Date of Award

Summer 2019

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Dan Tingstrom

Committee Chair Department

Psychology

Committee Member 2

Evan Dart

Committee Member 2 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 3

Brad Dufrene

Committee Member 3 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 4

Keith Radley

Committee Member 4 Department

Psychology

Abstract

Peer-mediated tootling with a standardized procedure was implemented along with a mystery motivator component to determine the effects on academically engaged and disruptive behavior in three general education high school classrooms. The intervention used an A/B/A/B design across all classrooms. The goal of the study was to determine if these components would increase academically engaged behavior and decrease disruptive behavior. Students were trained on tootling procedures with a standardized format, which included reporting on peers’ positive, prosocial behavior on a premade tootling slip with various behaviors that they could select as being observed, reading five random slips aloud, totaling the number of slips to determine if the class reached its goal, and then drawing out of the chance envelope to determine if the class earned the reward for the day. As opposed to traditional tootling where a teacher facilitates the components of the intervention, a student appointed interventionist fulfilled the role instead. The results indicated that increases in academically engaged behavior and decreases in disruptive behavior were evident in two of the classrooms, while the third classroom had inconclusive data during the withdrawal and re-implementation phases. Social validity measures indicated acceptability in effectiveness and utility by the teachers and acceptability by the students. Overall, this study provides evidence for the use of peer-mediated standardized tootling in conjunction with a mystery motivator in high school classrooms; however, more research is needed to determine which, if any, of these additional components are necessary for future tootling studies.

ORCID ID

0000-0001-7260-1030

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