The effects of a self-management treatment package on daily step count in university students with depressive symptoms

Research demonstrates that exercise can decrease depressive symptoms, yet it is infrequently prescribed as an intervention. Self-management techniques offer an effective and cost-efficient approach to increase engagement in physical activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of goal setting, self-monitoring, and feedback for increasing daily step count in university students (N = 4) reporting depressive symptoms. The treatment was efficacious for increasing steps for three participants with varying levels of consistency. All participants showed a decrease in some depression symptoms on the University Student Depression Inventory. Expert ratings on the Clinical Global Impression Scale indicated improvement in global functioning for three participants. Additional research is needed to determine the efficacy of this intervention package for increasing daily steps and the relation to depression symptoms.     

Effects of training, prompting, and self-monitoring on staff behavior in a classroom for students with disabilities

This study extended the limited research on the utility of tactile prompts and examined the effects of a treatment package on implementation of a token economy by instructional assistants in a classroom for students with disabilities. During baseline, we measured how accurately the assistants implemented a classroom token economy based on the routine training they had received through the school system. Baseline was followed by brief in-service training, which resulted in no improvement of token-economy implementation for recently hired instructional assistants. A treatment package of prompting and self-monitoring with accuracy feedback was then introduced as a multiple baseline design across behaviors. The treatment package was successfully faded to a more manageable self-monitoring intervention. Results showed visually significant improvements for all participants during observation sessions.     

Evaluating public posting,goal setting,and rewards to increase physical activity during school recess

We evaluated a pedometer‐based intervention consisting of public posting between two teams of students, with additional self‐monitoring, goal setting, and reinforcement components, to increase physical activity during school recess. In the absence of self‐monitoring, performance feedback alone did not increase physical activity levels above those observed during baseline. Additionally, higher levels of physical activity were observed when goal‐setting was introduced, with the highest levels of activity observed when raffle tickets could be earned for exceeding a specified step‐total goal.     

We're all in this together now: group performance feedback to increase classroom team data collection

This study's primary goal was to evaluate the use of performance feedback procedures delivered to a classroom team to increase daily data collection. Performance feedback (PFB) was delivered to four classroom teams responsible for the daily collection of data representing student performance during prescribed instructional activities. Using a multiple-baseline design, the effects of the team performance-feedback were evaluated for the target student, and for generalization to data collection for all classroom students. A secondary question evaluated if student on-task behavior correlated with increased data collection. Finally, social validity was investigated to evaluate team satisfaction with the PFB intervention. The results demonstrate improved data collection across all four classroom teams for the target student in each classroom and generalization within classrooms to all remaining students. Slight increases in student on-task behavior were observed in three of the four classrooms, and teacher satisfaction ratings were high.     

The Effects of Self-Monitoring on Children's Classroom Behavior

A multiple baseline design across three third-grade boys was used to determine the effectiveness of self-monitoring as an intervention tool in the classroom setting. The differential effectiveness of self-monitoring the correctness of answers to arithmetic problems and of self-monitoring on-task behavior was determined by an alternating-treatments design for each boy. Self-monitoring academic accuracy or on-task behavior produced comparable effects. Self-monitoring increased on-task behavior for all three subjects. Self-monitoring increased the rate of completion of arithmetic problems for two of the three subjects. Self-monitoring did not affect academic accuracy in a consistent manner. These results are discussed in light of the instruction and motivational aspects of self-monitoring.     

How leaders stimulate employee learning: A leader–member exchange approach

This study investigated how leader–member exchange (LMX), goal setting, and feedback are related to employee engagement in learning activities. Two different mechanisms were proposed: a mediating mechanism holding that LMX elicits specific leader behaviours (i.e., goal setting and feedback) which would mediate the LMX‐learning relationship, and a moderating mechanism, holding that LMX would strengthen the effect of these leader behaviours. A sample of 1,112 employees from 7 organizations completed questionnaires that measured LMX, goal specificity, feedback, and self‐reports of employee engagement in learning activities. The 233 direct leaders of these employees completed questionnaires that measured goal difficulty and leader ratings of employee engagement in learning activities. Multi‐level analysis showed that goal difficulty and goal specificity mediated the relationship between LMX and employee engagement in learning activities, and that LMX moderated the relationship of goal difficulty with employee engagement in learning activities. With these findings, the present study contributes to the literatures on LMX, goal setting, and employee development.     

