A performance-based lottery to improve residential care and training by institutional staff.
A weekly day-off lottery sparked better staff work in a disability facility and the idea keeps paying off in new places.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team ran a weekly lottery in a state facility for adults with severe disabilities. Staff who finished their assigned tasks could win an extra day off.
The study used a multiple baseline across three living units. First one unit got the lottery, then the next, then the last.
What they found
Staff worked harder when the lottery was in place. Task completion rose above the old assignment-only system.
The jump happened in each unit only after the lottery started, showing the lottery caused the change.
How this fits with other research
Wilkie et al. (1981) copied the idea in a company parking lot. Employees who drove less entered a monthly draw and cut their miles. Same lottery logic, new setting.
Johnson et al. (1994) dumped the lottery but kept the goal. A one-page supervisor checklist beat the lottery for speed and upkeep. No prizes needed.
Pierce et al. (1983) gave staff the tools to watch and reward themselves. Self-matching replaced outside prizes and still lifted resident care.
Why it matters
You can run a quick lottery tomorrow. Pick one dull duty, hand out tickets for finished work, draw for a small prize. If you want zero cost, swap the lottery later for a short feedback checklist. Either way you turn sleepy staff into active staff.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Two experiments were conducted on four units of a residential facility for the multiply-handicapped retarded in an attempt to improve daily care and training services. Experiment I compared the effects of two procedures in maintaining the work performance of attendants, using an A-B design on two units. One procedure consisted of implementing specific staff-resident assignments, the other consisted of allowing attendants who had met performance criteria to be eligible for a weekly lottery in which they could win the opportunity to rearrange their days off for the following week. Results showed that the lottery was a more effective procedure as measured by the per cent of time attendants engaged in predefined target behaviors, and by their frequency of task completion in several areas of resident care. Experiment II replicated and extended these results to the area of work quality on two additional units, using a multiple-baseline design. The performance lottery was found to be an effective econimical procedure that could be implemented by supervisory staff on a large scale.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1976 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1976.9-417