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I would like to dedicate this book to all the students throughout the
years who have taken courses from me in behavior management. They
have constantly challenged me to make the information practical and
relevant to real life. Without these students, there would be no book.
I am indebted to them.
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Brief Contents
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xx
About the Author xxi
iv
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Contents
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xx
About the Author xxi
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vi CONTENTS
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CONTENTS vii
Case Study 80
Summary 81
Activities 81
Review Questions 82
References 82
Glossary 83
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viii CONTENTS
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CONTENTS ix
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x CONTENTS
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CONTENTS xi
References 242
Glossary 244
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xii CONTENTS
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CONTENTS xiii
Index 359
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Preface
Welcome to the wonderful world of behavior management. You are about to enter a realm
about which few teachers have a solid working knowledge and many possess broad miscon-
ceptions. For instance, too many teachers think that behavior management consists of pro-
viding students with M&M’s or stickers when they exhibit appropriate behaviors. Behavior
management entails much more—analyzing behavior, deciding what to change, collecting
information on the behaviors of concern, using schedules of reinforcement, and monitor
monitor-
ing progress—not to mention the variety of techniques for promoting students’ appropriate
behaviors. Some teachers may not be competent in behavior management because it is much
more than simply giving a reward to children for “being good” or punishing them for “being
bad.” It should come as no surprise, therefore, that behavior management is probably one
of the most misunderstood concepts in education today. It never ceases to amaze me that so
many people can have such strong feelings concerning a topic about which they know so little
yet when teachers are surveyed it is the topic on which they want more training.
What will become readily apparent to you is that behavior management is not easy—it is a
time-consuming and difficult endeavor. Consequently, teachers need to ask themselves if stu-
dents’ inappropriate behavior is worth the time and effort required to develop and implement
behavior management techniques. Sometimes the answer will be “no,” and that is okay—not
every behavior requires intervention. However, students with challenging behaviors can ben-
efit most from the techniques presented in this book.
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xvi PREFACE
and tried to keep the text as free of technical jargon as possible while preserving the theoreti-
cal and empirical foundations on which the book is based. That is one reason the subtitle is
From Theoretical Implications to Practical Applications.
Unlike in other books on behavior management, you will find that the chapters contain-
ing specific interventions techniques (such as Chapters 8–14) go into considerable detail.
I have included “how-to” lists, charts, graphs, and illustrations. My goal is for you to be able
to implement the techniques successfully, rather than simply read a one- or two-page con-
densed description of them, as is typical of other behavior management books. Therefore,
I hope you will keep this book handy and refer to it often during your teaching career. If you
find this book helpful as you begin to teach, please tell a colleague about it. If you do not like
it, please let me know why, and I will try to make it better.
As you read this book, always keep in mind that developing and implementing behav-
ior management techniques are difficult! There are no quick fixes to students’ challenging
behaviors. In addition, behavior management is no substitute for teaching. That is, behavior
management does not teach students new behaviors; teachers do. Rather, behavior manage-
ment techniques are helpful in getting students to use behaviors and skills they already know
but are not currently exhibiting. To accomplish this goal, you must systematically analyze
and modify the antecedents (events that occur before a behavior) and consequences (events
that occur after a behavior) that surround behavior. You should always start by analyzing and
modifying the antecedents. This places you in a better position to prevent future episodes of
misbehavior from occurring. It is important to maintain a preventative mindset.
Although behavior management is not easy, there is a great payoff for taking the time
and effort to learn and implement the techniques described in this book. You will run more
effective classrooms with students who treat each other, and you, with respect and who com-
plete their work in a timely fashion. Not coincidentally, learning and implementing these
techniques represents one of the best ways to preserve your own sanity in those occasionally
insane moments that occur in every classroom.
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PREFACE xvii
discusses the importance of targeting, counting, and recording behavior as it occurs in natural
settings. Chapter 6 describes methods for taking the information collected from counting and
recording behavior and graphing it to provide a visual representation of whether an interven-
tion is working. Knowledge of the material presented in Chapters 5 and 6 is necessary to
engage in one of the most important aspects of behavior management—conducting functional
assessment—the focus of Chapter 7. Through functional assessment, we can analyze contex-
tual and curricular variables and teach students replacement behaviors. Chapter 8 focuses on
preventing behavior problems by describing techniques for making curricular modifications,
applying effective instructional strategies, and making environmental accommodations. Chap-
ter 9 describes techniques for increasing behavior, including token economies, behavioral
contracts, group-oriented contingencies, and novel approaches. Chapter 10 examines ways to
use differential reinforcement for decreasing behavior. By using the information presented in
Chapters 9 and 10, we can eliminate about 95 percent of all behavior problems. The remain-
ing 5 percent are usually modifiable using punishment—the focus of Chapter 11. Chapter 12
discusses how to teach students self-management—the ultimate goal of any behavior man-
agement intervention. Chapter 13 gives an overview of cognitive-behavior modification.
These techniques center on the role our beliefs about, or interpretations of, events play in our
emotional reactions and behavioral responses. Finally, Chapter 14 discusses how to promote
generalization from the settings in which intervention took place to other settings.
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xviii PREFACE
MindTap Moves
Students Up Create
Create
Bloom’s Revised
Ta
Taxonomy Evaluate
Analyze
Apply
Understand
As students move through each chapter’s Learning Path, they engage in a scaffolded
learning experience, designed to move them up Bloom’s Taxonomy, from lower- to higher-
order thinking skills. The Learning Path enables preservice students to develop these skills
and gain confidence by:
▶ Engaging them with chapter topics and activating their prior knowledge by watching
and answering questions about authentic videos of teachers teaching and children
learning in real classrooms
▶ Checking their comprehension and understanding through Did You Get It? assess-
ments, with varied question types that are autograded for instant feedback
▶ Applying concepts through mini-case scenarios—students analyze typical teaching
and learning situations, and then create a reasoned response to the issue(s) present-
ed in the scenario
▶ Reflecting about and justifying the choices they made within the teaching scenario
problem
MindTap helps instructors facilitate better outcomes by evaluating how future teach-
ers plan and teach lessons in ways that make content clear and help diverse students learn,
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PREFACE xix
assessing the effectiveness of their teaching practice, and adjusting teaching as needed.
