Does the Good Behavior Game evoke negative peer pressure? Analyses in primary and secondary classrooms

Abstract

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a classroom management system that employs an interdependent group contingency, whereby students work as a team to win the game. Although previous anecdotal data have suggested that this arrangement may promote prosocial behavior, teachers may have concerns about its fairness and potential to evoke negative peer interactions (especially toward students who break the rules). We evaluated disruptive behaviors and social interactions during the GBG in a secondary classroom for students with emotional and behavioral disorders, as well as in a primary classroom for students with mild developmental disabilities. Results indicate that the GBG reduced disruptive behaviors; further, negative peer interactions decreased and positive interactions increased when the game was being played. Social validity results indicate that the majority of students thought the interdependent group contingency was fair.

The Good Behavior Game: A brief review

“…Because the GBG is typically an interdependent group contingency in which the behavior of all team members affects reinforcer delivery, peer‐mediated contingencies likely contribute to its effectiveness. Groves and Austin () found that the GBG evoked appropriate peer interaction and support. However, more research is needed to examine how the GBG affects peer interactions and whether changes in peer interactions could elucidate mechanisms responsible for long‐term behavioral improvements following the GBG (Groves & Austin, ), including reduced drug use and risky sexual behavior in adulthood (Kellam et al, ).…”

The Effect of Collegial School Management on Improvement of Students’ skills

“…The best efforts at classroom management, as well as simulation games, can contribute to reduction in student disruptive behavior (Murphy, & Van Brunt, 2018;Floress, Rock, & Hailemariam, 2017). The behavior-specific praise of students, high-probability request sequence, precorrection activity, active supervision, instructional choice, and teaching feedback, as well as good behavior game, can be resulted in a decreased number of student disruptive behaviors (Freeman, 2018: Groves, & Austin, 2019Rubow, Vollmer, & Joslyn, 2018). The positive teacher behaviors, as well as professional development, produced significant improvements in reductions in disruptive behavior (Cook et al, 2018;Bradshaw et al, 2018).…”

Reducing adolescent cell phone usage using an interdependent group contingency

“…Groves and Austin () noted, in their social validty measure, that secondary students positively responded to an interdependet group contingency (i.e., Good Behavior Game). In their study, the authors focused on earning or losing points based on group behavior.…”

“…An important additional direction for future researchers would be to include measures of task engagement, as measured through systematic observation and permanent product, when phones are allowed versus when they are not allowed in classrooms, to evaluate whether the students' reported increase in focus positively affects educational objectives. In addition, future researchers should develop and evaluate procedures for reducing unapproved usage (e.g., texting, social media) while simultaneously increasing approved usage (e.g., active responding through live polling) and consider evaluating the acceptability of this intervention with students and the teachers implementing it (Groves & Austin, ).…”