Results Using the MotivAider - Project 1

We thank Trina Spencer from the Hawthorne Country School, Hawthorne, New York for offering to share these results with other educators. [e-mail Trina].

Prepared by Trina D. Spencer, MS, BCBA
ABA 2002 Poster Presentation
Hawthorne Country Day School
Hawthorne, New York

Project 1 - MotivAider Prompts Teacher

Special educators need to have eyes in the back of their head or learn to scan the room and manage the class from a distance. Three new teachers at a school for children with special needs were chosen as subjects. Rates of labeled praise statements of students' collateral behaviors were recorded as the dependent variable. Collateral behaviors are defined as appropriate classroom behavior other than the target response of the current lesson.

After a stable baseline was established, the MotivAider procedures were implemented. The MotivAider was programmed to vibrate at a variable interval schedule of 30-seconds. With each vibration, teachers were required to scan the classroom for student on-task behaviors and recognize them with a specific praise statement as well as tangible and/or edible reinforcers if necessary. Collateral praise rates were collected across the intervention and withdrawal conditions. Results indicate the procedures effectively increased the rates of praise during the intervention, but maintenance once the MotivAider was removed was inconsistent.