The effect of nonverbal teacher approval on student attentive behavior.
Smiles and light touches, given right when students attend, can replace tokens and still lift attention in special-ed classrooms.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked in a public school classroom for children with intellectual disabilities.
They watched for moments when students were looking at the teacher or task.
Each time a child was paying attention, the teacher gave a quick smile or light touch.
No words were used—only these small nonverbal signs.
The study used an ABAB design: baseline, smiles/touch, back to baseline, then smiles/touch again.
What they found
Attention went up every time the teacher used smiles and touch.
Eleven of twelve students showed clear gains.
When the teacher stopped the nonverbal praise, attention dropped.
The pattern repeated in the second return to the intervention phase.
How this fits with other research
Clark et al. (1970) got the same jump in attending three years earlier, but they used candy and trinkets instead of smiles.
Their results show that tangible items work; E et al. show that free social signals can match them.
Zerger et al. (2016) moved the same idea to the playground.
They found that contingent adult smiles and play raised active running in preschoolers.
Together the three studies draw a line: adult attention, delivered right after the behavior, boosts both seated attending and vigorous movement across ages and settings.
Why it matters
You do not need a prize box to keep kids engaged. A quick smile, thumbs-up, or pat on the shoulder can lift attention in special-ed classes. Use these signals right as the behavior happens, pull them when attention fades, and watch for the change. The method costs nothing and keeps your hands free for teaching.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The effect of contingent nonverbal teacher approval on student attentive behavior was examined in a classroom with 12 retarded children. After baseline data were gathered on contingent verbal and nonverbal teacher approval and student attentive behavior, the teacher was instructed to increase her use of contingent nonverbal approval (smiles and physical contact) and to maintain her baseline level of verbal approval. After a reversal phase, the nonverbal approval phase was reinstated. Nonverbal teacher behaviors increased during the experimental phases, whereas verbal teacher approval (alone or in conjunction with nonverbal behaviors) did not increase. Attentive behavior increased for 11 of 12 students during the phases in which contingent nonverbal teacher approval increased. Correlational data suggested that nonverbal teacher approval accounted for behavior change of the students to a greater extent than did changes in the amount of teacher approval per se or in the teacher's use of verbal approval.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1973 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1973.6-643