Effects of Noncontingent Peer Attention on Problem Behaviors in Students with Autism in General Education Settings

Many students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) display problem behaviors that are maintained by teacher attention. Although noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) can be effective in reducing attention maintained problem behavior, it can be difficult for general education teachers, who have many other students in their classrooms, to implement NCR interventions when teacher attention is the maintaining reinforcer. In this study, we evaluated the effect of an NCR intervention in which peers delivered social attention to two students with ASD in Grades 3-6 whose problem behavior was shown to be maintained by teacher attention. The results of the study demonstrated that the Peer NCR intervention resulted in a clinically significant decrease in problem behavior and that it can be effectively implemented in a general education classroom environment