Effects of Delayed Audio-Based Self-Monitoring on Teacher Completion of Learning Trials

Although instructors may teach effective instructional behaviors in pre-service training programs, pre-service teachers frequently do not generalize those behaviors to classroom practicum settings. Feedback within the practicum setting is necessary to promote generalization, but is often limited by university supervisors’ availability. Using a multiple-probe design across 3 pre-service teachers, we investigated audio self-monitoring as a method to provide feedback on the number of learning trials completed during the prior learning review section of lessons. A completed learning trial represented an opportunity for the students to both respond to a prompt and receive feedback from the pre-service teacher and represents the smallest unit of complete instruction. Results indicated that self-monitoring increased the percentage of learning trials completed by pre-service teachers, but had modest effects on rate of learning trials delivered. These findings are discussed in light of the need for methods that help bridge the gap between university-based training and classroom application of key instructional skills.     

Effect of a behavioral intervention on dimensions of self-regulation and physical activity among overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes: a pilot study

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the preliminary effect of a behavioral intervention on the use of self-regulation strategies and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes. 23 individuals recruited from ResearchMatc.org and campus advertisements were randomized into an intervention (n = 12) and control (n = 11) group. The intervention group received a behavioral intervention that used goal setting, time management, and self-monitoring to target dimensions of self-regulation and MVPA. The control received information regarding their PA habits. MVPA was measured via BodyMedia Armbands at pre- and post-test. The use of self-regulatory strategies for MVPA was assessed at pretest and posttest using the Self-Regulation for Exercise Scale. Cohen’s d effect sizes were calculated to determine the practical impact of the intervention. The intervention had a large effect on all dimensions of self-regulation across time: including total self-regulation (3.15), self-monitoring (4.63), goal setting (3.17), social support (1.29), self-reward (1.98), time management (4.41), and overcoming barriers (2.25). The intervention had no impact on dimensions of MVPA across time. This pilot study demonstrated the ability of a behavioral intervention to improve the use of self-regulation strategies for MVPA in a sample of adults with type 2 diabetes. These findings can further inform the development of health promotion programs to promote self-regulation. Future research should focus on determining ability of improvements in self-regulation to stimulate behavior change.     

Using self-monitoring to increase on-task behaviors of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) in inclusive classrooms in Turkey (Türkiye)

Self-monitoring interventions have been found to be effective in improving the on-task behaviors of students with a wide range of disabilities. However, there are ongoing limitations in the literature, including the (a) lack of planning in generalization and maintenance, (b) interventions are predominantly conducted in segregated settings, and (c) inadequate number of data points collected in each condition. In the current study, self-monitoring was used to improve the on-task behavior of three elementary school students with ADHD in inclusive classrooms in Turkey. A concurrent multiple-baseline across-participants design was used. Generalization and maintenance were programmed via sequential modification, partial withdrawal, and continuous data collection. Additionally, classroom teachers rated the students' overall classroom behaviors in each data collection session. Based on the visual and the effect size analyses (i.e., performance criteria-based effect size [PCES]), the intervention was effective in improving the students' on-task behaviors. The self-monitoring intervention had 1.18 (high effect), 1.06 (effective) in generalization, and 1.14 (effective) in the first maintenance set and 1.03 (effective) in the second maintenance data set. The teacher ratings aligned with the increased on-task behaviors of the students. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Does Setting Goals Enhance Parenting Intervention Effects? A Field Experiment