MindTap enables instructors to facilitate better outcomes by:
▶ Making grades visible in real time through the Student Progress App so students
and instructors always have access to current standings in the class
▶ Using the Outcome Library to embed national education standards and align them
to student learning activities, and also allowing instructors to add their state’s stan-
dards or any other desired outcome
▶ Allowing instructors to generate reports on students’ performance with the click of a
mouse against any standards or outcomes that are in their MindTap course
▶ Giving instructors the ability to assess students on state standards or other local
outcomes by editing existing or creating their own MindTap activities, and then by
aligning those activities to any state or other outcomes that the instructor has added
to the MindTap Outcome Library
MindTap for Behavior Management helps instructors easily set their course since it inte-
grates into the existing Learning Management System and saves instructors time by allowing
them to fully customize any aspect of the learning path. Instructors can change the order
of the student learning activities, hide activities they don’t want for the course, and—most
importantly—create custom assessments and add any standards, outcomes, or content they
do want (e.g., YouTube videos, Google docs). Learn more at www.cengage.com/mindtap.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions
for improving the manuscript: Lewis Browning, University of Southern Indiana; Sumita
Chakraborti-Ghosh, Tennessee State University; Mary Ann Nelson, Georgia Southern
University; Mary Newell, Florida A & M University; Aleck Peck, Boston College; and Marshall
Zumberg, Wayne State University.
xx
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Contents
About the Author
xxi
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CHAPTER
1 Introduction to
Behavior Management
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2 CHAPTER 1
Behavior management is a familiar, albeit misunderstood, term that many teachers evoke
when confronted with students displaying challenging behaviors. Like many often-heard
terms, it triggers reactions that range from complete rejection to total acceptance of it as an
educational change approach. Perhaps some of the strong attitudes people have toward behav-
ior management stems from its reliance on principles of behavior modification—a term that
conjures strong images. Therefore, this chapter begins with a discussion of behavior modifica-
tion. Second, both overt and covert behaviors are defined and differentiated from subjective
occurrences that people frequently mistake for behavior. Third, the three-term contingency is
described as a way to better understand factors that prompt and maintain behaviors. Fourth,
several terms important to behavior management are introduced and reconceptualized in ways
different from those in which society traditionally views them. Fifth, the discipline of applied
behavior analysis (ABA) is described as a model for integrating the techniques presented in
much of this text. Finally, the role behavior management plays in school systems, is described.
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INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT 3
bandwagon” of any new technique reported in the media. Techniques such as facilitative com-
munication, modality testing and teaching, applied kinesiology, optometric vision training, and
neural repatterning have a certain pseudoscientific appeal—and at one time they may have
even been considered chic. These fads seem to come and go like the tides. However, they have
not withstood the rigors of scientific scrutiny. In contrast, techniques of behavior modification
have been empirically tested and found to be effective for modifying students’ behaviors.
Fourth, intervention techniques derived from the basic principles of behavior can be
used to rearrange students’ environments to promote appropriate behavior. This results in
students who are more self-sufficient, independently functioning members of society—one
of the ultimate goals of education. The environment can be rearranged in a variety of ways
to promote appropriate behavior. For example, a teacher can move a student closer to or
farther away from certain classmates. The environment includes classroom variables such as
the teacher’s and students’ behaviors, the physical arrangement, tasks to be completed, and
materials used to deliver instruction.
Shea and Bauer (2011) condensed the attributes of behavior modification into four pro-
cedures in which teachers can engage in the classroom:
The four procedures
described by Shea 1. Observe and clarify the behavior to be changed.
and Bauer (2011) are 2. Select and present potent reinforcers at the appropriate time.
discussed in detail in 3. Design and impose, with consistency, an intervention technique based on principles
several chapters in this
book.
of reinforcement.
4. Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. (p. 43)
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4 CHAPTER 1
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INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT 5
want to see the student do more of in order to result in a completed assignment?” The answer
to that question most likely is that the teacher would like to see the student write more cor
cor-
rect answers. However, the main problem teachers face is the tendency to explain students’
actions with subjective (versus objective) words or terms.
There are two interrelated additional terms that are attributed to behavior when, in
fact, they are not: “on-task” and “off-task.” Teachers commonly describe wanting students
to spend more time “on-task” and less time “off-task.” On-task and off-task are not behav-
iors but rather describe one’s status, position, or standing. A person’s status could be driving
a car, sitting in a movie theater, or flying on an airplane. It does not describe the specific
behaviors engaged in, such as changing a radio station in the car, whispering to a friend at
the movie theater, or walking to the restroom on an airplane. The question to ask teachers
when using terms such as “on-task” and “off-task” is the same as previously given: “What
are the specific behaviors you’d like to see the student perform to indicate he was on-task?”
or “What are the specific behaviors the student is currently engaging in that indicate he’s
‘off-task?’”
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6 CHAPTER 1
The fourth problem with describing behavior subjectively is that doing so may escalate
a confrontation between teacher and student that could otherwise have been avoided. For
example, a student may be told to stop being so “hostile” when he trips a classmate. Later, the
student socks a peer in the arm in an age-appropriate expression of friendship. Nevertheless,
the teacher views this new behavior as another example of being “hostile” and reprimands
the student. The student, in turn, may think this admonishment is unfair because, to his way
of thinking, he was being friendly, not hostile. A power struggle may ensue (Maag, 2001a).
These problems can be avoided by describing students’ behaviors in objective terms—
but this is not as easy as it sounds. Seasoned teachers have just as much difficulty being
objective as do novices. This is because we all like to condense our speech to convey the most
meaning with the least amount of words. Although this goal is noble, doing so makes it dif dif-
ficult to discuss students’ behaviors objectively. Table 1.2 provides some common examples
of subjective descriptions of inappropriate and appropriate behaviors and their objective
counterparts. Although it takes some time to begin thinking in objective terms when describ-
ing behavior, the benefits to both teachers and students are considerable. Namely, it permits
us to identify and analyze the factors that trigger and maintain behaviors.
