Targeted Support through Social Skills
Instructional Groups
Part 1: Social Skill Deficit Framework
Lori Newcomer, Ph.D.
University of Missouri
Felicia D. Hagerstrom, JD.
AEA 267 / Waterloo Community Schools
• Social Skills Part 1 (9:15-10:30)
– Social Skill Deficiency Framework
– Assessment
• Social Skills Part 2 (10:55-12:10)
– Planning groups and delivering intervention
Primary prevention (universals)
works when students…
• have multiple, nonaggressive coping repertoires for
managing frustration and perceived personal threats
• are experienced and adept at acquiring adult approval
and willing to be deferential to adult authority
• are able to regulate their anger along a continuum of
intensity appropriate for the situation at hand.
• able to inhibit impulsive behavior in conformance to a
stated rule or the general mores of socially acceptable
behavior.
Larson 2005
Social Skills vs. Social Competence
• Social skills are a specific group of behaviors
that an individual exhibits in order to
complete a social task
• Social tasks are things such as peer group
entry, having a conversation, making friends,
or playing a game with peers
• Social competence is an evaluative term
(given certain criteria) that an individual
performed a social task adequately
Gresham & Elliott (1991)
How do we determine
social competence?
……..the eye of the beholder
Felicia D. Hagerstrom, JD.
PBIS District Coordinator
AEA 267 / Waterloo Community Schools
Waterloo, Iowa
fhagerstrom@aea267.k12..ia.us
A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
A cultural perspective
• Children from culturally diverse groups are likely to engage in
behaviors that are at variance with the culture of the school.
• By the year 2035 close to 50% of children in the United States
will come from racial and ethnic minority families, immigrant
families, or both (Rogers & Sirin, 2009)
• 9 out of every 10 teachers are white and from nonimmigrant
backgrounds. (Cartledge & Milburn, 1996)
A cultural perspective
• Culture…
…provides standard for perceiving, believing,
evaluating, communicating, and acting
(Triandis, 1996)
…is learned (not innate), shared (not specific
to the individual), dynamic (not static), and
incorporates values that dictate behavior
(Peoples & Bailey, 1991)
A cultural perspective
• Increasing diversity of students in schools underscore the
need to view social behaviors within the cultural context
• Culture provides a framework through which to filter actions
as people negotiate their daily lives
• Social behaviors of culturally and linguistically diverse
students need to be understood to distinguish differences and
deficits (Irvine, 1990)
• Research suggests that students’ aptitudes intents or abilities
can be misinterpreted due to differences in language use and
communication style is a mismatch exists between home
culture and school culture (Rogers – Sirin & Sirin, 2009)
A Cultural Perspective
“Any educational or training system that ignores
the history or perspective of its learners or
does not attempt to adjust its teaching
practices to benefit all of its learners is
contributing to inequality of opportunity”
(Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (1995) (p. 26)
A Cultural Perspective
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sense of self and space
Communication and language
Dress and appearance
Food and eating habits
Time and time consciousness
Relationships, family and friends
Values and norms
Beliefs and attitudes
Mental processes and learning style
Work habits and practices
A cultural perspective
Read this article
“Urban Teachers’ Professed Classroom Management Strategies Reflections
of Culturally Responsive Teaching”
Dave Brown West Chester University
Examples:
- “Black children expect the authority figure to act like the authority figure”
(Delpit p.35)
- African American “call response” (Gay 2000)
- Ability to maintain side conversation (Brown, p.281)
- Urban students resent a lack of decision making
- Perception of authority (Delpit 1995)
- Asian students laughter and smile (Gay 200)
A Cultural Perspective
• Culture is a predominant force.
• The dominant culture serves people in varying
degrees.
• People have both personal identities and
group identities.
• Diversity within cultures is vast and significant.
• Individuals and groups have unique cultural
values and needs.
A Cultural Perspective
What can we do?
