Marjorie Barnes
EDU 702.22
Fall 2008
Table of Contents
 Introduction
 Statement of the Problem
 Review of Related Literature
 Statement of Hypothesis
 Method
 Participants
 Instruments
 References
3
10
11
16
17
20
23
Introduction
 Candy is the main reinforcer used inside the
elementary classroom to manage the
behavior problems.
 Teachers start out with other token or
symbolic rewards such as stars, coupons,
and play money but in the end use candies.
 In a fifth grade classroom I witnessed the token start-
out. Students were rewarded play money for
completing homework assignments and for their
behavior inside and outside of the classroom, but the
end result was that they added it up to purchase candy
at the class shop.
 In an art room, if students earned coupon (s) during
the art prep then they get to claim a reward for the
candy box after they have accumulated five coupons.
 In a kindergarten class I have witnessed the symbolic
reward start-out. Each student gets a star for their
behavior throughout the day. If students earn five stars
during the course of the day, then they get a reward
from the prize box, which is full of candies.
 Traditionally schools have used punishment to deter
students from unwanted behavior, but this consequence
behavior system has been proven ineffective. (Siegel, 2008).
 According to the Families and Advocates Partnership for
Education “punishment is one of the least effective
responses to problems behaviors” (As cited in Siegel, 2008)
 Now, many teachers in compliance with the Department of
Education have implemented positive reinforcement
systems in their classrooms.
 Positive reinforcement by definition is increasing in the
frequency of a preferred behavior due to the addition of a
stimulus and according to Skinner (1937) positive
reinforcement is more effective at changing and
establishing preferred behavior than punishment.
 Therefore many teachers have chosen to use reinforcers
such as candies, stars, free-time, etc to increase preferred
classroom behaviors.
 So, what makes the candy such as a powerful or more
prevalent reinforcer used in the classroom by elementary
school teachers?
Statement of the Problem
 I will compare two positive reinforcers – candy and
praise.
 In my reading, I have discovered that praise can be just
as effective as tangible rewards. So, why haven’t
elementary teachers eliminated the use of candy as the
reinforcer and take greater measures to implement the
praise reward?
Review of the Literature
 One alleged effect of reinforcement is that it
undermines intrinsic interest in task;
however findings show that verbal praise
produces and increase intrinsic motivation.
The only negative effect appears when
expected tangible rewards are given to
individual simply for doing a task (Cameron
& Pierce, 1994).
 Praising student’s intelligence gives them a short burst
of pride (“you must be smart at these problems”);
rather, students must be praised for their effort (“you
must have worked hard at these problems” or “I know
it was a hard assignment, but you stuck to it and got it
done”). Effort praised students will remain on task,
confident, and eager (Dweck, 2007).
 There are different effects of reinforcement with
different kind of students. Student with an external
locus of control (those who believe that their actions
are determined more by outside events and other
people than themselves) perform better with tangible
reinforcement than with verbal reinforcement.
(Cotton,2008)
 According to Wise (May 2008), the reinforcement is the
process of shaping behavior by controlling the
consequences of the behavior. In addition, individuals can
choose from several responses to a given stimulus.
 In 1911 theorist E.L. Thorndike developed the law of effect,
it stated that, all things being equal, responses to stimuli
that are followed by satisfaction will be strengthened, but
response that are followed by discomfort will be weakened.
This response has come to be known as the law of effect.
The law of effect states that behaviors that are followed by
good consequences are likely to be repeated in the future.
(As cited in Siegel, 2008)
 According to Barnett (2007), B.F. Skinner a key
contributor in the development of the reinforcement
theory, stated that people can choose to exhibit certain
behavior on what happens to them as a result of their
behavior. “…behavior is followed by a consequence, and
the nature of the consequence modifies the organism
tendency to repeat the behavior in the future.” (B. F.
Skinner N.D)
Research Hypothesis
 HR1: If praise can be just as effective as candy as a
reinforcer, teachers with the proper implementation
and continuity of praise can reduce or even eliminate
candy as the primary reinforcer inside elementary
classrooms.
Methods
 The participants are 20 students in the
District 75 special education school.
 Six of them are kindergartners, six of them
are first graders, and 8 are third graders
 The class has a staffing ratio of 12:1:1 (twelve
students, one teacher, and one
paraprofessional) and a staffing ratio of 8:1:1
(eight students, one teacher and one
paraprofessional.
 They are from a Hispanic background and an
African American background.
Instruments
 The instruments to be used are:
 Consent forms
 Surveys
 Questionnaires
 Work sheets
 Child’s journal
 Checklist
 Word search (to be used as a part of the reward process; it
will be given after students have completed task)
 Test
Teacher Survey
 What gender are you?
 (1) Male
(2)Female
 How experienced are you?
 (1)1-2 years, (2)2-5 years, (3)5-10 years, (4)More than 10years
 What is the largest population of students do you teach?
 (1)White, (2)Asian, (3)African-American, (4)Caribbean
Questionnaires
 Please check one of the following boxes to indicate if you
(4) strongly agree, (3) agree, (2) disagree, or (1) strongly disagree with the
following statements.
 Praising is my one of my main reinforcer
 I use candy as my main reinforcer
 I think praising would be a effective behavior
modification for my classroom
 I think praising in conjunction with candy reward is
the only way to control the behaviors that exist with
my classroom.
 Teacher praise does not necessarily reinforce learning.
 Greater achievement gains are noted when praise is
delivered privately than when it is given public.
 Greater achievements gains result when students are
praised relatively to the performance of their
classmates
 Praising students who answer correctly in class
discussion is often intrusive and distracting
 Praising student may be embarrassing to the recipient.
 No contingent praise is negative
References

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
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
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
Wise, R. Dr., (2008, May 9). Reinforcement. Scholarpedia . Retrieved September 22, 2008, from
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
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