The effects of contingent music on the intensity of noise in junior high home economics classes.

The researchers tested whether junior-high home-economics classes could earn pop music by keeping their voices down. They wired a sound meter to a radio. When class noise stayed under 70 dB, the radio played. When kids got louder than 70 dB, the music shut off automatically.

The team ran the test in four different class periods. They used a multiple-baseline design, starting the intervention at different times in each room.

Noise dropped below 70 dB in three classes as soon as the music contingency began. In the fourth class, the teachers later turned the rule off for a day. Noise shot back up, then fell again when the music contingency returned. That quick reversal showed the music, not something else, controlled the volume.

Waller et al. (2010) also quieted loud junior-high classes, but they used fixed-time breaks instead of music. Both studies got big drops in disruption with almost no teacher work during class.

Amore et al. (2011) used the Good Behavior Game in kindergarten. Like the music plan, it gave a group reward for following one simple rule. The idea works across ages.

Deshais et al. (2019) compared two group token systems in first grade. Their reversal design matched Harris et al. (1973) and showed the same point: when the reward stops, the target behavior returns, proving the contingency is doing the work.

You can copy the 70 dB music hook in any class that has a smart speaker or tablet. Pick a playlist your students want, set a free sound-meter app to 70 dB, and let the tech deliver the consequence. No stickers, no points, no nagging. The radio does the work while you teach.