• Encourage staff to increase their familiarity with cultural
differences in expressiveness, communications styles, role of
authority, use of language
• Encourage staff to increase their familiarity with cultural
specificity of their own behavior
• Teach behaviors that are socially relevant to culturally and
linguistically diverse students.
• Acknowledge students cultural identity as a strength
• Carefully review operational definitions of behavior violations
• Disaggregate ODR data
(Tobin & Vincent, 2010)
A Cultural Perspective
Questions for Reflection
• How does my own cultural background affect how I
interact with children, adults and families in our
school?
• How does the language and cultural background of
our students and their families impact how they
interact with our teachers, and our school?
• How does the cultural background of our staff affect
how we interact with the students, adults and
families in our schools?
• For Whom is the Path Most Clear?
A cultural perspective
• Attend to
– Cultural relevance of skills taught
– Communication style of learner
– Manner in which skills are presented
– Affirm students and empower to achieve within
own subculture and mainstreamed school
environment
A PARENTAL PERSPECTIVE
A parent perspective
• Research has demonstrated that parent
participation can enhance the acquisition,
generalization and maintenance of social skills
(Hagger & Vaughn, 1995; Schloss, 1984)
• However, parents typically asked to support SS
instruction, but are not invited to identify
skills or participate in program development.
A parent perspective
• Parents characterize social skills as (a) getting
along and (b) exhibiting traits of character
• Essential skills parents identify include:
– Proficiency in the ability to discern the motives of
others
– Skills in communication
– Empathy
– Skills in interpreting social cues
(Kolb & Hanley-Maxwell, 2003)
A parent perspective
• Priority: Self-Awareness
– Ability to recognize personal emotion
– A reflexive process that incorporates personal
efficacy, self-concept and self-esteem (Pool, 1997)
– Students learn self-awareness by understanding,
controlling and expressing their thoughts and
feelings (Taylor & Larson, 1999)
A parent perspective
• Priority: Self-control / managing emotions
– Self-regulation
– Constructively resolve conflicts
– Problem solving
– Decision making
– Managing emotions
A parent perspective
• Empathy
– Recognize the emotions of others
– Effective communication and listening
– Understand the feelings and perspectives of
others
– Interpret nonverbal cues (facial expressions, tone
of voice, body language)
A parent perspective
• Handling relationships
– Get along with others
– Establishing and maintaining relationships
– Self-assertion
– Relationship and friendship skills
– Interpret the dynamics of social interactions
– Discern motives of others
– Understand nonverbal social cues.
A parent perspective
• Assertion
– Assertion: effectively meet one’s need through
expression while respecting the rights of others
(Thompson, Bundy & Broncheau, 1995)
– Initiating conversation
– Giving and receiving compliments
– Responding appropriately to comments
A parent perspective
• Peer Interaction Skills
– Sharing
– Listening
– Complimenting
– Helping
– Encouraging peers
A parent perspective
• Motivation and Self-efficacy
– Skills to make positive changes
– Skills to competently execute social interactions
– Belief that goals can be obtained
– Positive thinking, optimism, enthusiasm, selfconfidence
Teacher Ranked Top 10
1. Listen to others
2. Follow the steps
3. Follow the rules
4. Ignore distractions
5. Ask for help
6. Take turns when you talk
7. Get along with others
8. Stay calm with others
9. Be responsible for your behavior
10. Do nice things for others
Stop and think…
• What significant differences exist between
what parents want from social skills
instruction and what teachers want.
• How can we involve parents in the
development and generalization of social skills
instruction.
• What additional challenges are presented at
the secondary level?
Another important question
• Have we identified what our goal is when we
start a social skills group?
– Social skills
– Compliance training
– Social/emotional learning
– Problem-solving
– Aggression replacement / anger management
Basic Assumptions on Social Skills
• primarily learned behaviors.
• deficits can be acquisition (“Can’t do”) or
performance (“Won’t do”) problems.
• are comprised of specific and discrete verbal and
nonverbal behaviors.
• include both initiations and responses.
• interactive by nature.
