Instructions and group versus individual reinforcement in modifying disruptive group behavior

Head Start children were matched into two groups on the basis of rates of disruptive behavior during rest periods. Attempts were made to modify their behavior using either individual or group token reinforcement procedures. While the reinforcement procedures reduced inappropriate behavior somewhat, the addition of instructions to the reinforcement reduced the inappropriate behavior to near zero for both groups. Instructions alone, however, were ineffective in controlling behavior. Type of reinforcement (group or individual) did not produce differential effects. While experimental control over the target behavior was demonstrated, there was little carryover from the experimental room to the regular classroom. Even when treatment was introduced into the regular class, follow-up results showed that with time the target behavior approximated pretreatment levels. The results suggest that (a) the combination of instructions and reinforcement is much more effective than either one of these alone, (b) behavior change is specific to the environmental contingencies, and (c) the group reinforcement technique, which is much more easily implemented, was at least as effective as individual reinforcement in the present study.     

The epistemic significance of political disagreement

Philosophical Studies - The degree of doxastic revision required in response to evidence of disagreement is typically thought to be a function of our beliefs about (1) our interlocutor’s...     

Embedding a functional analysis of compliance in small group instruction

Research on adaptations to standard functional analyses for use in classroom settings has increased in recent years. However, few studies have focused on procedural variations specific to assessing noncompliance in the context of academic instruction. In the current study, we trained a special education teacher to embed a functional analysis of compliance in small group instruction. The goal of the functional analysis was to identify an effective reinforcement contingency for compliance for a second grade student with an intellectual disability. Results suggested a combined escape + tangible contingency increased compliance to instructional prompts relative to other conditions. The functional analysis of compliance represents a variation on previous functional analyses of noncompliance with potential to increase ecological and social validity of assessment procedures for classroom settings.     

Group disagreement: a belief aggregation perspective

The debate on the epistemology of disagreement has so far focused almost exclusively on cases of disagreement between individual persons. Yet, many social epistemologists agree that at least certain kinds of groups are equally capable of having beliefs that are open to epistemic evaluation. If so, we should expect a comprehensive epistemology of disagreement to accommodate cases of disagreement between group agents, such as juries, governments, companies, and the like. However, this raises a number of fundamental questions concerning what it means for groups to be epistemic peers and to disagree with each other. In this paper, we explore what group peer disagreement amounts to given that we think of group belief in terms of List and Pettit’s (Econ Philos 18:89–110, 2002; Group agency: the possibility, design, and status of corporate agents, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011) ‘belief aggregation model’. We then discuss how the so-called ‘equal weight view’ of peer disagreement is best accommodated within this framework. The account that seems most promising to us says, roughly, that the parties to a group peer disagreement should adopt the belief that results from applying the most suitable belief aggregation function for the combined group on all members of the combined group. To motivate this view, we test it against various intuitive cases, derive some of its notable implications, and discuss how it relates to the equal weight view of individual peer disagreement.

     

A study of grouphate in a course on small group communication

This study explored the relationship between grouphate and cohesion, consensus, relational satisfaction, affective learning, and cognitive learning. Participants were 83 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory course on small group communication. Participants completed the Grouphate scale, the Classroom Cohesion scale, the Consensus scale, the Relational Satisfaction scale, three subscales of the Instructional Affect Assessment Instrument, and the Cognitive Learning Loss measure. Mean grouphate significantly increased during the semester, and negative correlations were found between scores for grouphate and cohesion (-.50), consensus (-.45), relational satisfaction (-.58), attitude toward the behaviors recommended in the course (-.23), the likelihood of developing an appreciation for the course content (-.33), and cognitive learning (-.32). Results may imply that students' grouphate is not associated with prosocial outcomes of the group work in this course.     

Differential effects of token reinforcement on instruction-following behavior in retarded students instructed as a group

This study was addressed to the problem of applying behavior modification techniques on a group basis to a class of retarded students with "attentional deficits". Seven boys, age 8 to 15 yr, characterized as showing severe "attentional" problems or disruptive behavior in their respective classrooms, participated daily for 30-min sessions in a special class over a 1.5-month period. In each session, verbal instructions were given to the class as a whole. In control sessions, each appropriate instruction-following response by a child produced praise for that child. In experimental sessions, appropriate responses also produced tokens exchangeable for tangible reinforcers after the session. Token reinforcement differentially maintained instruction-following behavior in four children while one responded appropriately to most instructions and a second improved continuously during the study. While the data suggest that the present approach can be successfully applied to the alteration of instruction-following behavior in retarded children, its major contribution may be that of providing objective quantitative information about such behavior.     

The nature and grounds of Xunzi's disagreement with Mencius

This, paper argues that the debate between Mencius and Xunzi, as to whether human nature is intrinsically good or evil, represents not so much a disagreement as to the empirical facts of human nature as a disagreement over the nature of morality. Specifically, it argues that Mencius holds a virtue‐theoretic conception of morality while Xunzi subscribes to a rule‐based conception of morality. These differences in their conceptions of morality lead the two philosophers to radically different evaluations of human nature although they are in substantial agreement as to the empirical facts of human nature.     

Effects of group response-cost procedures on cash shortages in a small business

The effect of a group response-cost procedure (accompanied by verbal and written instruction) designed to decrease cash shortages in a small business was evaluated with a reversal design. When cash shortages were subtracted from the six employees' salaries on days in which the shortage exceeded 1% of total daily sales, the magnitude of daily shortages sharply decreased. This response-cost contingency was used only three times throughout the study, with a maximum cost of $8.70 per subject over the 41-day period. The efficacy of the procedures may be due to either increased precision in change calculations, a decreased frequency of stealing from the cash register, increased shortchanging of customers, and/or increased incidents of register under-ringing. Ethical questions relative to the utilization of group punishment procedures are raised, and it was concluded that the procedures used were more humane than commonly used alternatives.     

Lunchroom noise control using feedback and group contingent reinforcement

Reduction of noise levels in an elementary school lunchroom was examined as a function of feedback and feedback plus reinforcement using group contingency procedures. Feedback consisted of signals from a traffic light, with green indicating acceptable levels, yellow indicating levels approaching undesirable, and red indicating unacceptable levels. Other behaviors, including running, hitting, pushing, and kicking, were measured incidentally. Results indicate that feedback plus reinforcement was effective in reducing noise levels. Feedback only was also effective, but to a lesser degree. No response-response relationship was found to exist between noise level and the other behaviors.     

Inclusiveness in the face of anticipated disagreement

This paper discusses the epistemic outcomes of following a belief-forming policy of inclusiveness under conditions in which one anticipates systematic disagreement with one’s interlocutors. These cases highlight the possibility of distinctly epistemic costs of inclusiveness, in the form of lost knowledge of or a diminishment in one’s rational confidence in a proposition. It is somewhat controversial whether following a policy of inclusiveness under such circumstances will have such costs; this will depend in part on the correct account of the epistemic significance of disagreement (a topic over which there is some disagreement). After discussing this matter at some length, I conclude, tentatively, that inclusiveness under disagreement can have such epistemic costs. Still, I go on to argue, such costs by themselves would not rationalize substantial limitations on a broad policy of inclusiveness. Insofar as there are grounds for restricting how inclusive one should be in belief-formation, these grounds will not be epistemic, but instead will reflect the practical costs—the time, effort, and resource costs to the subject—of following such a policy.