Inappropriate Behaviors
Is lazy Only writes answers to half the math problems on the worksheet
Uses bad language Says “shut up” when asked to put books away
Is immature Cries when doesn’t get to be first in line
Is manipulative Asks Ms. Jones to listen to music after Mr. Smith says “no”
Acts oppositional Has to be told three times to stop talking to classmate
Appropriate Behaviors
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INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT 7
Covert behaviors and self-statements are not extensively covered in this text, because
The principles of
behavior described
they do not enjoy the empirical support that techniques based on the modification of overt
in this chapter form behaviors have. Nevertheless, thoughts can influence the expression of behaviors, which is
the basis for many of why a discussion of cognitive-behavior modification appears in Chapter 13. However, it is
the behavior change
important to understand that the most effective way of managing students’ challenging be-
procedures described in
this book. haviors is by observing their overt expressions and differentiating them from subjective traits
that teachers often incorrectly ascribe to behavior.
1-3a Antecedents
Antecedents are the circumstances that exist in the environment before a behavior is
exhibited. Antecedents exist for all behaviors and serve as a cue or prompt for an individual
to behave in a particular way. For example, a red traffic light is an antecedent that prompts
the behavior of depressing the brake. Other examples of antecedents include a phone ringing
as a cue to pick it up, a teacher asking a question as a cue to provide an answer, and someone
smiling at another individual as a cue to smile back or say “hello.”
It is important to understand that antecedents do not cause behavior—they only serve as
cues. For example, there is no inherent biological predisposition for us to depress the brake
when encountering a red traffic light—it is a learned behavior. The red light cue cannot
prevent us from choosing to accelerate. Antecedents not only cue behavior but also can elicit
specific behaviors that help us avoid punishment or obtain reinforcement. Most of us stop at
a red light to avoid the potential punishing consequences of receiving a ticket, getting into
an accident, or injuring another person. Therefore, although our behavior may be cued by
antecedents, it is ultimately controlled by consequences.
A B C
Antecedents Behavior Consequences
● people ● appropriate ● reinforcement
● events ● inappropriate ● punishment
FIGURE 1.1
Three-Term Contingency
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8 CHAPTER 1
Teacher asks Nancy a Nancy gives correct answer. Teacher tells Nancy
question. she gave a great answer
(stimulus presented).
Billy calls Jimmy a jerk. Jimmy hits Billy. Billy stops calling Jimmy a
jerk (stimulus terminated).
1-3b Consequences
Consequences affect future behavior by serving either to increase, decrease, or maintain
it. There are two forms of consequences: (1) A new stimulus is presented or added to the
environment or (2) an already-present stimulus is avoided, terminated, or removed from the
environment. Both forms are illustrated in Table 1.3. In the first example, the teacher’s question
serves as a prompt or cue for Nancy to provide the answer. The verbal behavior of Nancy’s
giving the correct answer introduces a new stimulus into the environment—teacher praise.
Assuming Nancy values teacher praise, that consequence will likely maintain or increase her
behavior of answering questions. In the second example, Jimmy presumably finds it aversive
for Billy to call him a jerk. This antecedent serves as a cue for Jimmy to hit Billy. Billy conse-
quently stops calling Jimmy a jerk, and so an already-present stimulus is terminated.
1. Teacher: “Time for math 2. Kevin gets up from his 3. Sally giggles when
worksheets.” Teacher be- desk and walks around Kevin pushes her
gins handing out sheets. the room. elbow as she writes
her name on the
worksheet.
4. Teacher tells Kevin to 5. Kevin raises his hand. 6. Teacher: “I’ll be right
sit down. with you, Kevin.”
7. Kevin turns around to talk 8. Teacher tells Kevin to 9. Kevin drops his
to Bill. stop talking and get to worksheet on the
work. floor.
10. Teacher is looking for a 11. Kevin gets up from his 12. Teacher: “Where’s
pencil at her desk. seat and heads for the your worksheet,
pencil sharpener. Kevin?”
13. Kevin: “I’m not sure.” 14. Teacher: “Check under 15. Kevin: “I’ll copy the
your desk.” problems from Bill.”
16. Teacher: “Pick up your 17. Kevin walks over to the 18. Teacher helps
worksheet or you’ll stay in worksheet. another student.
for recess.”
19. Kevin knocks Sally’s book 20. Teacher: “Kevin, pick 21. Kevin smiles at Sally.
off her desk. up her book now.”
FIGURE 1.2
Example of an A-B-C Analysis
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INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT 9
1. To get a general feel for the behavior of the student in order to help target the spe-
cific behavior to work on.
2. To determine, in a generally disruptive classroom, during a certain time of day,
which students are the main disrupters.
3. To get a fix on some environmental cues to disruptive behavior: Is it occurring at a
certain time each day? Is the teacher setting the students off by some cue?
In an A-B-C analysis, a piece of paper is turned sideways and divided into three columns
labeled “Antecedents,” “Behavior,” and “Consequences,” as shown in Figure 1.2. Observa-
tions are then numbered and recorded according to whether they were seen as antecedents,
behavior, or consequences. Alberto and Troutman (2012) recommended asking the following
questions to assist us in making sense of the A-B-C analysis:
1. What are the behaviors that can be described as inappropriate? The behavior analyst
should be able to justify labeling the behaviors inappropriate given the setting and
the activity taking place.
2. Is this behavior occurring frequently, or has a unique occurrence been identified?
3. Can reinforcement or punishment of the behavior be identified? The reinforcement
may be delivered by the teacher, parent, another child, or some naturally occurring
environmental consequences.
4. Is there a pattern to these consequences?
5. Can antecedents to the behavior(s) be identified?
6. Is there a pattern that can be identified for certain events or stimuli (antecedents)
that consistently precede the behavior’s occurrence?