• highly contextual.
• deficits & competing problem behaviors can be
identified & treated.
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Classification of Social Skills
• Acquisition Deficits
– Absence of knowledge for executing skill or failure to discriminate
which social behaviors are appropriate in specific situations (can’t do)
• Performance Deficits
– Skill is present in repertoire, but student fails to perform at acceptable
levels (won’t do)
• Fluency Deficits
– Lack of exposure to sufficient or skilled models of social behavior,
insufficient rehearsal/practice or low rates or inconsistent delivery of
reinforcement of skilled performances
Actions & Interventions
Social Skill Strengths: student knows and
uses social skills consistently and
appropriately
Reinforce to maintain desired social
behavior
Use student as a model for other
students
Performance Deficits
Use behavior techniques to increase
student practice and performance of
desired social behavior
Frequency Deficits
Provide extensive opportunities to
practices across a wide range of
exemplars
Acquisition Deficits
Direct instruction of the desired social
behavior
Competing Problem Behaviors
Use behavior techniques to reduce
interfering behaviors
Collect further information (e.g. FBA direct observations, interviews,
comprehensive assessment of problem
behaviors).
Competing Problem Behaviors
Interfering or competing problem behavior are
combined to classify social skill deficits
• Internalizing or overcontrolled behaviors (e.g.,
anxiety, depression, social withdrawal)
• Externalizing or undercontrolled behavior
patterns (e.g., aggression, disruption,
impulsivity)
Why Assessment?
• Screening and selection of students for social
skills interventions
• Classification of specific types of social skills
deficits
• Selection of targeted skills and competing
problem behaviors for intervention
• Functional assessment
• Evaluation of the effects of the intervention
Social Skills Rating Scales
Look for:
• Large and representative standardization
samples.
• Adequate psychometric properties
• User-friendly availability
Screening Tools
Norm Referenced and Standardized
• SSIS (Social Skills Improvement System)
– Elliott & Gresham, 2008 (Pearson, PsychCorp.)
– Teacher, Parent, Student Rating Scales
– Assesses 3 domains (a) social skills, (b) problem behaviors,
(c) academic competence
• Walker-McConnell Scales of Social Competence and School
Adjustment (SSCSA)
– Walker & McConnell, 1995 (Wadsworth Publishing)
– Elementary subscales: (a)Teacher-preferred Social Skills,
(b) Peer-preferred social skills (c) School Adjustment
– Adolescent subscales: (a) Empathy, (b) Self-control, (c)
School adjustment, (d) peer relations
Missouri Prevention Center
University of Missouri
Screening Tools
Norm Referenced and Standardized
• School Social Behavior Scales 2nd Ed. (SSBS2)
– Merrell, 2002 (Brookes Publishing)
– Ages 5 - 18
– Measures 2 domains: (a) social competence, (b) antisocial
behavior.
• Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS).
– Pro-ed
–
–
–
–
Two Scales: (a) social skills and (b) problem behavior
Ages 3 – 6
School and Home ratings
Social Skill subscales: Social Cooperation, Social
Interaction, and Social Independence; Problem Behavior
subscales: Externalizing Problems and Internalizing
Problems.
