Self-monitoring of attention as a treatment for a learning disabled boy's off-task behavior. Learning Disability Quarterly

Abstract. A 7-year, 11-month-old, learning disabled boy with attentional prob-lems was taught to self-monitor his on- and off-task behavior by using an audio-tape recorder to cue his self-recording. Using a combination of multiple baseline across responses (handwriting and math) and reversal designs, on-task behavior in-creased dramatically under treatment conditions for both handwriting and math. Academic response rate also increased for handwriting and, especially, math. In an attempt to "wean " the child from possible reliance on the external (tape recorder) signal to self-record, two other treatment conditions were added. The subject was first instructed to self-record without the aid of tape-recorded signals; then, self-recording was discontinued and he was simply to praise himself for being on task. Both conditions led to high levels of on-task behavior and academic output. A one-month followup for math after the experiment found a continued high level of on-task behavior. The relative efficacy of external reinforcement treatments versus more cognitively based approaches such as self-monitoring is discussed. According to Bandura and Perloff (1967