Case: Messy desk

Case Introduction/Commentary

Operant conditioning investigates behavior change through the use of appropriate consequences such as reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcements and punishments only work if the students see them as reinforcers or punishers. The following case describes a situation where reinforcers are coming from a variety of sources.

Case from Preservice Teacher

I am placed in a third-grade inclusion classroom. There is this one little boy, who we will call Joe, who has been diagnosed as having ADHD and he never does any work! He just sits there all morning without doing anything. His desk is atrocious! He has all these little 'toys' around his desk (magnets, silly putty, empty containers) and he just sits there and plays with pens he has taken apart. He never hands in any work. The teacher says "Joe, get busy" every once in a while, but he doesn't listen and she never does anything to help him. I try to talk with him or help him get a start on his assignment, but he only does what I help him with and then he goes back to staring into space. I feel like he goes to school in the morning and then sits and waits for it to be over and hopes no one notices or bothers him.

Once when I was there we cleaned out his desk together and I helped him get his papers organized. I put all possible distractions in his bookbag or we threw trash away. I made a deal with him (with his teacher's permission) that if he kept his desk clean and did his work for a week he would get 5 extra fake dollars for their classroom motivation/reward system. If he didn't do his work or keep his desk clean, he would have to give me 2 fake dollars. The first day Joe did really well; he kept his desk organized and finished all but one assignment. I was encouraged by his progress. The next day his desk became a little messier and he had failed to complete three of five assignments. By the end of the week, it was as if nothing had been done. This approach was obviously not going to work.

Case Questions

1. What are the reinforcers that the teacher and preservice teacher are trying to utilize with Joe? Are these effective? Why or why not?
   
   
2. What are the things that are reinforcing to Joe? Why are these things reinforcing?
   
   
3. What are some possible reasons why the token economy used in this classroom was not effective with Joe?
   
   
4. What would you do if Joe was a student in your classroom? Be specific.