By Matt Harrington, BCBA · Behaviorist Book Club · April 2026 · 12 min read

Cool Versus Not Cool Procedure in Group Instruction: Teaching Social Discrimination Skills to Autistic Learners

Overview & Clinical Significance

Social skills instruction for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has historically been dominated by one-on-one formats, where the behavior analyst or interventionist works directly with the learner to teach specific social behaviors in a controlled context. While this format offers precision and immediate feedback, it also limits the learner's exposure to the naturalistic social dynamics — peer interactions, group norms, social referencing — that characterize the environments where social skills must ultimately generalize.

The implementation of the cool versus not cool procedure within a group instructional format addresses this limitation by embedding social discrimination training within a peer context. When learners are taught together, they are simultaneously exposed to each other's responding, which introduces the observational learning opportunities, social comparison, and peer reinforcement dynamics that occur naturally in inclusive educational and community settings. This format mirrors the social complexity of the real world more closely than dyadic instruction can.

The cool versus not cool procedure itself is a structured social discrimination program in which learners are taught to identify behaviors as socially appropriate or inappropriate using the concrete labels "cool" and "not cool." The labeling system provides a memorable, socially accessible shorthand for social judgment that can function as a discriminative stimulus in natural environments — a learner who has internalized the labels can use them as self-regulatory prompts in novel social situations.

This course presents data from a study evaluating the cool versus not cool procedure implemented specifically in a group format with children diagnosed with ASD. Dr. Leaf describes the procedures and results of this investigation, with direct attention to the clinical implications for practitioners working in group-based settings such as social skills groups, classroom environments, and community programs.

Background & Context

Group-based social skills instruction is consistent with several principles that have gained traction in contemporary ABA practice. First, it reflects the ecological validity concern: if social skills are to be used in group settings, they should at least partly be trained in group settings. Second, group instruction creates opportunities for incidental and observational learning, as learners can acquire social information from watching peers respond, be reinforced, or make errors — processes that have been documented in behavioral research on observational learning and model-based instruction.

Third, group instruction is often more resource-efficient than one-on-one instruction, allowing practitioners to serve more learners within the same service hours. This efficiency matters in real-world service delivery contexts, where waitlists are long and staffing constraints are genuine. When a group instruction format can produce outcomes comparable to individual instruction, the cost-benefit analysis strongly favors group delivery.

The cool versus not cool procedure's group format leverages these advantages by structuring peer responding as part of the learning contingency. Learners observe examples and non-examples of social behavior, provide discriminative responses (cool or not cool), and receive reinforcement contingent on accurate social judgment. When this process occurs in a group, learners also observe and are exposed to the responses of their peers, which provides additional learning trials and social referencing opportunities.

The development of social discrimination — the ability to judge what is and is not socially appropriate — is particularly relevant for autistic individuals, many of whom have documented challenges with theory of mind, perspective-taking, and reading social cues. The cool versus not cool procedure offers a concrete, behaviorally structured approach to developing these competencies, grounded in applied behavior analysis rather than cognitive-developmental theories that have less direct instructional application.

Clinical Implications

For BCBAs implementing or supervising social skills groups, this course provides a framework for conceptualizing and structuring group-based social discrimination training. The cool versus not cool procedure's format — present an exemplar or non-exemplar, elicit a discriminative label, reinforce correct responding — translates well to group formats with appropriate modifications for group responding protocols (for example, unison responding, individual targeted responding, or choral responding with individual accuracy monitoring).

The clinical implication for group design is that the structure of the group session must be carefully managed to ensure all learners are actively engaged and that accurate responding is differentially reinforced for each individual. In a group setting, it is easier for some learners to follow the responses of peers rather than independently generating the discrimination. Practitioners should build in individual responding protocols that require each learner to emit the discrimination before observing peer responses, to maintain the learning contingency for all group members.

Generalization programming in group formats can leverage the group context itself. By varying the exemplars across group sessions, rotating the social scenarios presented, and having learners take turns as social models within the group, practitioners can build the varied exemplar exposure that supports generalization. The group setting also provides a naturalistic context for probing generalization, since learners must respond to peer behavior rather than practitioner-presented stimuli alone.

Data collection in group formats requires attention to individual performance across group sessions. Aggregate data about the group's response accuracy does not provide the individual learner data needed for clinical decision-making. BCBAs should design data systems that capture each learner's response on each trial, even in group formats, to ensure that programming decisions are driven by individual performance rather than group averages.

