| Abstract: | A variable affecting the success of behavioral training workshops is the degree to which workshop instructors promote attentiveness among trainees. This study represented a preliminary assessment of trainee attentiveness associated with different types of workshop instructor behavior. Attentiveness among 298 people attending 21 training workshops was observed as instructors engaged in different categories and subcategories of behavior. Results indicated a decreasing trend in trainee attentiveness as instructors spent more time exclusively talking and talking with a slide presentation. Relatedly, trainee attentiveness was lowest when instructors were talking with and without a slide presentation relative to engaging in these plus other behaviors (asking a question, telling a story, changing instructors, showing a video, providing a participant activity, and/or expressing humor). Results are discussed in terms of behavior analysts conducting workshops in light of instructional behavior associated with high levels of trainee attentiveness and exerting caution with time spent exclusively talking and talking with slide presentations. Future research areas discussed focus on ways to further specify workshop instructor behavior that promotes or impedes trainee attentiveness. |
