An evaluation of a three-component multiple schedule to indicate attention availability.

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Behavioral Interventions
• Early Childhood Education

Background:

• Students often exhibit high rates of social approach behaviors at inappropriate times.
• Teaching appropriate social interaction is crucial for classroom management.
• Interventions are needed to help young children regulate attention-seeking behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a multiple schedule of reinforcement intervention.
• To teach students appropriate and inappropriate times to access attention.
• To improve social approach behaviors in a preschool setting.

Main Methods:

• A multiple schedule intervention was implemented in a bilingual preschool classroom.
• The schedule visually indicated when adult attention was available or unavailable.
• The intervention was applied during small-group instructional periods.

Main Results:

• The multiple schedule intervention was effective in modifying students' behavior.
• Students' social approach responses came under stimulus control.
• The intervention successfully differentiated appropriate from inappropriate attention-seeking.

Conclusions:

• Multiple schedules of reinforcement are a viable intervention for teaching attention regulation.
• This strategy can improve social behaviors in early childhood education settings.
• Stimulus control over social approach responses was demonstrated.