Ethical Considerations

Group social skills instruction introduces ethical considerations related to peer confidentiality and the grouping of learners with different presentations and needs. Under BACB Ethics Code 2.05, behavior analysts must take steps to maintain the confidentiality of all individuals receiving services, including the confidentiality of behavioral data, goals, and personal information. In a group setting, learners are exposed to each other's behavior and, to some extent, each other's skill levels. BCBAs must structure group sessions and communicate with families in ways that protect each learner's confidentiality while still allowing the group learning process to occur.

Grouping decisions also carry ethical weight under Code 2.09. Learners should be placed in social skills groups based on assessment of their current social skill levels and learning needs, not simply on administrative convenience or diagnosis. Placing a learner in a group where the targets are significantly above or below their current repertoire is unlikely to produce meaningful outcomes and may constitute a misallocation of resources.

The cool versus not cool procedure's use of social labels — telling a learner that a behavior is "not cool" — should be implemented with awareness of the potential for stigma or shame. While the procedure is designed as a neutral discrimination training exercise, the practitioner must ensure that the feedback is delivered consistently and without emotional loading that could make the social labeling aversive or humiliating. The procedure's implementation should reflect the respect for learner dignity required by Code 1.04.

Assent in group contexts requires attention to each individual learner's willingness to participate, particularly in social scenarios that may touch on sensitive topics or that require public responding in front of peers. BCBAs should monitor assent signals throughout group sessions and have a plan for accommodating learners who are reluctant to participate in specific scenarios.

Assessment & Decision-Making

Effective implementation of the cool versus not cool procedure in group formats begins with pre-group assessment of each learner's social discrimination repertoire. BCBAs should determine whether learners can accurately label socially appropriate and inappropriate behaviors in individual assessment conditions before introducing the group format. Learners who cannot make basic social discriminations in a one-on-one context are likely to be overwhelmed by the additional social demands of the group and may benefit from individual instruction first.

The selection of social scenarios for group instruction should be driven by both individual goals and group-level relevance. Scenarios that are functionally meaningful for all learners in the group — situations that arise in their shared social environments, such as school or community settings — provide the highest-value learning opportunities. Scenarios that are relevant only to one learner's specific needs may be better addressed in individual sessions.

Within-session decision-making in group formats requires the practitioner to monitor multiple learners simultaneously. Establishing clear protocols for when to provide individual corrective feedback, when to reset a scenario and represent it, and when to move to the next example helps the practitioner maintain instructional pace and learner engagement. Pre-established decision rules reduce the cognitive load of in-the-moment group management and ensure that clinical decisions are guided by behavioral principles rather than social or logistical pressures.

Post-session data review should include individual performance summaries for each learner, trend analysis across sessions, and assessment of which scenarios and social skills are mastered, in progress, or not yet introduced. This data review drives both within-group programming decisions and decisions about whether individual supplemental instruction is needed for specific learners.

What This Means for Your Practice

BCBAs running or overseeing social skills groups should consider the cool versus not cool procedure as a structured addition to their group curriculum, particularly for developing social discrimination as a foundational skill. The procedure's concrete labeling system, its behavioral structure, and its adaptability to group formats make it a practical choice for practitioners seeking evidence-informed social skills instruction that goes beyond scripted social responses.

Practitioners implementing this procedure in groups should invest time in establishing clear group routines, reinforcement systems, and responding protocols before introducing complex social scenarios. Learners who are new to group instruction need to first acquire the prerequisite skills of attending in a group context, responding on cue, and tolerating the pace of group instruction before benefiting from the social discrimination content of the procedure.

The results of this study, as described by Dr. Leaf, provide practitioners with a model for how to structure the procedure in a group format and what outcomes to expect. Replicating the study's procedures with fidelity while adapting for the specific characteristics of your learner group requires attention to the procedural details described in the course, including how exemplars were selected and presented, how responding was structured, and how performance data were collected.

Finally, group social skills instruction should be evaluated not only for within-session performance but for generalization to the natural social environments where these skills are needed. Regular naturalistic observations, social validity assessments with learners and families, and peer social interaction data provide the most meaningful indicators of whether the cool versus not cool procedure in group format is producing the outcomes that matter for each learner's quality of life.