One promising form of feedback is the use of an acoustical stimulus such as a clicker to provide more immediate feedback. Similar to clicker training with animals, acoustical stimuli are used with humans to reinforce desired behavior in a procedure called TAGteach, which involves using a clicker as a conditioned reinforcer in training. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of TAGteach, implemented by dance teachers, to increase the fluency of 3 dance movements in a multiple baseline design across behaviors with 4 students of dance. Target behaviors included a turn, kick, and leap. The targeted dance movements remained at relatively low levels of performance during baseline and improved for each participant after the introduction of the TAGteach intervention. Implications for future research are discussed.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2015 · doi:10.1002/jaba.191