Sequencing instructional tasks. A comparison of contingent and noncontingent interspersal of preferred academic tasks
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2003
Abstract
This study compared two strategies for increasing accurate responding on a low-preference academic task by interspersing presentations of a preferred academic task. Five children attending a preschool program for children with delayed language development participated in this study. Preferred and nonpreferred tasks were identified through a multiple-stimulus, free-operant preference assessment. Contingent access to a preferred academic task was associated with improved response accuracy when compared to noncontingent access to that activity for 3 students. For 1 student, noncontingent access to the preferred activity led to improved response accuracy, and 1 student's analysis suggested the importance of procedural variety. The implications of these findings for use of preference assessments to devise instructional sequences that improve student responding are discussed.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Behavior modification
First Page
191
Last Page
216
Recommended Citation
Noell, G. H., Whitmarsh, E. L., VanDerHeyden, A. M., Gatti, S. L., & Slider, N. J. (2003). Sequencing instructional tasks. A comparison of contingent and noncontingent interspersal of preferred academic tasks. Behavior modification, 27 (2), 191-216. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445503251577