Screening Tools
Norm Referenced and Standardized
• Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders,
2nd Edition (SSBD)
– Walker & Severson, 1992 (Sopris-West)
– K-6
– Multiple gating procedures
Missouri Prevention Center
University of Missouri
Targeting Specific Social Skills
for Training
1. Determine specific social skill deficits
2. Identify competing problem behaviors
3. Evaluate social validity of targeted social skills
(significance, acceptability, importance)
Linking Assessment Results to Intervention
Behavior Dimension
Competing Problem
Behavior
Present
•Aggression
•Oppositional behavior
•Violent behavior
•Noncompliance
•Threats to others
•Bullying
•Anxiety
•Depression
•Withdrawn
•Impulsive
Absent
Social Skill Dimension
Acquisition
Deficits
Performance
Deficits
Fluency
Deficits
Linking Assessment Results to Intervention
Behavior Dimension
Competing Problem
Behavior
Social Skill Dimension
Acquisition
Deficits
Present
Absent
•Direct Instruction
•Modeling
•Behavior
Rehearsal
•Coaching
Performance
Deficits
Fluency
Deficits
Linking Assessment Results to Intervention
Behavior Dimension
Social Skill Dimension
Competing Problem
Behavior
Acquisition
Deficits
Present: verbal and
physical aggression
Reductive procedures
(e.g. reinforcement
techniques, group
contingencies,
reprimands, time-out,
response-cost,
overcorrection)
•Direct Instruction
Absent
•Modeling
•Behavior
Rehearsal
•Coaching
Performance
Deficits
Fluency
Deficits
Linking Assessment Results to Intervention
Behavior Dimension
Competing Problem
Behavior
Social Skill Dimension
Acquisition
Deficits
Performance
Deficits
Present:
Absent
•Manipulate
antecedents and
consequences
Intervene with:
•Peer initiations
•Contingent social
reinforcement
•Group
contingencies
Fluency
Deficits
Linking Assessment Results to Intervention
Behavior Dimension
Competing Problem
Behavior
Present: Presence of
significant emotional
response
Social Skill Dimension
Acquisition
Deficits
Performance Deficits
•Manipulate antecedents and
consequences
Teach self-control strategies;
stimulus control training that
teaches discrimination skills
Intervene with:
•Peer initiations
•Contingent social reinforcement
•Group contingencies
Absent
Fluency
Deficits
Taxonomy of Social Skills
Five Broad Dimensions
• Peer relations (e.g., complimenting others, offering help,
inviting peers to play)
• Self-management skills (e.g., controlling temper,
following rules, compromising)
• Academic skills (e.g., completing work independently,
listening to teacher direction, producing acceptable
quality work)
• Compliance skills (e.g., following directions, following
rules, using free time appropriately)
• Assertion skills ( e.g., initiating conversation,
acknowledging compliments, inviting peers to play)
(Caldarella & Merrell, 1997)
Now I understand social skills,
how do I set up groups?
Social Skills Part 2 (10:55-12:10)
Planning groups and delivering intervention
Targeted Support through Social Skills
Instructional Groups
Part 2: Planning & Teaching Social Skill Groups
Lori Newcomer, Ph.D.
University of Missouri
Social Skills vs. Social Competence
• Social skills are a specific group of behaviors
that an individual exhibits in order to
complete a social task
• Social tasks are things such as peer group
entry, having a conversation, making friends,
or playing a game with peers
• Social competence is an evaluative term
(given certain criteria) that an individual
performed a social task adequately
Gresham & Elliott (1991)
Classification of Social Skills
• Acquisition Deficits
– Absence of knowledge for executing skill or failure to discriminate
which social behaviors are appropriate in specific situations (can’t do)
• Performance Deficits
– Skill is present in repertoire, but student fails to perform at acceptable
levels (won’t do)
• Fluency Deficits
– Lack of exposure to sufficient or skilled models of social behavior,
insufficient rehearsal/practice or low rates or inconsistent delivery of
reinforcement of skilled performances
Actions & Interventions
Social Skill Strengths: student knows and
uses social skills consistently and
appropriately
Reinforce to maintain desired social
behavior
Use student as a model for other
students
Performance Deficits
Use behavior techniques to increase
student practice and performance of
desired social behavior
Frequency Deficits
Provide extensive opportunities to
practices across a wide range of
exemplars
Acquisition Deficits
Direct instruction of the desired social
behavior
Competing Problem Behaviors
Use behavior techniques to reduce
interfering behaviors
Collect further information (e.g. FBA direct observations, interviews,
comprehensive assessment of problem
behaviors).
