developing undergraduates' skills in behavioral interventions

Journul of Communiry PJychology Volume 12. April . 1984

DEVELOPING UNDERGRADUATES’ SKILLS IN BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS*

LEONARD A. JASON

DePaul University

This is a description of a training program for, and a series of studies conducted by, university undergraduates intending to intern in a mental health facility. The behaviorally oriented program provided training experiences in both clinical and community psychology. The more traditional clinical components involved each student’s identifying a personal bothersome behavior and, after collecting baseline data, implementing an intervention. The course’s community component involved designing a project within an organization or community. Illustrative projects included attempts to set up a no-smoking section in a cafeteria, to prompt university professors to turn off lights after class, to ensure that only handicapped drivers used parking facilities designed for them, to increase church attendance, and to ensure that customers selected appropriate medication at pharmacies. Issues involved in, and barriers to, training undergraduates in behavioral community approaches are discussed.

Many training programs have prepared university undergraduates and other paraprofessionals to conduct psychotherapy effectively with a wide variety of clients (e.g., Creek &Thompson, 1977; Jason & Smith, 1980; Shiverick, 1977). The vast majority of these programs have focused on training paraprofessionals within either the traditional or community mental health models, e.g., the delivery of psychotherapy in clinic-based facilities (Wasserman, McCarthy, & Ferree, 1975) and community settings such as schools (Durlak, 1977). In general, such intervention programs have been ex- tremely effective, as concluded by Durlak (1979), who in a comprehensive review found that paraprofessionals were typically at least as effective as mental health professionals in bringing about therapeutic change. These findings suggest that paraprofessionals can assume some roles traditionally assigned to professionals.

However, in addition to training undergraduates in traditional therapeutic skills, there is a need to explore the potential of training them in a community model that is in- vested in more preventive, larger-scale interventions and in the creation of more effective and humane systems of socialization and support in organizations and communities (Goodstein & Sandler, 1978). For example, at the organizational level, undergraduates could participate in bringing about change in four aspects of the organization: (a) the in- animate environment (e.g., available resources, ambient conditions, physical design); (b) characteristics of the setting’s inhabitants (e.g., member density, stability); (c) transac- tions between the members and their environments; and (d) the setting’s social climate (Jason & Glenwick, 1980). At the community level, interventions might be aimed at ex- ecutive, legislative, or judicial processes; economic conditions; the quality of the environment; available recreational facilities; the media; a variety of community-wide formal systems (e.g., transportation, education, corrections, social services, hospitals, religious institutions); and formal and informal social supports (e.g., voluntary associations, self- help groups, block clubs) (Jason, 1983). Undergraduates could profit well from exposure to change efforts that encouraged them to focus on these types of interventions.

This report describes a program to train undergraduates in clinical and community psychology. Each undergraduate had the opportunity to implement a personal as well as

*Reprint requests should be sent to L. A. Jason, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 2323 N. Seminary St., Chicago, I L 60614.

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DEVELOPING BEHAVIORAL SKILLS 131

a systems-level intervention. These projects are described briefly, as well as issues that arose in implementing the interventions.

COURSE CONTENT AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT At DePaul University, undergraduate psychology majors apply for an internship

program during the fall quarter of their junior year. In the 1981 academic year, twenty- two students were accepted into this program. Sixteen of the students were female and six were male. Fourteen were white, six were black, and two were Latino. After taking two applied psychology courses during their junior year, the students are provided with a year of part-time fieldwork (with academic credit) in a mental health agency.

The first applied psychology course covered (a) behavioral strategies aimed at modifying individual behavior and changing environments and (b) the effect of systems- level forces on organizations and communities, with accompanying appropriate readings (e.g., Glenwick & Jason, 1980). (The second applied psychology course surveyed relationship therapies and basic skills necessary for helping-e.g., listening, reflecting, summarizing.)

