Behavioral Interventions in the Stockton Unified School District
Poster Number
16B
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
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.