THE USE OF FUNCTIONAL-ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP PEER INTERVENTIONS FOR DISRUPTIVE CLASSROOM-BEHAVIOR

We evaluated the effectiveness of a peer intervention for disruptive b ehavior that was based on the results of a prior classroom-based funct ional analysis. For each participant, the results of a functional anal ysis suggested that peer attention rather than teacher attention or es cape/time-out was associated with the most disruptive classroom behavi or. An intervention based on peer attention for appropriate behavior, and extinction of peer attention for disruptive behaviors, reduced dis ruptive behaviors to zero for all four participants. This study also d emonstrates the successful fading of peer reinforcement and replicates previous classroom-based functional analyses of the differential effe cts of teacher attention, peer attention, and time-out/escape for verb al children of average intellectual functioning.