During the first week of class, each undergraduate was given the task of monitoring a personal problematic behavior. After a few weeks of monitoring these behaviors, the undergraduates were placed in pairs and given an opportunity to discuss their target behaviors. Therapeutic strategies were exchanged during these weekly 20-minute sessions. After the undergraduates had implemented self-control interventions, each student was asked to select an environmental problem to assess and possibly modify. The undergraduates were provided the opportunity to work in pairs on this project. Reliability checks were required during each phase of their projects, with adequate in- terrater reliabilities (in the range of 80 to 90%) being achieved in each of the projects. In working on the self-control and community interventions, the students could select a sim- ple A-B, reversal, multiple baseline, or alternating treatment design. The self-control projects provided the students with basic skills (e.g., specifying, monitoring, and graphing behaviors) which were needed to attempt the more difficult and ambitious community interventions. Self- Control Projects

Several undergraduates worked on study behavior in their self-control projects. One undergraduate began modeling study behaviors for her nine-year-old daughter, increasing the child’s average daily study time from 32 to 82 minutes. Another undergraduate increased daily studying from 32 to 66 minutes per day when she made television-watching contingent on studying at least an hour a day.

To increase exercising, two undergraduates used positive self-statements and a variety of incentives (e.g., a new outfit). Another undergraduate set up a contract that involved putting in more hours of volunteer work if a designated amount of exercising time was not completed daily. Finally, another undergraduate set gradually increasing amounts of time on an alarm clock and exercised until the alarm rang. For this group of undergraduates, exercising increased from an average of 18 minutes to 39 minutes daily.

Several undergraduates focused on food-related areas. Two attempted to lose weight. The use of exercising was unsuccessful with one of these students, while the second was able to lose 29 pounds after switching to a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. The use of sugar was reduced from 4.1 to . l times per day when another undergraduate visualized the sugar she had been consuming. Another undergraduate reduced consump- tion of cola drinks from 3.9 to .9 bottles per day by donating 50 cents to an organization

132 LEONARD A. JASON

she opposed each time a drink was consumed. Finally, another undergraduate used only self-monitoring to increase his taking of vitamin pills from one every two weeks to six times per week.

Sleeping behaviors were the selected target behaviors for three students. One undergraduate used yoga to increase sleeping time 24 minutes per day. Another used the same technique to reduce sleeping time 102 minutes per day. Another undergraduate complained of waking up during the night. With the onset of running up and down the stairs ten times prior to bedtime, wake-up episodes were decreased from 2.8 to .5 per night.

Interpersonal issues were selected by three undergraduates. One student reduced daily swearing behaviors from 5.5 to 2.3 when watching the television show “M*A*S*H” was made contingent upon swearing less than three times a day. Another undergraduate increased positive reactions (i.e., positive self-statements, low levels of anxiety) to stressful events from 5.6 to 8.0 per day when inappropriate reactions to stress were consequated by use of the stairs rather than the elevator at work. Finally, an undergraduate who had to supervise several employees reduced his sarcastic comments at work from 24 to 14 daily by substituting positive feedback for sarcastic comments.

The remaining undergraduates selected a variety of behaviors. Two undergraduates succeeded in eliminating nail biting by arranging contingency contracts and painting their nails a bright red. Another undergraduate contract was unsuccessful in improving writing legibility. Saving money (over $70.00) was a goal successfully achieved by another student. Community Projects

Six interventions were directed at reducing litter within organizations. The first project occurred in a high school biology classroom, where the problem behavior involved writing on school desks. In order that the undergraduate might obtain a reliable count each day, markings were washed off desks each evening. An average of 25 of the 26 desks in the class bore markings during the ICday baseline period. For the intervention, the students were told that an outside observer was recording all writing on the desks each day. During the next 2 1 days, there was an average of five fewer desks marked each day.

Another undergraduate devised an intervention to decrease litter at her sorority table in the cafeteria. For eight days of baseline data, there was an average of eight unreturned trays, cups, plates, napkins, or utensils. Using an ABAB design, the intervention phases involved posting a sign saying, “Sisters, Please Keep This Table Clean.” The sign led to an immediate decrease in unreturned items, the mean for the two intervention phases being 2.3. Describing this project, the student intervenor wrote that, after the sign was posted, her sorority sisters “were more conscientious about cleaning up their own mess after eating, and some even cleaned off garbage left by others.”