7. Are there recurrent chains of certain antecedents, behaviors, and consequences?
8. Given the identified inappropriate behavior(s) of the student and the patterns of an-
tecedents and consequences, what behavior really needs to be modified, and who is
engaging in the behavior? (p. 208)
Based on the way we conduct A-B-C analyses, it may seem that the relation between
antecedents, behavior, and consequences is linear. However, this is not the case. Instead, the
relations between antecedents, behavior, and consequences are reciprocal (Gable, Hendrick-
son, Warren, Evans, & Evans, 1988). At the simplest level, reciprocity means that the con-
sequences of a given behavior can become the antecedents for a succeeding behavior. As an
illustration, apply an A-B-C analysis to the following exchange between teacher and student.
Teacher: “Nancy, what is the capitol of the United States?”
Nancy: “Washington, DC.”
Teacher: “Nice answer, Nancy.”
Nancy: “Thank you, Ms. Anderson.”
Teacher: “You’re welcome, Nancy.”
In this illustration, the first three exchanges should be obvious. The teacher’s question is
the antecedent for Nancy’s verbal behavior of saying “Washington, DC.” The consequence is
the teacher’s saying “Nice answer.” However, this consequence then becomes the antecedent
for Nancy saying “Thank you,” which is the next behavior in the sequence. And so it can go
indefinitely.
The key task in conducting an A-B-C analysis is to identify patterns. It is less relevant
whether a given response is viewed as an antecedent or consequence. For example, in Fig-
ure 1.2, it is not particularly important to determine whether Sally’s giggling is reinforcing
Kevin’s out-of-seat behavior (no. 3) or serving as an antecedent for the teacher’s telling Kevin
to sit down (no. 4). Rather, the crucial insight to be obtained from the A-B-C analysis is that
Kevin’s behavior is being reinforced through attention from both Sally and the teacher.
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10 CHAPTER 1
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INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT 11
teachers make—that they do not believe in positive reinforcement—is analogous to their say-
ing they do not believe in gravity. Just because someone may not like an effect does not negate
its existence. Planned or unplanned positive reinforcement occurs in every classroom—all
students’ behaviors are followed by consequences from peers, adults, or both. Therefore, is
it better to preplan the use of reinforcement to increase appropriate student behaviors rather
than letting it occur naturally and running the risk of reinforcing inappropriate behaviors?
There are numerous other examples of positive reinforcement at work in the natural
environment. Alberto and Troutman (2012) provided the following examples of naturally
occurring positive reinforcers:
1. An office worker goes to work each day expecting to receive a check at the end of
the week. If the check is delivered on Friday in an amount the individual finds satis-
fying, it increases the probability that the person will return to work on Monday.
2. A little leaguer hits a double and is applauded by fans and teammates. This moti-
vates her to play again next Saturday.
3. A baby coos at his mother’s approach so she cuddles him and spends more time
playing with him. The mother’s response increases the frequency of the baby’s coo-
ing, which increases the time spent playing, and so on.
4. A student spends 45 minutes each night for a week studying for a history exam. If
the student makes an A on the exam, this consequence will motivate her to study
just as hard for her next exam. (p. 216)
Few people dispute that positive reinforcement is an effective naturally occurring phe-
nomenon, but as Axelrod (1983) suggested, they object to its planned use to elicit behaviors.
This view is puzzling. It makes more sense for a teacher to plan the application of positive
reinforcement for a student’s behavior than to let it occur randomly and run the risk that it
will increase inappropriate behaviors.
Kohn (1993) has been a vocal critic of positive reinforcement, claiming that it simply does
not work (clearly an oxymoronic statement because, by definition, if something does not increase
behavior then it is not a reinforcer). Kohn claimed that some 20 studies conducted over the past
30 years showed that positive reinforcement procedures produced only temporary improve-
ments in behavior and that their removal leads to a return of the behavior problem, often at a
worse level than before. In making his argument, Kohn ignored over 100 studies with results
contrary to his claims. However, his biggest error was equating reward with reinforcement.
A reward (or prize) is something given to a person for an accomplishment. A reward may
There is much confusion
about several terms or may not be a positive reinforcer. For example, an athlete may begin training to compete in
associated with the discus throw several years before the next Olympics. During this time, his discus-throwing
behavior management. behavior will occur at a high rate as part of his training regime. Consequently, he wins the goal
Reinforcement
and reward are not medal—certainly the ultimate reward—and decides to retire from competition. The subse-
synonymous; nor are the quent frequency of discus-throwing behavior certainly will decrease compared to the level
terms punishment and displayed prior to the Olympics. Therefore, the “reward” (i.e., gold medal) functioned as pun-
discipline.
ishment because its effect was to decrease future discus-throwing behavior. In contrast, if the
athlete places a disappointing 10th and subsequently spends more time practicing throwing
the discus to compete more effectively in the next Olympiad, then his poor showing functioned
as reinforcement because it had the effect of increasing subsequent discus-throwing behavior.
Kohn is not the only person who has objected to the planned use of positive reinforce-
ment—criticisms are broad based and ingrained in our society. Axelrod (1996) pointed out how
certain individuals object to positive reinforcement on the grounds that appropriate behavior
should be performed because it is the right and natural thing to do, not because one expects
to receive compensation or reward. But how effective can the technique of saying “should” or
“expect” be for increasing a behavior that a student is not currently performing? Another ques-
tion begs an answer: Are people who oppose the use of reinforcement also against the use of
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12 CHAPTER 1
punishment? Probably not. Many schools that do not permit the use of positive reinforcement
techniques, viewing them as a form of bribery, administer a variety of consequences designed
to decrease behavior, such as suspension and corporal punishment. This double standard is
apparent throughout many segments of our society—a point elaborated on in the next chapter.
The criticisms of the systematic use of positive reinforcement are not likely to cease even
though empirical support for its effectiveness has been provided. Instead, only when teachers
have enough courage and foresight to use positive reinforcement techniques in a preplanned,
systematic, performance-based, and self-evaluative way will their effectiveness be acknowl-
edged and their techniques implemented by other teachers. The words used to describe this
approach refer to the basic tenant of applied behavior analysis.
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INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT 13
change behaviors that will enhance the quality of students’ lives. For example, a teacher may
desperately want a student to sit quietly in his seat. However, is sitting quietly in a seat a so-
cially important behavior? We may be tempted to answer “yes.” However, if we think about it,
what is the goal for having students remain in their seats? To complete more work, of course.