Social Skill Programs
• First Step to Success
– Grades 1-3; students with externalizing concerns
– Walker et al., 2009
– Screening, school intervention, parent training
• Incredible Years
– Early elementary
– Webster-Stratton, 2008
– Parent, teacher & child programs
Evidence Based Social Skill Programs
• Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS)
– Early elementary; Upper elementary/middle
– Elliot & Gresham, 2008
– Screening (student/parent/teacher), integrity
measures, student booklets, video clips, skill step
cue cards, parent communication forms
– Classwide Social Skills, Small Group
Missouri Prevention Center
University of Missouri
Evidence Based Social Skill Programs
• Second Step
– Pre-K through middle school
– Committee for Children
– Self-regulation and problem solving. Pre-teach in
small group before teaching to whole class.
• Skillstreaming
– Early Childhood – Adolescent
– Goldstein & McGinnis, 2005
– five skill groups: Classroom Survival Skills, FriendshipMaking Skills, Dealing with Feelings, Alternatives to
Aggression, and Dealing with Stress
Missouri Prevention Center
University of Missouri
Evidence Based Social Skill Programs
• Strong Teens
– Merrell, Carrizales, Feuerborn, Gueldner, Tran,
2007 (Brookes)
– Secondary
– scripts, sample scenarios and examples, creative
activities, and "booster" lessons
• Think First
– Larson, 2007 (Guilford)
– Secondary
– consequential thinking, attribution retraining,
problem solving
Missouri Prevention Center
University of Missouri
Selecting & Grouping Students
• Consider
– Experience of trainer
– Work space
– Time available
– Interpersonal dynamics between students
– Groups of 3 to 6, 2 x per week for 45 – 60 mins.
– Two trainers
Parental Permission
• Should not be first contact
• Encourage participation in assessment
• Involve parents in homework assignments
Working with Student Groups
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Provide and consistently follow ground rules for group interactions.
Attendance: Voluntary, but strongly recommended
Punctuality: A basic social skill that allows maximum amount of effective interactions to
occur.
Participation: One of the best predictors of success in the program
Confidentiality: Encourage all to respect the confidence of the group, but note it cannot
be guaranteed.
Take Turns Speaking and Be a Good Listener: Basic social skills, student often find it
difficult to refrain from interrupting.
Provide Corrective Feedback: Encourage students to share feelings with you and others;
stress the value of specific, constructive criticism or corrective feedback
Homework Assignments: Treat homework as an important activity; complete homework
in a timely and careful fashion.
Training Sessions
• Most effective:
– Focus on one skill intervention at a time
• Provide 3 or 4 adaptations of skill
• How to “read” or evaluate varying social situations
– 3 to 6 students
– Minimum 45 minutes – maximum 60 minutes
– 2 or 3 x per week for 8 weeks
– Booster sessions every 2 – 4 weeks
Monitoring Student Progress
•
•
•
•
•
Change in treatment setting
Change in related settings
Pre-treatment and Post-treatment ratings
Direct observation during role play
Brief periodic interviews with teachers
Direct Instruction
ACQUISITION DEFICITS
BASIC SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING MODEL
PROMOTING SKILLS ACQUISITION
 Modeling
 Coaching
 Behavioral Rehearsal
 Social Problem Solving
ENHANCING SKILL PERFORMANCE
 Peer Initiation Strategies
 Cuing and Prompting
 Reinforcement Based Strategies
 Group Oriented Contingency Systems
 Behavioral Contract
 School-Home Notes
REMOVING INTERFEREING PROBLEM BEHAVIORS
 Differential Reinforcement Techniques
 Response Cost
o DRO
 Positive Practice
o DRL
 Timeout
o DRI
 Systematic Desensitization
FACILITATING GENERALIZATION
 Training Diversely
o Using sufficient stimulus exemplars
o Using sufficient response exemplars
 Teaching Relevant Behavior
 Teaching Functional Mediators
Elliott & Gresham, 1991
o Program Common Social Stimulus
o Self-mediated Generalization
Sample Session
Greet students and introduce session goal(s)
Define the featured social skill
Initiate “Tell” phase
Initiate “Show” phase
Initiate “Do” phase with role-play
Review and provide homework assignment
Provide feedback about group’s performance and specify
date/time for next session
5 mins.