People who pursue approach goals (i.e., desired outcomes to be reached) tend to be more likely to achieve their goals than people who pursue avoidance goals (i.e., undesired outcomes to be prevented). We tested this premise in a brief preventive parenting intervention targeting parental praise to reduce disruptive child behavior. We also tested whether goal setting effects depend on behavior change phase (initiation versus maintenance) and parents’ regulatory focus (high versus low promotion and prevention focus). Parents (N = 224; child age 4 ? 8) were randomized to one of four conditions: an approach goal-enhanced or an avoidance goal-enhanced intervention condition, a no-goal intervention condition, or a waitlist control condition. Outcomes were parent-reported and audio-recorded positive parenting and disruptive child behavior. Results show that goal setting had very limited effects. Setting avoidance goals, not approach goals, improved self-reported positive parenting. However, goal setting did not enhance effects of parenting intervention on observed (i.e., audio-recorded) positive parenting and disruptive child behavior. Furthermore, goal setting effects depended neither on the phase of change, nor on parents’ regulatory focus. This field experiment suggests that setting approach goals does not enhance the brief parenting intervention to improve parent-child interactions.     

Effect of baseline self-efficacy on physical activity and psychological stress after a one-week pedometer intervention

Physical activity and psychological stress were hypothesized to improve more in participants with high self-efficacy than in those with low and medium self-efficacy after a one-week intervention. 39 female university students participated. The intervention had two steps: a lecture on self-monitoring and goal setting (160 min.) and a one-week pedometer intervention. Analyses were conducted on tertile groups according to self-efficacy at baseline. Pedometer step counts were higher in the high self-efficacy group than in the low self-efficacy group after intervention. Helplessness decreased time dependently after intervention only in the high-self-efficacy group. Because physical activity improved more in the high self-efficacy group after a one-week intervention, one hypothesis was supported.     

Pedometers and brief e-counseling: increasing physical activity for overweight adults

Physical inactivity has emerged as a public health epidemic and is associated with the rising obesity rate. A multiple-treatments reversal design was utilized to test whether pedometer-aided self-monitoring and brief e-counseling could help 3 overweight adults increase their physical activity. Dependent measures were taken for pedometer steps and weight. Two participants approximately doubled their daily step totals and lost a modest amount of weight by study end.     

Increasing Classroom Compliance: Using a High-Probability Command Sequence with Noncompliant Students

Noncompliance is one of the most problematic behaviors within the school setting. One strategy to increase compliance of noncompliant students is a high-probability command sequence (HPCS; i.e., a set of simple commands in which an individual is likely to comply immediately prior to the delivery of a command that has a lower probability of compliance). Although research has shown this technique to be effective at increasing compliance across various settings and behaviors, most studies have been limited to participants with moderate to severe developmental disabilities. The current study targeted 2 noncompliant elementary-age students within the general education setting. Two teachers were taught to integrate HPCS into ongoing classroom reading instruction and independent seatwork. For both participants, higher percentages of compliance with low-probability commands were displayed during intervention and maintenance phases compared to baseline levels. Results suggest that using an antecedent intervention based on HPCS holds promise for school personnel working with noncompliant students within the general education setting.     

SELF-MONITORING AND WORK PRODUCTIVITY WITH MENTALLY RETARDED ADULTS

We examined the use of self-monitoring to increase the productivity of five mentally retarded adults in a sheltered workshop. Data were collected daily during a 30-minute intervention and 30-minute generalization period. Following baseline, verbal praise, prompts, and physical encouragement were administered contingent on productive behavior on a specific task during the intervention period. In the next phase, self-monitoring was trained during the intervention period. During both phases, baseline conditions prevailed in the generalization periods. In the final phase, self-monitoring was extended across the intervention and generalization periods. Results showed that increased productivity levels, evident when praise and prompting were being administered, maintained with self-monitoring alone. Minimal generalization across time was observed until self-monitoring was begun in the generalization period.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of goal setting and textual feedback for increasing moderate‐intensity physical activity in adults

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of goal setting and textual feedback, without additional intervention components, for increasing moderate‐intensity physical activity, specifically the weekly number of intense steps measured by a Fitbit. A multiple baseline across participants design was employed with four participants using a Fitbit Flex accelerometer to measure intense steps. Results showed a substantial increase in weekly number of intense steps for three out of four participants following the intervention.     

