Teachers and parents as researchers using multiple baseline designs.
Teachers and parents can run quick multiple-baseline experiments that show immediate, large gains when small contingencies are applied.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Teachers and parents ran their own behavior experiments. They used multiple-baseline designs to test simple contingencies.
One class cut tardiness by posting a public chart. Another class ended quiz failures with after-school tutoring. At home, parents moved bedtime earlier for unfinished chores.
What they found
Each contingency worked right away. Tardiness, quiz failures, and off-task home behaviors dropped fast.
The effects were large and clear. Teachers and parents could see the change on their graphs.
How this fits with other research
Hall et al. (1971) used the same teacher-as-experimenter idea but swapped in an ABAB reversal. They cut talking-out by ignoring it and praising hand-raising. The design changed, the power stayed.
Lydersen et al. (1974) pushed the idea further. They paid kids tokens for accurate reading work, not quiet sitting. Disruption fell to almost zero. It shows academic contingencies can replace behavior-only ones.
Chinnappan et al. (2020) moved to a residential middle-school setting. No tokens, just rules and public feedback. Problem behavior still dropped under 10%. It proves the method works fifty years later with only social consequences.
Why it matters
You do not need a researcher in the room. Give staff a simple baseline, a clear rule, and a visual tracker. They can prove the intervention works before the week ends. Try it Monday: pick one behavior, count it for two days, then post the chart and tie a small privilege to the goal. Graph daily and let the data guide your next step.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Two teachers and a parent used three basic multiple baseline designs to investigate the effects of systematic reinforcement and punishment procedures in the classroom and at home. (1) A fifth-grade teacher concurrently measured the same behavior (tardiness) in three stimulus situations (after morning, noon, and afternoon recesses). Posting the names of pupils on a chart titled "Today's Patriots" was made contingent on being on time after the noon recess, then successively also the morning and afternoon recesses. Tardiness was reduced to near zero rates at the points where contingencies were applied. (2) A highschool teacher recorded the same behavior (daily French-quiz grades) of three students. She then successively applied the same consequences (staying after school for individual tutoring for D and F grades) for each student. At the points where the contingency was applied, D and F grades were eliminated. (3) A mother concurrently measured three different behaviors (clarinet practice, Campfire project work, reading) of her 10-yr-old daughter. She successively applied the same contingency (going to bed early) for less than 30 min spent engaged in one after another of the behaviors. Marked increases in the behaviors were observed at the points where the contingency was applied.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1970 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1970.3-247