The rear stock area of a store was the site of a third intervention. Over a seven-day baseline period, there was an average of 58 pieces of litter left by store employees. During a seven-day intervention phase, a sign was posted next to the employees’ time clock, saying, “Show pride in your store-Please keep your work area clean.” Below this statement, the previous day’s litter count for each of five departments was posted, along with the statement, “Help make your department the lowest in litter.” Average pieces of litter decreased to 35 per day with the onset of the intervention and rose to 44 per day during a return to baseline period. When the store manager was shown the data, he stated he would present the information to the corporate staff to see if the intervention could also be instituted in six other stores,


Another litter program occurred at a center operating a hotline service for runaways and troubled persons. Because the phone room was frequently messy and disorderly, it was difficult to find needed materials such as directories and reference books. The problem was assessed each day during baseline by giving a point for each of the following characteristics: resource books not in proper place, coffee tables not clean, food-related items not put away, garbage not put in available containers, and the room in disorderly condition. Following baseline, the undergraduates conducted a needs assessment which involved all volunteers using the center. Forty-eight percent of the volunteers definitely felt a clean-up campaign was needed. The intervention involved posting a sign which presented the results of the needs assessment, encouragement to clean up the room, and a small straw broom with litter pasted to it. The intervention worked well, with daily ratings decreasing from an average of 4.3 during baseline to an average of 2.3 during the intervention. At the end of the project, the coordinator of the center requested that the poster remain in place so that it could continue exerting a positive influence on the volunteers.

Another undergraduate attempted to reduce litter at a dance studio by placing six ashtrays around the studio during the intervention phases of an ABAB design. Cigarette butts on the floor decreased from an average of two to zero with onset of the intervention. These results generally were replicated with the return-to-baseline phase and reintroduc- tion of the intervention.

The sixth litter intervention occurred at DePaul University’s recreation room. For the intervention, two garbage cans were placed in the room along with a sign saying, “Please help keep the recreation room clean.” Litter was reduced from an average of 26 pieces during baseline to eight during the intervention. During a return-to-baseline phase, litter increased slightly to an average of 12 pieces a day.

Three other projects occurring at DePaul University addressed lights being left on in unoccupied rooms, noise in the library, and cigarette smoke in the cafeteria. In the first intervention, a schedule of all classes at DePaul University was obtained. For each classroom, the time when the last official class ended each day was noted. Approximately 20 minutes after the last class of the day, each room was checked to determine whether the lights had been turned off. After baseline data were obtained, half of the classrooms received an intervention one week, with the other classrooms receiving the same intervention the following week in a multiple baseline design. The intervention involved sending professors a letter, signed by the University’s vice-president, urging their cooperation in turning lights off after their last classes. During baseline phases the lights were on in 67% and 72% of the classrooms, compared to 39% and 27% in the intervention phases.

The next project involved disruptive conversation by the staff or students in the university library’s reference section. To assess the problem, eight randomly selected students were asked to rate the noise level in the library, using a 10-point scale (higher numbers indicating more of a problem). The average rating was seven, indicating that this was an identified problem. “Loud” talk (i.e., disruptive or disturbing conversation) was monitored by two undergraduates for one hour each day. After this baseline period, the head of the library was shown the collected data, and the library staff was then given daily feedback concerning the amount of loud talking. Students who disturbed others by talking loudly were approached by one of the undergraduate experimenters and requested to talk more quietly. Following the intervention, loud talk among staff decreased from 35 to 15 minutes, and among students from 14 to 3 minutes.


The third study focused on cigarette smoking in a particular section of one of the university cafeterias. For 12 days, baseline data were gathered between 12 noon and one p.m. The next 14 days involved an intervention consisting of no-smoking stand-up signs attached to each table, as well as larger no-smoking signs designating the target area as a nonsmoking section. With the onset of this intervention, smoking decreased from 36 minutes to 21 minutes per day in this section during the noon hour. At the end of the project, the undergraduate experimenters began exploring ways to recruit a group of students who might be willing to prompt people not to smoke in the target area.

The next project occurred at a pharmacy and utilized an ABAB design, with four days in each phase. Each day data were collected for four hours. The student noted the types of cough syrups purchased by customers at the pharmacy and asked each person to describe his or her symptoms. As noted in Figure 1, during baseline only 37% of customers selected the best medications for their needs. During the intervention, when customers were informed by the undergraduates of the most appropriate medication, the percentage of correct choices rose to 100. These findings were replicated during the return-to-baseline and reimplementation-of-the-intervention phases. Several pharmacists supervised the undergraduate throughout this project, ensuring that the student gave correct information to customers.

