Abstract

Noncompliance in students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (EBD) can contribute to difficulty with peer and teacher relationships and may result in reduced time for academic instruction. The Precision Request, an intervention which uses alpha commands, verbal praise, and reductive consequences, has been shown to increase compliance in students with EBD, but no studies have accounted for which component is responsible for the change. This study used an ABCDAX add-in component analysis to determine which component of the Precision Request produced the most effect on behavioral compliance in five sixth-grade elementary students with EBD. Data were collected on percent of student compliance, latency to compliance, and teacher and paraprofessional use of verbal praise and reductive consequences. Percent of correct implementation of the Precision Request was also recorded. All data were subsequently inspected via visual analysis. The interventionists which participated in the study were unable to implement the Precision Request with fidelity and no effect was found on student compliance, which prompted researchers to examine characteristics of the interventionists as a possible explanation for failure to implement with fidelity. A comparison of interventionists suggests that the Precision Request may be too difficult to implement for an individual who lacks behavioral training, who does not use foundational classroom procedures such as positive reinforcement and verbal praise, and/or whose philosophical viewpoints are not conducive to behavior analysis. Future research should examine contextual fit as regards behavioral interventions and interventionists, as well as which behavioral principles need to be mastered by an interventionist before the Precision Request can be implemented with fidelity.

Degree

MS

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Counseling Psychology and Special Education

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2020-01-01

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd11265

Keywords

noncompliance, precision request, interventionist, implementation fidelity, emotional/behavioral disorders

Language

English

Included in

Education Commons

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