| dc.description.abstract | The rationale for the study was to determine if music
could be used as an effective reinforcer for increasing
appropriate practice behaviors, and reduce problem behaviors
in the competitive swimming environment. The effects of
musical reinforcement were examined with six competitive
swimmers. The swimmers were selected by the coach as
individuals who did not consistently make effective use of
practice sessions. The swimmers were randomly assigned to
either a contingent reinforcement group or a noncontingent
reinforcement group. A reversal replication ABAB design, was
used to compare the groups to standard coaching prodecures.
A portable stereo cassette unit was used to present
instances of contingent and noncontingent musical
reinforcement during the treatment phases. During the
noncontingent reinforcement phase, music was presented to the
swimmers regardless of the behaviors emitted during the dry
land training sessions. Music was only presented in the
contingent reinforcement phase if 20 percent of appropriate
behaviors was achieved. Differences in performance levels
during the contingent and noncontingent phases were recorded
and compared.
Since the experimental design in this study was based on
the steady state method, departures from the baseline were used to evaluate the treatment. Results indicated that
there was a large and immediate effect shown during the
contingent reinforcement conditions for all subjects when
compared to the baseline phases. Slight improvements were
noted during the noncontingent phase for two of the subjects,
however a much larger and more consistent effect was
demonstrated with these subjects when they were later
switched to the contingent phase.
At the conclusion of the study, social validation
questionnaires were distributed to the swimmers and the
coach. The questionnaires asked the athletes and coach to
evaluate the goals, procedures and results produced by the
intervention. Social validation measures indicated that 3
out of 4 subjects rated the procedure positively, felt the
procedure improved the dry land training period and wished to
have the procedures continued in the future.
Data suggests possible benefits of using a musical
reinforcement condition might be obtained in other sports
settings and could be investigated further.
The results of this study suggest that the contingent
reinforcement condition produced improved time usage during
the dry land training sessions. Results indicated an increase
in the percentages of appropriate behaviors per session and a
decrease in the frequency of inappropriate behaviors occurred
when the independent variable was applied. | |