Therefore, a more socially appropriate behavior to change is the amount of work the student
completes at his desk. If his work completion rate dramatically improves, it is unlikely that
he is spending an inordinate amount of time out of his seat. Besides, work completion is a
behavior that all teachers (and all of society) value.
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14 CHAPTER 1
Tertiary Prevention:
Specialized, individualized systems
for students with high-risk behavior
Secondary Prevention:
Specialized group, systems for
students with at-risk behavior
Primary Prevention:
School-wide systems for all students,
staff, and settings
FIGURE 1.3
Continuum of Positive Behavior Support
successfully in schools. This group may experience some success with primary tier techniques,
and their behavior does not pose a serious risk to themselves or others, but they require ad-
ditional supports at the class-wide or small group level. The remaining 5 percent of students
display the most challenging behaviors and require intensive individualized interventions.
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INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT 15
1-8 Technology
No introductory chapter of any textbook focusing on various aspects of education or behav-
ioral psychology would be complete without a discussion of technology. Technology perme-
ates almost every area of education for students with and without disabilities across content
areas and instructional methodology.
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16 CHAPTER 1
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INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT 17
Behavior Tracker Pro Designed by board-certified applied behavior analyst, it has multiple op-
tions to collect and analyze data: frequency and duration data, A-B-C
data, and interval data. It can also accommodate multiple student profiles
and provides teachers with a detailed analysis including graphing and
video-recording functions.
Behavior Assessment Pro Designed for FBA and might be used by a school intervention team. It
allows teachers to answer a series of questions regarding a particular be-
havior (e.g., antecedents, consequences), permitting an intensive analysis
of the behavior. Questions are scripted, which allows for consistent analy-
sis, but they can’t be customized.
Tallymander Basic counting app teachers can use to keep track how many times a stu-
dent performs a specific behavior. An interesting feature about this app is the
ability to “count” by flicking the phone without having to touch the screen.
iRewardChart Allows teachers to target specific activities or behaviors (working on an
assignment, sharing, etc.) for their students and assign stars once those
targeted activities or behaviors are completed. The goal is working toward
a specific reinforcement after a certain number of stars have accumulated.
iReward Designed specifically for tying a target behavior to a specific reward in
a highly visual way. It allows teachers to link a behavior (e.g., writing an-
swers) to a specific reward (listening to music). Pictures can be selected
from the app library or from a personal library to represent the activities.
There is an audio option to record “voice praise” (e.g., “nice working”!) that
will play back after the student has completed the task.
MyPicturesTalk Allows teachers to record audio over an imported photo or to integrate
videos in order to use it for video modeling to teach students appropriate
behaviors and concepts visually.
first legislation was the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities
Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-407). It created statewide programs of technology assistance for
persons of all ages with disabilities. The Improving Access to Assistive Technology Act of
2004 (P.L. 108-364) represented the third time Congress amended and extended provi-
sions of the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988.
Specifically, Congress funds an Assistive Technology Act Project (ATAP) in each state
to assist persons with disabilities to obtain assistive technology (AT) services throughout
their entire life span. ATAP activities include product demonstrations, AT device loan
programs, financing assistance, and public awareness regarding the availability, benefits,
and costs of AT.
TECH SUPPORTT
Using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to Integrate Technology
The use of technology can support behavior management through a commitment to Universal Design for Learning (UDL)—a set of
guidelines designed to make education accessible for all students, supported by technology. By making use of UDL, teachers can
make commonsense decisions about how to allow all students to access the curriculum and how to integrate technology to support
behavior management. For example, the use of smartphones, perhaps the most ubiquitous of all technology tools, has been used
extensively in behavior management. Applications (apps) can provide support for much of the behavior management process, from
data collection to systematic data analysis. Using tablets or phones can allow for ease of data collection, provide tables, charts,
and graphs to support ongoing student monitoring across settings, and allow for behavior progress to be monitoring through
ease of data sharing. Assistive technologies are good examples of the use of principles of UDL to reduce barriers for students
with disabilities (Rose, Hasselbring, & Zabala, 2005). Technologies such as communication boards, clickers, and text-to-speech
readers can allow students with expressive and receptive language disorders to share their choices and express opinions, thereby
engaging more fully in the classroom environment. A communication board, for example, can be used by a student to indicate his
or her understanding of a behavioral task by providing a means by which the student can select a response to a question.
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18 CHAPTER 1
CASE STUDY
S H AW N A AND H E R T E AC H E R , M R . R O D R I G U E Z
Shawna is an eight-year-old third-grader who has been identified as learning disabled in the area of reading. She
is fully included in Mr. Rodriguez’ general education classroom. Shawna’s IEP case manager is Ms. Giuseppe.
Part of Ms. Giuseppe’s responsibilities are co-teaching some reading lessons with Mr. Rodriguez and collabo-
rating with him to address any behavioral concerns he has regarding Shawna’s behavior.
During one of their planning periods, Mr. Rodriguez expressed concern to Ms. Giuseppe regarding Shaw-
na’s behavior.
“I just can’t seem to get Shawna to pay attention during lessons,” he said.
“What do you mean?” asked Ms. Giuseppe.
“Well, you know, she’s always off task,” replied Mr. Rodriguez.
Ms. Giuseppe was thinking to herself that there are already two problems with Mr. Rodriguez’ descrip-
tion. First, “attention” is not a behavior; rather it’s an internal cognitive state that cannot be directly observed.
Second, “off task” is not a behavior but rather one’s status—position or standing.
Ms. Giuseppe asks several questions to help Mr. Rodriguez clarify the specific behaviors of concern.
“Can you please tell me what you’re seeing Shawna do that indicates to you she’s not paying attention?”
“Sure,” replied Mr. Rodriguez. “She stares around the room daydreaming.”
Ms. Giuseppe was thinking to herself that this description didn’t do anything to clarify the problem because
“daydreaming” is a subjective opinion that truly can’t be known because it’s a covert process. Ms. Giuseppe
decides to come back to that one after getting Mr. Rodriguez’ idea of what “off task” means to him. She asks
him a similar question as before.
