Immediate and distal effects of the good behavior game.

Teachers ran the Good Behavior Game in preschool rooms. Kids earned team points for keeping voices down and hands to themselves.

The study used a multiple-baseline design across three class periods. Researchers watched what happened right before, during, and right after each game.

Disruptive behavior dropped only while the game was active. The minute the timer ended, problem actions returned to baseline levels.

No carry-over showed up in the five-minute windows before or after the game. The effect was like a light switch: on when playing, off when stopped.

Chotto et al. (2024) later saw big, lasting cuts in disruption when they added vocal plus visual feedback to the same game. Their older elementary kids kept the gains all period, showing the 2015 null carry-over may hinge on how the game is delivered.

Lutzker et al. (1979) used a workplace version and doubled adult productivity. Both papers confirm the core game works, but the 2015 preschool data warn you not to expect benefits outside the timed window.

Bowe et al. (1983) and Yassine et al. (2021) also lowered aggression with group contingencies at recess. Those effects held across days, again hinting that setting, age, or added reinforcers may explain why M et al. saw zero spillover.

If you run the standard Good Behavior Game, plan to keep it active for the entire period you need calm. Expecting kids to stay settled after the bell is wishful thinking. To stretch the effect, borrow the 2024 combo of vocal praise plus a visual scoreboard and test whether carry-over finally appears.