Jump to content

Good Behavior Game

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Carlcbellmd (talk | contribs) at 16:43, 10 February 2013 (I added a reference.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Good Behavior Game was first used in 1967 in Baldwin, Kansas by Muriel Saunders, who was a new teacher in a forth-grade classroom. Muriel Saunders, Harriet Barrish (a graduate student at the University of Kansas), and the professor and co-founder of applied-behavior analysis, the late Montrose Wolfe, co-created the Good Behavior Game in 1969.[1] Today, this study is among the most cited behavior change studies in the world.[citation needed] In 2009, the Institute of Medicine Report on the Prevention of Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders as one of the most powerful prevention strategies that classroom teachers can use [2].

Because of the name of the strategy, many assume assume the game reinforces "good behavior." That is technically not correct; the Game actually reinforces voluntary control over attention and reduces the susceptibility to accidental negative reinforcement from peers in the classroom.[3] The Game has multiple active ingredients or evidence-based kernels.[4] The Game has been scientifically proven to work for preschool-age children[5] all the way through 12th grade students.[6]

The Game works by positive peer pressure of 2-to-5 classroom teams, who work together reduce inattentive, disturbing, disruptive, and destructive behaviors that interfere with learning and success. When the teams succeed, all the "winners" earn brief intrinsic activity rewards based on Premack's principle.[7] While the teacher can define the behaviors to be reduced, the Game can be just as effective when student students define the behaviors to be reduced to make a better learning environment.[8] Embry argues that Game is more likely to be acceptable, adopted, and sustained by teachers and students, when students actively participate in setting up the "rules" of the game.[3]

Students teams win the Game by having very low rates of disturbing, disruptive, destructive, or inattentive behaviors. The teacher must respond to such problematic behaviors neutrally and unemotionally, and the person who committed the breach is not called out or given "consequences." Rather, the team has a point against it, not the individual.[9] Teams who have less than a criterion of low points, win.[citation needed]

The Game is used during normal instruction—such as during lectures, seat-work, cooperative leaning, and even during transitions. When children and their teacher are first learning to play the Game, it is important to play during simple activities so that the teacher can watch closely and the students have fewer distractions. As the students succeed, the times and activities that the Game can be used expand.[citation needed]

Research on implementation of the Good Behavior Game is clear that it requires appropriate materials, training and supports.

Summary of Literature

Barrish, Saunders, and Wolf (1969) evaluated the effectiveness of the Good Behavior Game on reducing out-of-seat behavior and talking-out behavior with 24 fourth-grade students. Seven of the students had been referred by the teacher to the principal for a number of disruptive behaviors. It was also noted that the classroom was lacking a general behavior management plan. Prior to implementation, the teacher presented a short overview of the game to explain the instructional times when the game would be in effect (i.e. math period), rules, and rewards. When the experimental conditions were altered, the teacher provided a new explanation of the change(s). The researchers used a reversal and multiple baseline experimental design with four phases: (1) math baseline and reading baseline, (2) math game and reading baseline, (3) math reversal and reading game, and (4) math game and reading game. The results indicate a significant decrease in disruptive behavior during both math and reading class when the Good Behavior Game was in effect. Talking-out behavior decreased from 96% during baseline to 19% when the game was applied during the math period. Similarly, the students' out-of-seat behavior was reduced from 82% of the scored intervals to 9% during the intervention. Both teams won on all but three occasions. Evidence of generalization and maintenance was not reported.

Harris and Sherman (1973) replicated the Barrish, Saunders, and Wolf (1969) study and examined the effectiveness of the Good Behavior Game with one fifth-grade classroom and one sixth-grade classroom. Each teacher attended a 15-minute meeting prior to implementing the procedures in his or her classroom. During the meeting, the researchers defined disruptive behavior, explained the recording system, and reviewed the procedures of the Good Behavior Game. After baseline data was collected, the teachers divided the students into two teams, discussed the rules of the game, and outlined the contingencies. The reward was a 10- minute early dismissal at the end of the school day. Again, the researchers recorded talking and out-of-seat behavior during 30-minute observation sessions. Each session was divided into 30 one-minute intervals. If one or more of the children exhibited the disruptive behavior, the interval was scored as containing disruptive behavior. In addition to collecting data on disruptive behavior, the researchers evaluated the students' academic performance during two math periods in the fifth-grade classroom. In the sixth-grade classroom, several experimental manipulations (i.e., eliminating the consequences, changing the maximum number of marks needed to win, eliminating feedback, and keeping the class intact) were performed to identify which components of the game were the most effective in reducing disruptive behavior. The findings show that implementing the Good Behavior Game successfully reduced disruptive out-of-seat and talking behavior. Each of the following procedural components contributed to its effectiveness: permission to leave school early, the number of marks chosen as a criterion, and the division of students into teams. Furthermore, a reduction in problem behavior resulted in slightly higher accuracy rates on the independent math tasks.

