Preferred Name
Angie Slusar
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4120-7959
Date of Graduation
5-11-2023
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Degree Name
Master of Education (MEd)
Department
Department of Educational Foundations and Exceptionalities
Second Advisor
Ben Riden
Third Advisor
Joshua Pulos
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to look at the effectiveness of general praise (GP) versus behavior specific praise (BSP) on increasing on-task behavior and decreasing the behavior of hitting in an elementary-age child with autism spectrum disorder. The researcher conducted a single function functional analysis to confirm that hitting was maintained by access to adult attention. The researcher used an alternating treatment design to compare GP and BSP as behavior change interventions. The researcher observed an educator working one-on-one with an elementary-aged child with autism. In each condition, the educator gave the praise that corresponded with the condition, to the student, on a variable-interval schedule of 2 min. The results showed BSP to be slightly more effective at increasing on-task behavior, and GP to be slightly more effective at decreasing the problem behavior of hitting in this particular student. More research is needed to support the effectiveness of these interventions with this particular population.
