Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities - Division on ...

sat at study carrels with work <strong>in</strong> front of them
<strong>and</strong> the teacher <strong>in</strong>structed the student to do
his work. They were not offered rewards for
work completion (Alex’s target behavior) or
verbal requests for help (Troy’s target behavior),
but the teacher did use verbal <strong>and</strong> gestural
prompts (e.g., po<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g to pencils to be
sorted <strong>and</strong> the conta<strong>in</strong>er they should be
placed <strong>in</strong>) to rem<strong>in</strong>d them to complete their
work.
Assessment of preferred items. Prior to selfmonitor<strong>in</strong>g
tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, we assessed each participant’s
preferences regard<strong>in</strong>g rewards. Based
on teacher <strong>in</strong>put, a variety of items were collected
(e.g., cassette tape player with headphones,
sp<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g toys with lights <strong>and</strong> music,
squishy balls). Sets of five or six items were
placed <strong>in</strong> front of each participant <strong>and</strong> data
collected on which items were selected most
frequently. Items selected most frequently
Figure 2. Example of Troy’s self-monitor<strong>in</strong>g materials.
28 / <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Developmental</strong> <strong>Disabilities</strong>-March 2005
were identified as preferred <strong>and</strong> delivered
cont<strong>in</strong>gent upon target behaviors dur<strong>in</strong>g subsequent
phases of the study. Alex’s re<strong>in</strong>forcers
<strong>in</strong>cluded time on the computer <strong>and</strong> two h<strong>and</strong>held
sp<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g toys with lights <strong>and</strong> music.
Troy’s preferred items were a cassette tape
player with headphones, a tube that made
sounds like thunder when shaken, <strong>and</strong> a pencil
with a fake spider on the end.
Self-monitor<strong>in</strong>g tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g. The first step <strong>in</strong>
self-monitor<strong>in</strong>g tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g with each participant
was to offer one of the preferred items. Each
participant was shown a few pictures (approximately
3 cm square) of preferred items to
choose from <strong>and</strong> asked what he wished to
work for. He would then <strong>in</strong>dicate which item
he preferred. Alex po<strong>in</strong>ted or picked up the
picture of the item he wanted, while Troy
po<strong>in</strong>ted <strong>and</strong>/or verbally named the item. The
participant would then place the picture on