“What specific behavior are you seeing Shawna engage in that leads you to conclude that she’s off task?”
“Well, she’s not doing her work,” he said.
Ms. Giuseppe’s immediate thought, that she kept to herself momentarily was that behavior is what we do,
not what we don’t do. Instead she asks, “What are you seeing her do instead of her work?”
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INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT 19
Mr. Rodriguez replies that she’s walking around the classroom and talking to peers.
“What would you like to see her do instead of walking around and talking to peers?” asks Ms. Giuseppe.
“Doing her work,” replies Mr. Rodriguez.
Ms. Giuseppe then asks him what he’s seen her doing that indicates she’s working. He replies that Shawna
would be writing answers on the math worksheet.
“Excellent!” says Ms. Giuseppe. “Now we have some concrete behaviors to change. You want to see Shawna
stop walking around and talking to peers and instead write answers on her math worksheet.”
“Yes,” that would be a great start,” he agreed. “But I still want her to pay more attention,” continued
Mr. Rodriguez.
“Yes, you mentioned that,” said Ms. Giuseppe. “How would you know if Shawna was paying attention?”
“She would be looking at me while I’m talking just like all the other students,” Mr. Rodriguez replied.
Ms. Giuseppe anticipated this answer. She knew that most teachers think of “eye contact” as the holly grail
of students paying attention. She causally responds the following way.
“Remember when you were in college and a professor was giving a really boring lecture?”
“Of course,” he replied. “Anyone who’s been to college knows some lectures can be really boring.”
Ms. Giuseppe then asks, “What were you thinking about instead of the lecture?”
Mr. Rodriguez replied that he usually thought of going out to dinner with his girlfriend or getting together
with buddies to play a game of basketball.
“Did the professor know that was what you were thinking?” asked Ms. Giuseppe.
“Of course not,” replied Mr. Rodriguez. “He’d never know that because I’d still be looking at him and even
nodding a little bit now and then. You know how much professors like to see students nod. It makes them think
we’re paying attention.”
“Ah, so you could look at the professor and even nod a little bit while thinking of something completely
unrelated to the lecture?” asked Ms. Giuseppe.
“Oh course,” Mr. Rodriguez replied sheepishly. “Yeah, I see your point,” he continued before Ms. Giuseppe
could say anything else. “Then how would I know if Shawna was paying attention?”
Ms. Giuseppe replied that asking her questions on a regular basis over the content being covered would be
an overt and observable way to see if she was paying attention. If the number of correct answers to his questions
increased, then he knew she was paying attention to the lesson.
Summary
This chapter introduced the basics of behavior modification. Behavior modification has
specific attributes, but people often have misconceptions about it. Behavior consists of
observable actions. The three-term contingency involves analyzing the impact of anteced-
ents and consequences on the occurrence of behavior. Antecedents are the events that
come before behavior and cue or prompt (but do not cause) its occurrence. Consequences
occur after behavior and either maintain, increase, or decrease it. Reinforcement and pun-
ishment are defined based on their effects on behavior: reinforcement increases behavior
and punishment decreases behavior. A reward may be either a reinforcer or punisher de-
pending on its effect on behavior. Contrary to popular belief, discipline is not the same as
punishment. Discipline is the process of imparting skills or knowledge and so has more in
common with reinforcement than punishment. Finally, ABA is a systematic, performance-
based, and self-evaluative method for changing behavior. Ethical considerations presented
described how teachers must act morally even when their actions may conflict with school
or district guidelines, are obliged to determine if intervention produces improvements in
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20 CHAPTER 1
socially important outcomes for students, and should be aware of professional organiza-
tions ethical standards as well as knowledgeable about relevant laws and litigation. Finally,
technology has become woven into the fabric of education and behavioral psychology, and
it is important to understand how it can be used to enhance both academic and behavioral
outcomes for students.
Activities
1. Take a piece of paper, turn it sideways, draw three columns, and label them
“antecedents,” “behavior,” and “consequences.” Keep this sheet of paper by your
television set. When your favorite show comes on, spend 15 minutes conducting an
A-B-C analysis. When you are finished, see if you can determine any patterns in the
ways the characters behaved, as well as the antecedents that prompted their behaviors
and consequences that maintained them.
2. During a conversation with friends, note how many subjective words they use to
describe things. Take a piece of paper, make two columns, and label them “Subjective”
and “Objective.” List the subjective terms you heard your friends use during a
conversation. Then come up with objective counterparts for each subjective word and
record them in the “Objective” column. See if the objective terms clarify the topic of
conversation or change it.
Review Questions
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in the flower garden. Boys were paired with boys and girls with girls;
there were usually four children at the garden, each day, rain or
shine, if not to work, at least to note conditions and report to their
teachers.
Some of the girls resented slightly the comrades selected for them,
but no real insult was perpetrated by the assignments made.
The teachers took turns in sharing the responsibility for
management, except when wishing advice on cutting and giving
flowers, then all the pupils went to Miss Phelps.
Fifty pupils took part in the venture. It solved several social school
problems and created a fine spirit of fraternalism among children of
varied social standings.
When young people reach the high school age, the period in which
all the changes of adolescence are most actively going on, they
sometimes develop a tendency to form clubs and secret societies
which is often disastrous to school discipline. When the clique evil is
fully developed, snobbishness and false standards run rife.
There must be democracy in the school if the best results are to be
obtained, and the clique spirit may work great havoc, especially in a
small high school where a well-defined group or clique is necessarily
very conspicuous.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
The wise teacher will emphasize the school spirit, or even class
spirit, in dealing with situations involving the clique evil. Try to make
the snobbish ones forget their exclusiveness in their interest in
athletics or other contests in which the best man or team wins and in
which the whole school is the party to gain or lose by the outcome.
As a last resort, the parents of the ringleaders in the cliques should
be appealed to, to make their offspring see the folly and the falseness
of the standards they are setting up, for snobbish children have
generally been more or less encouraged in their snobbish tendencies
at home.
