Group contingencies are evidence-based behavioral interventions frequently employed in educational settings. Group contingencies are composed of four distinct parameters: (1) a criterion, (2) a reward, (3) target students, and (4) target behaviors. Although it is common practice for teachers to reveal these parameters to students before the…

Functional communication training, an intervention for challenging behavior rooted in principles of applied behavior analysis, has copious empirical support dating back to the mid-1980s for autistic individuals. Recently, there has been a concerted effort to thin reinforcement delivery during functional communication training using…

Group contingencies (GCs) are an effective intervention for improving student outcomes in general education school settings but their use in alternative education has historically been limited. However, researchers have recently begun to build a substantial literature base demonstrating the potential of GCs in alternative education. This is…

Groups of children often transition between activity spaces in both academic and recreational settings. In schools, children may be asked to walk as a group between the classroom and spaces such as a cafeteria and playground whereas summer camps similarly use different spaces for separate activities throughout a scheduled day. Interdependent group…

The present study was designed to extend research on supplementing social skills training (SST) with a Tootling intervention to enhance student performance of social skills in authentic social contexts. The Tootling intervention included an interdependent group contingency with randomly selected criteria, which involved the after-school class…

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the resulting pandemic had widespread implications on the safety of the job tasks teachers are charged with each day. The Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2020) recommends people age 2 years and older should wear masks in public settings; however, for children with disabilities, wearing a mask may be difficult and as…

Respecting individual differences among students and meeting their unique needs may be one of the greatest challenges faced by teachers. When having a heterogeneous group of students, teachers need to consider a variety of instructional methods. The literature details a large number of teaching strategies supported by research findings, and the…

Group contingencies have been indicated to be effective in reducing disruptive behavior and increasing academic engagement in school settings. Previous research has demonstrated their efficacy with a wide range of student ages, but there have been few studies with older students who engage in severe disruptive behavior. In the current study, we…

This study evaluated the effect of three conditions in which 34 sixth-grade students were prompted to accumulate as much activity as possible during a Sport Education season. Three intervention conditions were assessed via an alternating treatment design: (a) baseline: no prompting of students; (b) teacher prompts: verbal prompts and suggestions…

A pivotal response treatment package consisting of clinician-delivered and parent-implemented strategies was recently found to be effective in improving language and social communication deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder. Reciprocal vocal contingency, an automated measure of vocal reciprocity, may provide stronger and…

Purpose: The Lidcombe Program is an efficacious and effective intervention for early stuttering. The treatment is based on parent verbal response contingent stimulation procedures, which are assumed to be responsible for treatment effect. The present trial tested this assumption. Method: The design was a parallel, open plan, noninferiority…

Drug misuse among people living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is associated with higher mortality. It is a frequently observed reason for treatment abandonment, with people who misuse drugs showing a 10 to 25 times higher risk of HIV than the general population. The authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the…

Using an ABAB withdrawal design, the study evaluated the direct and generalized effects of a combined independent and interdependent group contingency on the engagement and disruptive behavior of two groups of students enrolled in an alternative school serving students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Class 1 included seven middle school…

Group contingencies have been used successfully to modify a variety of behaviors for children with diverse characteristics across multiple settings. However, these interventions have not been applied to increase social interactions (SI) between typically developing children and those with multiple or severe disabilities (MSD). Furthermore, little…

Group-oriented contingencies are arranged to target the behavior of a group of people simultaneously. Overall, group-oriented contingencies have been shown to be effective in both decreasing problem behavior and increasing appropriate behavior. However, results are mixed regarding which type(s) of group-oriented contingency is most effective for…