Tough Kids & Clicker Training

Below is a demonstration of how effective free operant procedures can be in managing difficult and challenging behavior. Stuart Harder, a behavior analyst and precision teacher, faced with a desperate situation, used the clicker training technique described below and achieved some extremely favorable results.

For more information on clicker training check out www.clickertraining.com.

Simmone Pogorzelski (SPogorzelski_AT_chilli.net.au [e-mail?])

From Stuart R. Harder
Sent: Thursday, October 07, 1999 7:28 AM
To: SClistserv@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Tough Kids & Clicker Training

I was in a Level 4 special education classroom this morning working with 6 dedicated tough kids and their teachers. Due to a shortage of Special Education staff, especially those who serve youth with emotional and behavior disorders, this school district hired a physical education teacher and one management aid to work with the most challenging kids in the district. To make matters worse, they were not hired until a week before school started, making it impossible to provide training.

It was no surprise that I got urgent phone calls from the high school asking for help the first week of school.

Training is well under way and I think I've got a group of staff members who understand the vision. If they survive the interim chaos, we may have a successful program by the end of the year. I met with the teachers yesterday, however, and listened to an hour of discouraging comments and expressions of futility. Most comments tended to support the idea that these kids were unsalvageable and unmanageable. (Comments of this sort are the result of having been verbally brutalized, and most teachers question their career choices under these circumstances.)

Basically, the kids had the adults in reactionary mode and they were loving the control. I offered to come into class and work along side the teachers to see what could be done.

The next morning I arrived with a bunch of empty envelopes, some slips of paper, and my handy dandy clicker! I wrote the name of each student on an envelope, placed a slip of paper with the word "pop" written on it in the envelope, and wrote "10,000 points" on the outside. When the teacher started the class, I told the guys we were going to do something different. I showed them the clicker and said they would occasionally hear the click followed by my telling one of them, or the entire group, that they had earned 1,000 points. I also said that each needed 10,000 points to get "Stu's Pretty Good Mystery Motivator." Of course everyone wanted to know what they would get. I said they would have to pay to play, peaked inside one envelope, smiled, and sat down.

Class started with the usual ruckus, but as soon as all the boys were seated and quiet -- CLICK! "Each of you has earned 1000 points." I did not tell them why. It was amazing to watch how quickly these young men set about trying to make me click. I clicked hand-raising, on-topic questions, sustained writing on work sheets, and accepting criticism and "no" answers. At one point, the young man who was the one most likely to lead the group astray began to talk out and walk about. I instantly started clicking every peer in his immediate vicinity who was appropriately engaged in a work task. He looked around, sat down, and began working. CLICK!

One of my favorite young men is the classic behavior model for those who revel in all things labeled ADHD. After two clicks, he was impervious to distractions. At one point, a peer next to him started to ask him questions, and he extended his arm, palm rotated outward in the direction of the speaker, and shook his head. CLICK!!

Needless to say, my teachers were in awe, and "Stu's Pretty Good Mystery Motivator" was a pretty good hit.

Now get this! In a baseline visit in that room, with the same teacher, I observed social behavior error rates of 1.63 per minute. During this one hour intervention class, we observed an error rate of 0.22 per minute and the rate of clicked-corrects was 2.26 per minute!

There remain tremendous obstacles to overcome and one nice demonstration does little more than serve as an eye opener, but the teachers can now allow themselves some hope. My mantra is "you will live with what you pay attention to." They saw a brief verification today.

To Karen Pryor, I want to say "Thanks." Your book, Don't Shoot The Dog [opens in new window] reminded me of my days in the operant labs, but more importantly of the elegance inherent in our operant methods. CLICK!

Regards,

Stuart R. Harder
St. Croix River Education District
Rush City, MN 55069