COMMENTS
Children of all grades do their best work when they have interest
and enthusiasm for the work and the school. School spirit can be
carried to extremes, but in moderation it should be encouraged. The
clique evil needs careful, tactful treatment, for the suppression of
school societies sometimes leads to the formation of secret
organizations imbued with all the mystery and solemnity of the
adults’ lodge, which are much harder to eradicate than the open,
above-board kind, and seem to be many times more attractive to the
adolescent mind.
Adolescence is the sensitive age, the age when small slights cut
deepest and pride is most easily wounded, as well as the period when
secrets and mystery are most alluring. It is positively cruel for the
young people of a school to make their classmates suffer as they have
the power to do, by organizing good times and meetings from which
the majority of the school are excluded.
The clique evil is much more likely to develop into serious
proportions in a small school of a few hundred than in a large one of
a thousand or more.
Children, as well as adults, choose for friends persons of the same
or similar tastes, but in a small school the grouping of these kindred
spirits into an exclusive organization is particularly bad, because
there are usually not enough other pupils with the spirit and
initiative to form rival organizations; there is usually one clique only,
which excludes the majority of the school from its ranks, instead of
several which offset each other.
ILLUSTRATION
The clique spirit is met with in many other places besides the
school-room.
The manager of a stocking factory found Stocking Factory
one group of girls among his operatives
making the days and nights miserable for the others in his employ.
They made loud and unpleasant remarks about other girls in the
dressing-room, were rude at all times to those not of their group,
and, by intimidation, forced the foreman to give them the advantage
when there was one to be given.
Things finally came to such a pass that no girl whom the clique
disliked could be induced to work in the factory, so unpleasant did
the clique make it for her.
The manager studied the situation long and earnestly when he
realized how serious it was, and finally hit upon the scheme of
providing a gymnasium for his women operatives. He hired a trained
social worker, who was also a gymnasium teacher. She developed
team work and the spirit of good sportsmanship in the course of a
year’s work in gymnastic classes and athletics, but it was largely the
influence of her own personality and the soundness of her teaching
and example that worked the change.
The clique spirit vanished as the result of her efforts. The manager
of the factory had realized the loss he was suffering in the lessened
efficiency of his workers; this loss was remedied only after the
company had expended much money.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
COMMENTS
Miss Reynolds had the right idea when she encouraged the
formation of school organizations, but she failed to realize that the
activities of such societies should be tactfully supervised by teacher
and principal, under the direction of leaders who have the interests
of the society at heart and who will lend their good judgment to its
best development; such an organization may be depended upon as a
standard of conduct on all questions which affect the name of the
school. Unguided organizations are the source of many of the evil
tendencies in school life.
CASE 135
The child was playing with a cat upon the rug, and finding great
delight in its piteous meows when she pulled its tail. The mother
remonstrated at each outcry in about this fashion:
“Margy, dear, don’t pull poor kitty’s tail like that! Don’t you know
it hurts poor kitty? How would you like to have mamma pull your
hair? I wouldn’t do it now. Try to make kitty happy.”
“Why don’t you pull her hair, and show her what it’s like?”
inquired Donald, who was reading in the window-seat.
“I want her to learn to think such things out for herself,” the
mother replied with a wise air. “I want her to put herself in kitty’s
place.”
“Huh—she’ll never do it unless you make her. Let me show her,
will you?”
“No, indeed, Donald. I’m afraid your method wouldn’t be very
gentle.”
“Well, I bet the cat doesn’t think she’s very gentle, either,” and
Donald went back to his story.
“Margy must learn to do her own thinking, of course. I remember
when you were a baby, Donald—Margy, child! Mercy, what a howl.
Pussy! Margy, can’t you see you hurt poor pussy? Hurt it, dear—just
hear it cry! Makes it feel all badly, as Margy does when she’s ill. Just
hear poor kitty cry!”
Margy was “hearing poor kitty cry” with new delight at each
piteous meow, which she took to be dear kitty’s means of
entertaining her—having never been taught to associate the sound
with pain of any kind. Just then the door bell rang, and the mother
had to leave.
“Donald, dear, you look after Margy while I’m gone,” she said, as
she closed the door.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
COMMENTS
ILLUSTRATION I
Donald was an obedient child, and closed Donald Takes a
his book promptly. He also, with some Hand
satisfaction in the duty assigned him, sat himself down on the rug
near his baby sister, and his attitude of watchful waiting might have
struck an observer as purposeful and determined.
Margy held pussy firmly by the loose fur at the back of the neck.
She stroked her until she was fairly quiet again, then quickly gave the
long tail another hard pull.
Quick as thought, Donald reached over and pulled his sister’s hair
vigorously. She howled lustily, and the cat ran away. Donald let her
cry for a little while, then gave her back the recaptured cat and sat
again near her. Before long the pulling occurred again, and again
Donald pulled as lustily at Margy’s curls.
“Do you see what it’s like? Do you like to have your hair pulled?
Are you going to quit it?” he inquired. Margy adored Donald, and it
did not occur to her to resent his means of enforcing his lesson.
“Want the cat back? You can have her if you won’t pull her tail.
Will you let her tail alone?” he asked again. Margy said she would,
and Donald again captured the cat and put it into her arms. This
time Margy did not pull its tail. She stroked it, still holding it tightly
by the fur; but she had learned that pulling a cat’s tail had sad
consequences when Donald was near. She never repeated the act
when her brother was within reach, although she did it when alone
or with her mother.
Pulling hair is not a good form of punishment, but Donald’s
method was based on sound principles, of which of course he was
utterly unconscious. A baby should not be asked to make judgments,
but he should be taught that pleasant consequences follow some acts
and painful ones follow others. This is nature’s method of teaching
human beings, and no one can improve on it as a method of last
resort for the young human animal.
ILLUSTRATION 2
“Look what I’ve found,” Harry Jennings cried to his friend, Captain
Stanhope. The captain was sitting on a park bench reading his
morning paper, and Harry had been running races with Gyp up and
down the gravel walk. He came up to the bench, now, with a handful
of souvenir post cards in his hands.
