ERIC Number: EJ1015132
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Jul
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0145-4455
EISSN: N/A
An Evaluation of the Observer Effect on Treatment Integrity in a Day Treatment Center for Children
Howard, Monica R.; Burke, Raymond V.; Allen, Keith D.
Behavior Modification, v37 n4 p490-515 Jul 2013
Treatment integrity is an important concern in treatment centers but is often overlooked. Performance feedback is a well-established approach to improving treatment integrity, but is underused and undervalued. One way to increase its value to treatment centers may be to expose unrealized benefits on the observer who collects the performance feedback data. This "observer effect" could increase the value of performance feedback and promote more consistent evaluation of treatment integrity. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the observer effect on treatment integrity. Five supervisors who worked in a day treatment center were asked to collect performance feedback data on staff members' integrity in following a standard treatment protocol that supervisors were also expected to follow. Results showed an immediate and marked improvement in treatment integrity in three supervisors who collected but never received performance feedback. For two supervisors, this effect was reversed and replicated. Implications are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Observation, Feedback (Response), Fidelity, Performance, Supervisors, Day Programs, Behavior Modification, Improvement
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A