Evaluating Public Posting, Goal Setting, and Rewards to Increase Physical Activity in Children

In Experiments 1 and 2 we evaluated a pedometer-based intervention consisting of public posting between two teams of students, with additional self-monitoring, goal setting, and reinforcement components, to increase physical activity during school recess. In the absence of self-monitoring, performance feedback alone did not increase physical activity levels above those observed during baseline. Additionally, higher levels of physical activity were observed when goal-setting was introduced, with the highest levels of activity observed when raffle tickets could be earned for exceeding a specified step-total goal. In Experiment 3 we removed the team component and evaluated similar intervention components across an entire class, as well as in individual participants. Additionally, session duration was extended to encompass whole-day, 24-hr sessions. As with Experiments 1 and 2, the highest levels of physical activity were observed when components of self-monitoring, public posting, goal setting, and feedback with reward were applied concurrently