Durability and generalization of attribution-based feedback following failure: Effects on expectations and behavioral persistence

ObjectiveThis experiment investigated, following perceived failure, the immediate, long-term (i.e., durability), and cross-situational (i.e., generalization) effects of attribution-based feedback on expectations and behavioral persistence.DesignWe used a 3 × 2 (Group × Time) experimental design over seven weeks with attributions, expectations of success, and persistence as dependent measures.Method49 novice participants were randomly assigned to one of three treatment (attributional feedback) groups: (a) functional (i.e., controllable and unstable); (b) dysfunctional (i.e., uncontrollable and stable); or (c) no feedback. Testing involved three sessions, in which participants completed a total of five trials across two performance tasks (golf-putting and dart-throwing). In order to track whether the attributional manipulation conducted within the context of the golf-putting task in Session 2 would generalize to a new situation, participants performed a dart-throwing task in Session 3, and their scores were compared with those recorded at baseline (in Session 1).ResultsAnalysis of pre- and post-intervention measures of attributions, expectations, and persistence revealed that the functional attributional feedback led to more personally controllable attributions following failure in a golf-putting task, together with increases in success expectations and persistence. In contrast, dysfunctional attributional feedback led to more personally uncontrollable and stable attributions following failure, together with lower success expectations and reduced persistence. These effects extended beyond the intervention period, were present up to four weeks post intervention, and were maintained even when participants performed a different (i.e., dart-throwing) task.ConclusionsThe findings demonstrate that attributional feedback effects are durable over time and generalize across situations.     

Resource-Allocation Strategies: A Verbal Protocol Analysis

The current study examined the strategies used by people to solve resource-allocation problems. Verbal protocols were recorded as participants provided meal choices for seven consecutive days with limited resources available to spend on meals and with daily constraints imposed on meal consumption. None of the participants incorporated the established mathematical procedures (i.e., Linear Programming) to arrive at the optimum number of meals possible in a week. However, the strategies they did use enabled them to achieve meal totals on average at 94% of this optimal amount. A few participants attempted to first solve the maximum meals possible in a week before scheduling this solution across the seven days (solve-and-schedule strategy), but the majority of participants simply selected meals on a day-to-day basis while checking resource availability each day to allow for full resource consumption (consume-and-check strategy). The findings of this study provide a preliminary step toward understanding how people make intuitive resource-allocation decisions.     

The effects of programming common stimuli for enhancing stimulus generalization of academic behavior

Programming common stimuli is a strategy for generalizing behavior across settings (Stokes & Baer, 1977). The present study programmed common stimuli (i.e., goal statement and use of a pictorial icon) to generalize the effects of a reinforcement-based intervention for students identified as either developmentally delayed or emotionally disturbed. Results supported the effectiveness of the strategy in producing generalized responding from training to the generalization setting. The importance of methodological rigor in future research exploring generalization and the need to compare generalization strategies are discussed.     

The role of teachers' commitment to implement in delivering evidence-based social-emotional learning programs

Although there are reasons to believe that teachers' commitment to learn and enact an evidence-based program (i.e., their commitment to implement) predicts their implementation fidelity, there is surprisingly little quantitative research testing this relationship. Using a national large-scale evaluation of three preschool social-emotional interventions, this study investigated how strongly teachers' commitment predicted implementation fidelity and whether commitment was a meaningful predictor of fidelity as compared to other individual factors (i.e., teacher stress at baseline) and contextual factors (i.e., collegial supports, classroom behavioral problems, and classroom quality at baseline). We surveyed 230 preschool teachers in their first year of implementing the interventions; data sources include surveys from teachers and 52 intervention coaches as well as classroom observational data. We found that teachers' baseline commitment consistently predicted implementation fidelity across time and that commitment predicted unique variation in fidelity after accounting for other individual and contextual factors. In addition, implementation fidelity had a moderate positive relationship with teachers' baseline classroom quality and a small negative association with baseline classroom behavior problems. Findings are discussed with respect to implementation science in education.