Randomized Interdependent Group Contingencies: Group Reinforcement With a Twist

This investigation examined the effects of randomizing components of an interdependent group contingency procedure on the target behavior of 12 students in a second-grade classroom in a rural southeastern school district. Specifically, using a multiphase time-series design (i.e., A-B-A-C-B-C design) levels of disruptive behavior were compared across baseline, an intervention phase with only randomized reinforcers (the RR+ phase), and an intervention phase with all components randomized (R-ALL phase). Results suggest that both interventions were successful in decreasing levels of disruptive behavior, with the R-ALL phase resulting in lower mean, and more stable, percentages of disruptive behavior. The advantages to randomizing components within a group contingency procedure are discussed, because this procedure not only incorporates the strengths of an interdependent group contingency, but also addresses the limitations. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Interdependent Group Contingency Management for Cocaine-Dependent Methadone Maintenance Patients

Contingency management (CM) for drug abstinence has been applied to individuals independently even when delivered in groups. We developed a group CM intervention in which the behavior of a single, randomly selected, anonymous individual determined reinforcement delivery for the entire group. We also compared contingencies placed only on cocaine abstinence (CA) versus one of four behaviors (CA, treatment attendance, group CM attendance, and methadone compliance) selected randomly at each drawing. Two groups were formed with 22 cocaine-dependent community-based methadone patients and exposed to both CA and multiple behavior (MB) conditions in a reversal design counterbalanced across groups for exposure order. The group CM intervention proved feasible and safe. The MB condition improved group CM meeting attendance relative to the CA condition