The Effect of Behavior Modification Programs on the Behaviors of High School Students

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine whether behavior modification programs would affect the behaviors of high school students. The null hypothesis was supported, indicating that the use of the behavior modification program in this study did not impact the behaviors of the students in the sample. The behavior modification program used in this study was based off of the positive behavior supports model, using a reward system. The study was organized in a quasiexperimental design and used convenience sampling. The sample included 24 students in a standard American Government course at a middle class, Baltimore area, suburban high school. The treatment took the form of a positive behavior rewards system. Treatment was administered to the subjects over a three-week period. Data was collected three times during the treatment using a qualitative data collection tool. Data was then analyzed using a chi square statistic. The results of the research suggest that further research should be conducted in varying demographic settings to evaluate the effectiveness of positive behavior rewards system.