In 2007, Lannie and McCurdy extended the research on the Good Behavior Game by evaluating its impact in an urban classroom serving a population of students characterized by a high level of poverty and also evaluating the effects of the game on teacher behavior, especially teacher praise. The study was conducted in a first-grade classroom with 22 students and examined the effects of the Good Behavior Game on on-task and disruptive behaviors, as well as teacher response statements. The study used similar procedures as detailed in the prior studies but employed an ABAB withdrawal design. Each observation session was a 30-minute math period. Results show that students’ on-task behavior increased while disruptive behavior decreased. The number of teacher praise statements remained at near zero levels across conditions.

Strengths and Limitations

Classroom management is an important component of effective teaching. The Good Behavior Game is an empirically-based group behavior management strategy. Multiple studies have highlighted the effectiveness of the Good Behavior Game on reducing distracting and disruptive student behavior in a variety of school settings, including regular and special education classrooms, the school library, and with a wide-range of grade levels. However, in each study, one or more students discontinued their participation in the group-contingency. This prompted the researchers to create a third group for the students that no longer wanted to participate. Over time, if the rewards and consequences were altered to be more motivating, these students requested to be placed back in their original teams. Additionally, while providing visual feedback did not impact the effectiveness of the Game when used in the no-team condition (Harris & Sherman, 1973), it may be sufficient for maintaining low levels of disruptive behavior in the team condition because the last mark before criterion was reached led to high rates of disruptive behavior. Perhaps if students were unaware of the number of points they had accumulated, they would be less likely to engage in disruptive behavior.

Alternative Suggestions

Rather than focusing on choosing a small number of undesirable behaviors, have the students select several desirable behaviors instead. This way they practice, observe and report the behaviors the teacher has deemed important Every time the teacher "catches" a student engaging in one of the predetermined appropriate behaviors, a tally or token is added to the students bank. Simultaneously the teacher can then "earn points" for catching the students engaging in predetermined undesired behaviors. The goal here is to have the students tally more points for their desirable behavior than the teacher will tally for undesirable behavior. You can even allow the students to catch each other engaging in those predetermined behaviors to earn points. This gets them looking for and modeling desired behavior. Don't be overly concerned in the beginning if this distracts from learning, especially if behavior change is needed immediately and sorely in the classroom. Be sure to shape course of the game as time progresses over a few days and weeks. Allowing them to win and setting them up for success is key in the beginning so that they associate this game with rewards. Ultimately, if the students are able to tally more points than the teachers, a simple contingency is set up (i.e. An extra 5 minutes of recess). If the teacher happens to win (this should not be all that frequent) then the students owe their teacher an undesirable course of action (i.e. an extra five minutes of math problems).

References

  1. ^ Barrish, Harriet H.; Saunders, Muriel; Wolf, Montrose M. (1969). "Good behavior game: Effects of individual contingencies for group consequences on disruptive behavior in a classroom1". Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 2 (2): 119–24. doi:10.1901/jaba.1969.2-119. PMC 1311049. PMID 16795208.[non-primary source needed]
  2. ^ National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities. O’Connell ME, Boat T, & Warner KE (Eds). Committee on Prevention of Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse Among Children, Youth, and Young Adults: Research Advances and Promising Interventions (William R. Beardslee, Carl C. Bell, Anthony Biglan, C. Hendricks Brown, E. Jane Costello, Teresa D. LaFromboise, Ricardo F. Muñoz, Peter J. Pecora, Bradley S. Peterson, Linda A. Randolph, and Irwin Sandler). Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2009. http://www.iom.edu/CMS/12552/45572/64120.aspx>
  3. ^ a b Embry, Dennis D. (2002). "The Good Behavior Game: A best practice candidate as a universal behavioral vaccine". Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. 5 (4): 273–97. doi:10.1023/A:1020977107086. PMID 12495270.
  4. ^ Embry, Dennis D.; Biglan, Anthony (2008). "Evidence-based Kernels: Fundamental Units of Behavioral Influence". Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. 11 (3): 75–113. doi:10.1007/s10567-008-0036-x. PMC 2526125. PMID 18712600.
  5. ^ Swiezy, Naomi B.; Matson, Johnny L.; Box, Peggy (1993). "The Good Behavior Game". Child & Family Behavior Therapy. 14 (3): 21. doi:10.1300/J019v14n03_02.
  6. ^ Kleinman, K. E.; Saigh, P. A. (2010). "The Effects of the Good Behavior Game on the Conduct of Regular Education New York City High School Students". Behavior Modification. 35 (1): 95–105. doi:10.1177/0145445510392213. PMID 21177520.
  7. ^ articles with incomplete citations%5d%5d%5b%5bCategory:Articles with incomplete citations from November 2012%5d%5d[%5b%5bWikipedia:Citing sources#What information to include|full citation needed%5d%5d] http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/02/09/behaviour-game-manitoba.html[[Category:All articles with incomplete citations]][[Category:Articles with incomplete citations from November 2012]][[[Wikipedia:Citing sources#What information to include|full citation needed]]]. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  8. ^ Fishbein, Jill E.; Wasik, Barbara H. (1981). "Effect of the good behavior game on disruptive library behavior". Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 14 (1): 89–93. doi:10.1901/jaba.1981.14-89. PMC 1308189. PMID 16795642.
  9. ^ http://www.slideshare.net/drdennisembry[full citation needed][unreliable medical source?]

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Good_Behavior_Game&oldid=537562697"