Group Contingencies – How Can I Reinforce More Than One Child At A Time?

Written by Jill Castellani, M.S., BCBA

Research has shown that group contingencies, properly managed, can be an effective and practical approach to changing behavior of many people at the same time (Stage & Quiroz, 1997).  A group contingency is one in which a common consequence is contingent on:  1) the behavior of one member of the group; 2) the behavior of part of the group; 3) or the behavior of everyone in the group.

A dependent group contingency refers to reinforcement being contingent on an individual child or small group.  This is sometimes referred to as the hero contingency.  Kerr and Nelson (2002) report that the hero procedure can facilitate positive interactions among students since the entire group benefits from the specific student’s behavior.  For example, Gresham (1983) conducted a study whereby a student received a “good note” in school for each day that he did not engage in destructive behavior at home.  The notes were exchangeable for tokens at school and after 5 tokens, the entire class could have a party.  This contingency was effective in reinforcing appropriate behavior at home and increased positive interactions with all students in the class at school.

An independent group contingency refers to reinforcement being available to all members of a group, but only delivered to those group members who meet the criterion.  For example, a teacher set up a token economy for those students who emitted appropriate behavior during each class time, such as raising their hand, using polite words, waiting their turn, staying in their seats, etc.  Each student’s name was visible to the class and the teacher put a check mark next to each name based on appropriate behavior per class period.  Only each student who received 6 check marks over a week’s time earned reinforcement and the others did not.  Data showed that after 8 weeks, the total number of disruptions had decreased by over 70% for the entire class (Brantley and Webster, 1993).

An interdependent group contingency refers to reinforcement being delivered when all members of the group meet the criterion.  To use the above-example, reinforcement would be provided to the class once ALL of the students had received 6 check marks in a week’s period.  An advantage to this contingency is that it promotes students to achieve a common goal, and capitalizes on group cohesiveness.   

There are advantages to using a group contingency.  One advantage is that a group contingency can save time by administering reinforcement to all members of a group vs. each member of a group individually.  Similarly, for multiple students who are exhibiting problem behavior, it is easier to put in a contingency for all of those students as a group instead of administering an individual program for each one. Another advantage to a group contingency is that it capitalizes on peer influence and improved peer relations, as group contingencies facilitate peers as the change agents.  The main disadvantage of group contingencies is the potential negative reactions and feedback from peers for not meeting the contingency.  However, this disadvantage can be minimized by setting up the contingencies so that the target student(s) can meet success quickly (see this blog on Schedules of Reinforcement for more information).

Group contingencies can not only be implemented in a classroom setting, but at home with two or more siblings.  In our experience at BCOTB, this has been very successful in not only improving individual behaviors, but in increasing positive social interactions between the siblings.

Have you used a group contingency successfully or do you have any questions?  Please post in the comments section below!