3 mins.
5 mins
10 mins.
15 mins.
5 mins.
2 mins.
Instructional Approach
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tell (coaching)
Show (modeling)
Do (role play)
Practice (behavioral rehearsal)
Monitor Progress (feedback)
Generalize (apply in multiple settings)
Tell (coaching)
1. Provide learning objective for featured social
skill
2. Introduce the skill by asking how it will be
helpful to students and situations in which
they could use the skill.
3. Define a specific skill.
4. Discuss why the skill is important.
5. Outline steps for performing the behavior.
Show (modeling)
1. Model the behavior
– Model positive behavior
– Model negative behavior
2. Model discreetly each of the major steps for
enacting the featured skill.
3. With student helper, direct a role play of a
typical situation.
4. Lead a discussion of alternative behaviors to
accomplish the social behavior objective.
Do (behavior rehearsal)
1. Ask students to define the skill
2. Ask students to state the steps required to
accomplish the skill
3. Repeat critical steps for enacting the
behavior.
4. Ask students to model the skill in role plays.
5. Ask other students to provide feedback for
the student using the skill in the role plays
Practice
• Have pairs practice the skill steps and provide
each other with feedback.
• Encourage the skill in class sessions outside of
these lessons.
Monitor Progress
1. Ask students to think about how well they
are progressing with the social skill.
2. Have students self-monitor their use of the
skill.
Generalize
1. Give homework assignments to use skills in
other settings or with other students.
2. Communicate skill to parents, other teachers
and school personnel who work with
student. Provide scripts to precorrects and
reinforce.
Generalization
Recruit a generalization support person
• Observation and feedback
• Issue friendly greetings
• Use discreet, positive feedback
• Offer descriptive feedback
• Occasionally inquire about progress
• Relay positive feedback from other staff
members
GENERALIZATION
• Train Diversely
– Using sufficient stimulus exemplars
• Vary situations and settings in sessions
• Use different people, places, things, etc. in role-plays
• Vary ways in which you teach the skill(e.g. modeling,
coaching, instruction, etc)
– Using sufficient response exemplars
• Teach multiple ways to respond to the same social situation
• Use brainstorming to generate with group ways in which a
person could respond to a given situation
• Demonstrate how the students could use the same behavior
in different ways (e.g. using words, gestures, voice tone,
volume. etc)
Generalization
• Teach Relevant Behaviors
– Teach behaviors that have a high probability of
being reinforced in other environments.
– Brainstorm with the group additional behaviors
that may be relevant in a given social situation
Generalization
Teach Functional Mediators
• Use common social stimuli
– Incorporate peers from generalization environment into
training
– Use behavioral contracts and home notes to involve
parents
• Use self-mediated stimuli
– Teach “self-talk” script:
•
•
•
•
•
•
What is the problem?
What are some things I could do?
What is the best thing to do now?
What will happen if I do this?
OK, I’ll do it.
What happened when I did it?
Generalization
• Teach students to self-monitor own behavior
– Decide what they will record
– Determine how they will record the behavior (e.g.
how often, how long, etc)
– Determine how they will use the self-monitoring
data.
• Use homework assignments to facilitate
generalization across settings.
SOCIAL SKILLS CLUB
Targeted Group Interventions
Social Skills Club
• Elementary School
– Enrollment 423
– 60% free & reduced lunch
– 50% minority
Targeted Group Interventions
Social Skills Club
Goals
• Reduce office referrals by 25%
• Increase ratio of positive interactions teachers
have with students
• Reduce office referrals for students identified
as at risk through data tracking procedures
Targeted Group Interventions
Social Skills Club
Key Elements in Process
• School-wide contingency based incentive
system
• Implemented school-wide corrections
procedures for adults to use
• Implemented social skills club
Targeted Group Interventions
Social Skills Club
Elements of Social Skills Club
• Organization/Structure
• Identification/Referral
• Functional Assessment
• Design of Generalization Support
• Data Collection & Decision Making
Targeted Group Interventions
Social Skills Club
• Parent letters to extend “invitation”
– Voluntary participation
– Presented as prevention/support
– Encouraged parent participation
Targeted Group Interventions
Social Skills Club
Instructors
• Special Educator with fluency in social skill
instruction
• General Educator
• Access to technical assistance and resources
Targeted Group Interventions
Social Skills Club
Group Management
• Two adults!
