Behavioral Interventions in the Stockton Unified School District

Poster Number

16B

Lead Author Major

Jillian Yelinek

Lead Author Status

Senior

Format

Poster Presentation

Faculty Mentor Name

Carolynn Kohn

Faculty Mentor Department

Psychology

Additional Faculty Mentor Name

Elizabeth Knapp

Abstract/Artist Statement

This poster abstract describes my internship experience this semester with Stockton Unified School District (SUDS). The relationship the University of the Pacific’s Psychology department has with SUSD providing me with the opportunity assist in with assessment of and interventions for preschool children’s behavioral issues. The preschool children are referred to the psychology department by social workers, teachers, or parents; psychology graduate students and undergraduate interns provide empirically supported behavioral interventions to decrease problem behavior and improve appropriate behavior. The assessments and interventions used fall under the umbrella of behavioral science or applied behavior analysis. The most common types of problem behavior I encountered in the preschool children included: not paying attention in class, being out of seat, disrupting the teacher, and acting aggressively towards other children or themselves. In my role as an undergraduate intern, I take data in the classrooms to track the rate of the problem behavior, assist with functional assessments to identify the variables maintaining behavior, and implement the Good Behavior Game in classrooms where many or all of the students are engaging in problem behaviors. The Good Behavior Game is an empirically supported group behavioral intervention in which two teams of children (per classroom) compete and the team with the fewest problem behaviors at the end of the session earns a reward (e.g. extra time at recess, lining up first for lunch, stickers). This experience has taught me how the behavioral principles I have come to love in class and research, are applied in real-life settings. As such, it has given me an appreciation for the real impact good science can have on bettering our society and each of our lives if we choose to implement it.

Location

DeRosa University Center, Ballroom

Start Date

29-4-2017 10:00 AM

End Date

29-4-2017 12:00 PM

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Apr 29th, 10:00 AM Apr 29th, 12:00 PM

Behavioral Interventions in the Stockton Unified School District

DeRosa University Center, Ballroom

This poster abstract describes my internship experience this semester with Stockton Unified School District (SUDS). The relationship the University of the Pacific’s Psychology department has with SUSD providing me with the opportunity assist in with assessment of and interventions for preschool children’s behavioral issues. The preschool children are referred to the psychology department by social workers, teachers, or parents; psychology graduate students and undergraduate interns provide empirically supported behavioral interventions to decrease problem behavior and improve appropriate behavior. The assessments and interventions used fall under the umbrella of behavioral science or applied behavior analysis. The most common types of problem behavior I encountered in the preschool children included: not paying attention in class, being out of seat, disrupting the teacher, and acting aggressively towards other children or themselves. In my role as an undergraduate intern, I take data in the classrooms to track the rate of the problem behavior, assist with functional assessments to identify the variables maintaining behavior, and implement the Good Behavior Game in classrooms where many or all of the students are engaging in problem behaviors. The Good Behavior Game is an empirically supported group behavioral intervention in which two teams of children (per classroom) compete and the team with the fewest problem behaviors at the end of the session earns a reward (e.g. extra time at recess, lining up first for lunch, stickers). This experience has taught me how the behavioral principles I have come to love in class and research, are applied in real-life settings. As such, it has given me an appreciation for the real impact good science can have on bettering our society and each of our lives if we choose to implement it.