The effective use of negative attention in reducing group disruptive behavior disseminated by teacher and peer teacher in a class for adolescent emotionally disturbed

In a public school classroom for the emotionally disturbed, five adolescent subjects were observed in group discussions. Appropriate and disruptive student behaviors were defined and identified. Positive attention, ignore, and negative attention disseminated by the teacher were defined contingent upon student behavior. One of the group subjects was selected and trained through role playing and video tapes to identify disruptive student behaviors and dispense negative attention. In an ABA design, the peer teacher dispensed negative attention for student disruptive behaviors in two of the three treatments phases. Intervention by the regular teacher with negative attention significantly reduced student disruptive behavior. Intervention by the peer teacher with negative attention further decreased student disruptive behavior in the group situation.