• Club expectations linked to school-wide
expectations
• Rules and expectations for group participation in
role play
• Planned fun
• Reinforcement system (Dancing Dolphins) linked
to school-wide system
Targeted Group Interventions
Social Skills Club
Curriculum & Delivery of Instruction
• Collected and prepared materials from a variety of
sources.
• One hour per week after school for one semester
• Attention to pre-requisite skills for participating in
lessons.
• Structured format: Teach, Model, Role play, Review,
Test & Homework
Targeted Group Interventions
Social Skills Club
Generalization
• Posters of each lesson given to classroom
teachers to display in class and use as visual
prompt.
• “Club” participants present weekly social skill
lesson to from club to their class.
• Staff instructed on how to prompt and
reinforce
Use behavior techniques to increase student practice and performance of
desired social behavior
PERFORMANCE DEFICITS
Beyond Basic Social Skills Training
•
•
•
•
•
•
Social Problem-Solving
Interpersonal Skills
Situational Perception
Anger / Aggression Control
Stress Management
Empathy
Social Information Processing Model
1. Encoding of social cues in immediate
environment
2. Interpreting the meaning of those cues
3. Identifying personal goals or outcomes
4. Generating possible behavioral responses to the
interpreted cues
5. Deciding on a response and evaluating its
potential outcome
6. Engaging in selected behavior
Crick & Dodge, 1994
Social Problem Solving
1. Provide general orientation to the problem.
2. Define and formulate the problem by asking
questions.
3. Generate alternative solutions by brainstorming.
4. Specify consequences of each solution
5. Specify requirements to implement solution
(e.g. who, what, when, where and how)
6. Verify outcomes
IDEAL
Identify the problem
Describe the options
Evaluate the outcomes
Act on it
Learn from the lesson
ENHANCING SKILL PERFORMANCE
Peer Initiation Strategies
• Peers used to initiate and maintain social interactions
with socially isolated or withdrawn students
• Recruit confederate peers for peer-initiation training of
social skills (students with peer status and selfconfidence)
• Train peer confederates in social-initiation strategies.
• Prepare peer confederates for initial rejection of
initiation attempts
• Periodically conduct booster sessions to retrain peer
confederates to discuss unique problems they may be
having in social situations
ENHANCING SKILL PERFORMANCE
• Cuing and Prompting
• Reinforcement Based Strategies
• Group Oriented Contingency Systems
– Interdependent, Dependent, Independent
• Behavioral Contract
• School-Home Notes
What the research has demonstrated:
• The most effective SST strategies are a
combination of modeling, coaching and
reinforcement procedures (Gresham, 1981; Hollinger, 1987)
• Evidence for the efficacy of cognitivebehavioral procedures (e.g., social problemsolving, self-instruction) is far weaker (Ager &
Cole, 1991; Gresham, 1985)
• Better intervention effects occur with
prolonged and intensive training.
93
What the research has demonstrated:
• Effect sizes much lower for students with EBD
and SLD.
• More effective for children described as
withdrawn
– Largest effect sizes on social interaction
• Least effective for children described as
aggressive or unpopular.
– Lower effect sizes on aggression and peer
acceptance
• Average treatment time of 30 hours of
instruction (2.5-3.0 hrs x 10-12 weeks)
produces lower effect sizes.
94
Lori Newcomer, Ph.D.
NewcomerL@missouri.edu