Having Fun with PBIS: Free or No-cost Reinforcers for Appropriate Behavior

By Laura A. Riffel, Ph.D.,  Jessica R. Eggleston, Doctoral Candidate

This book is based on twelve years of research. So many schools were focusing on tangible incentives with a PBIS program. Dr. Riffel felt that was not truly what students wanted so she started interviewing students and writing down their responses. As she hypothesized, only one student in twelve years has named anything tangible. This book focuses on the following items described by students: 1) privileges, 2) attention, 3) leadership, 4) praise, 5) assistance, 6) touch, 7) escape and 8) supplies. Although no student named supplies as a choice for reinforcement, the authors felt there were many students who could not afford the normal school supplies. The authors felt the students would feel better if they could “purchase” the school items with “gotcha” tickets rather than have handouts. This has proven to be the case in many schools.