Effects of Group and Individual Contingencies on Academic Performance and Social Relations of Special Needs Students

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Abstract
The effects of individual and group contingencies were studied on achievement, appropriate classroom behavior, acceptance of handicapped peers, and self-esteem of academically and socially handicapped students. Four studies are reported, focusing on the following: four first-graders, 11 seventh-graders, five ninth-graders, and five first-graders. All were low-achieving, special needs students, many of whom were seeing special education teachers due to their disruptive classroom behavior and alienation of their peers. In all studies, group-contingency procedures were compared to individual-contingency procedures or no-contingency procedures. Different operationalizations of group-contingency procedures were used in each study. The studies were conducted in different school districts at different times of the year. Variations of A-B-A designs were used in the studies. The results are consistent, indicating that group contingencies (compared with individual contingencies or no contingencies at all) promote higher achievement, more appropriate classroom behavior, greater social acceptance by nonhandicapped peers, and higher self-esteem.

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