“Some one has been addressing them Applying
here in the park, and then went off and left “Golden Rule”
them on the bench,” he continued. “See, they’re addressed to people
all over the country, and not a stamp on one of them!”
“I have seven cents in change,” said the captain, pulling out his
worn little purse. “That will send seven of them, but there are a
dozen.”
Harry brought out a dime from his trousers pocket, and looked at
it thoughtfully. It would just pay his admission to the community ball
game that afternoon, and if he used half of it to send off a stranger’s
postcards, he must stay at home, for this was the last of his week’s
allowance. Still, there was the captain, the knight of a dozen
campaigns, looking at him. Harry knew that he allowed himself but
one cigar a week, for his pension was subject to heavy drains; and yet
he contributed his seven cents without hesitation. Surely, to share
the doing of a good turn with the captain would be worth staying
home from the ball game.
“Here’s a dime, and I’ll send the rest,” he told the captain. “Shall I
take them to the postoffice?”
The captain used the most subtly effective of all appeals to a child
to do right—he assumed a willingness to be generous on Harry’s part,
and offered him a comrade’s share in the deed. Not for worlds would
Harry have appeared stingy and selfish and little, before the captain.
And having set for himself a certain standard of generosity, it will not
be hard for Harry to be generous when his next opportunity comes,
even if there be no Captain Stanhope near to stimulate him.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
COMMENTS
This and the following incident show the play of social reaction
upon conduct. For the approbation of a friendly, trusting man, who
showed that he believed Oldham to be a boy of honor, Oldham
cheerfully did his task honestly and well; to old John, distrustful and
discourteous, Oldham responded with the trickery he invited.
Oldham should have been more deeply grounded in principles of
honesty, of course; he should have been indifferent to a childish, ill,
old man’s acidity. But Oldham was very human in the personality of
his attitude; the world abounds in people like him.
ILLUSTRATION (EIGHTH GRADE)
As Oldham went through the outer room to put away his broom
and dustpan, Mr. Miller, the principal, entered.
“Hello!” he called out, cheerily. “So you’re A Better Method
the boy who’s helping out in a pinch, are
you? I know John Smith appreciates that, and so do I. This floor
looks as though you might have swept it—not a speck to be seen. Did
you?”
“Yes, sir.” Oldham’s checks flushed with pleasure.
“Good, sincere work. Every corner clean. Well, I must go on up. I
came down to see how John here was getting on, but since you’re
helping him I needn’t stay longer. Aren’t you about through,
yourself?”
“In a few minutes, Mr. Miller,” Oldham replied. “I have to do the
furnace-room yet.” And he turned back to do a bad job over.
(2) Adolescence. In learning the great lesson of altruistic living it is
not strange if young persons sometimes fail to see their acts in clear
perspective. Only time and more experience can furnish that
perspective. The following incident illustrates an exaggerated ideal of
altruistic service on the part of a high school boy who sacrificed his
scholarship for athletics.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
COMMENTS
“And I like Philip Lampey,” said Jeannette. “I don’t know him very
well, but he always has such excellent manners and he does get his
lessons. Don’t you think he’s awfully fine?”
Miss Parsons and Jeannette White were Helping a
discussing the high school seniors in a very Comrade
friendly and personal way. When Philip Lampey was mentioned the
teacher’s brow clouded.
“I’m beginning to be worried about Philip, Jeannette,” she said.
“He’s being taken up by that fast set, and he seems to like it. He’s
losing his frank way, and beginning to swagger just a little, and to be
oily instead of just courteous. I don’t think he’s very far gone. Now,
he likes you; can’t you help us out, and save Philip from going over to
that cigarette-smoking, idle crowd?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll talk it over with mother,” Jeannette
promised. “I don’t think I have very much influence, however.”
A few days later Jeannette called to Philip as they were passing to
geometry, “Oh, Philip, mother is giving me a birthday party on the
22nd and I want you to go over the senior class with me and help me
make out the guest-list, and perhaps you have some ideas about
things to do too. Can we do it after physics this afternoon?”
“We sure can,” Philip assented, much delighted to find himself
social arbiter. “I’ll be at your desk at 4:05.”
So Philip came to Jeannette’s desk, and they began on the list.
“There’s Sam Blennerman, he’s a good fellow. You’ll want him,” he
suggested, as they came to one of his new chums.
“That stuffy little snob? I should say not!” Jeannette lifted her nose
in great scorn. “The other day I heard him making fun of Earl Stubbs
because he stayed out to go to church in Lent. I think he’s
insufferable!”
“Do you? Oh, he’s not so bad when you know him, though. Well,
how about Vernon East?”
“He smells like a tobacco shop. I never saw him without one of
those nasty little rolls of his in evidence. Father would want to know
what I was coming to.”
“Sylvia Fanslow, Mark Gorham, Francis Hingham—I suppose they
all go on?” Philip held a tentative pencil in air.
“Yes. And Emil Irwin. Leave out Leonard James, of course.”
“But why? His family’s awfully good, and he’s no end of fun. Keeps
things in a roar, you know.”
“Yes, I know. I know his kind of a roar—he thinks he’s such a man
of the world. But isn’t he the boy Mr. Burcher almost expelled for
swearing on the campus?”
“Well, yes, he is. But you wouldn’t expect him to swear at your
party you know.”
“Naturally not. But I haven’t any use for a boy who has one set of
words for girls and another for boys. That’s a double standard and
mother says double standards of any kind are bad.”
Philip was suffering a revision of his ideals at the hands of this girl.
In the evenings he spent at her house, planning the party, he came to
revise them further still as a result of the tactful suggestion of
Jeannette’s mother. When the party was over, he found his taste for
the “fast crowd” had disappeared. To keep Jeannette’s good opinion
he would have pretended to believe anything, but so pliable is youth
before habit has fixed one’s attitudes, that he had really come to
believe in the same high standards that Jeannette held.
DIVISION VIII
The aim of the teacher should be to obtain reverence for law; the law of the
game, the law of competition, the law of the school, the law of the state, and
ultimately the law of his own life development, and the law of God.
—Hughes.
CASES ARISING OUT OF THE REGULATIVE
INSTINCTS