An increasing number of preschool children exhibit challenging behavior in the classroom. Children enrolled in Head Start are particularly at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders due to numerous risk factors they face. Unfortunately, some preschool teachers are ill-equipped to manage the challenging behaviors that preschool children exhibit. The current study investigated the effects of an independent group contingency, the Mystery Student Intervention, on improving preschool children's classroom behaviors. An ABAB withdrawal design was employed to determine the Mystery Student Intervention's effectiveness for decreasing disruptive behaviors and increasing appropriate behaviors in three Head Start classrooms. Results indicated that class-wide aggregate disruptive behavior decreased, and appropriate behavior increased during the intervention phases for all three classrooms. Furthermore, teachers rated the Mystery Student Intervention as socially valid. Results of this study add to the limited research base on group contingencies in preschool settings.

中文翻译：

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评估独立小组的偶然性：“神秘学生”改善领先课堂的行为

越来越多的学龄前儿童在课堂上表现出具有挑战性的行为。由于面临众多风险因素，参加 Head Start 的儿童特别容易出现情绪和行为障碍。不幸的是，一些学龄前教师没有能力管理学龄前儿童表现出的具有挑战性的行为。当前的研究调查了一个独立的小组应急事件，即神秘学生干预对改善学龄前儿童课堂行为的影响。采用 ABAB 退出设计来确定神秘学生干预在三个启蒙课堂中减少破坏性行为和增加适当行为的有效性。结果表明，全班集体破坏行为减少了，在所有三个教室的干预阶段，适当的行为都增加了。此外，教师将神秘学生干预评为社会有效。这项研究的结果增加了对学前环境中团体突发事件的有限研究基础。