Another undergraduate selected as a target problem rude phone calls received by switchboard operators. For one week, six switchboard operators collected baseline data on intracompany rude calls (e.g., use of an obscenity, loss of temper). During the intervention phase, each operator said, “You’re being rude to me,” after receiving a rude call (approval of this intervention having been received from the company’s president). Figure 2 indicates that rude calls decreased with onset of the intervention. During the

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return-to-baseline phase, rude calls began increasing, but decreased again with reimplementation of the intervention. In her final report of the project, the undergraduate experimenter noted that during the course of the intervention, no complaints were received, and that the operators were very happy with the results.

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Another undergraduate, who worked as a supervisor in an inventory department, recorded employee noncompliance with company rules (e.g., being late for work, leaving early for break, returning late from break). During a five-day baseline phase, an average of 61% of employees each day failed to comply with at least one of the rules. When a large sign was posted explicitly stating each rule, with the supervisor giving feedback and praise for improvements, noncompliance dropped to 17%. During a return-to-baseline phase, noncompliance rose to 28%, returning to 12% when the intervention was reinstated.

Low attendance among black members of a Roman Catholic church was the problem chosen by another undergraduate. A needs assessment survey initially was sent to members to investigate the nature of the problem. A frequent and major complaint made in the responses to the survey was the structure of the service. A decision was made to bring more vigor and vitality to the service. Using a multiple baseline design, when a children's choir was organized and sang at the 12:30 mass, attendance increased from 23 to 92. When an adult choir was organized and introduced into the 9:30 mass, attendance increased from 20 to 63 (see Figure 3).

In a project focusing on crime-related issues, an undergraduate compared crime statistics for six local beats in a Chicago police district with the perceptions of sixty residents who were interviewed about their views of crime in the area. During the past year, no homicides had occurred in that area; however, 71% of the interviewed sample believed that more than five murders had occurred. While this study did not involve a manipulation, the student was able to chart levels of crime for different beats over a period of one year.

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The next intervention involved assessing the number of residence sidewalks which were unshovelled after snowstorms in an area next to a senior citizen apartment complex. Following the collection of baseline data (which indicated 15% of sidewalks were un- shoveled), there were no subsequent snowstorms to test the intervention, which was to involve distributing pamphlets to homeowners, encouraging all residents to shovel after snowstorms.

Another community-level intervention focused on discouraging nonhandicapped drivers from parking in handicapped-designated spaces in a supermarket’s parking lot. Observations occurred 1 % hours daily for seven days. During this time period, 85% of people parking in such spaces were nonhandicapped. A large sign then was placed by the parking spot, with the following written on it: “Yesterday % of people parking here were nonhandicapped.” The sign did have some effect as, during the three-day intervention, 1 1 people parked their cars, saw the sign, and then left to find another parking spot. Still, during this intervention phase, 15 other nonhandicapped drivers used the reserved spaces. Following the end of the study, five violators were approached and asked if they realized that they had parked in a space reserved for handicapped persons. Four claimed that they had not seen the signs and thus were not aware that they should not have parked there.

Another undergraduate studied a busy intersection near a neighborhood school. During three days of observations from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., he counted 345 children crossing the street. In this same period, 281 cars passed through the intersection, with only 66% of them stopping before proceeding through the crossing. These data were shared at a meeting with the principal of the elementary school and a local political official. At that meeting, the latter agreed to have a stop sign erected at the intersection, a pledge which, after several reminders, did result in the installation of a sign.

The final intervention involved excessive horn-blowing by automobiles on a residen- tial block. Over a three-week period, there was an average of 6.4 episodes of car-honking between 6:OO and 8:OO p.m. each night. Community residents then were surveyed, with 95% of them identifying excessive car-honking as a problem. With the permission of the block club president, circulars were distributed to all residences on the block. On this notice, the target problem was mentioned and several solutions which had been offered by community members were presented (e.g., if expecting a ride, look for the person who will be picking you up; after blowing horn, circle around the block so that the person expecting the ride will have time to come outside). During the next three weeks, horn- blowing decreased to an average of 2.7 episodes each evening. In the final paper for the course, the undergraduate wrote:

It showed all of us that we have more control of our external environment than we thought. This project helped define the responsibilities of the block and what our block club should represent. Neighbors have already volunteered to help with any future projects that I might undertake.

ISSUES AND OBSTACLES IN TEACHING A COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE The training program outlined in this report provided university students the oppor-

tunity to directly experience both clinical and community psychology. The majority of the undergraduates were able to alter successfully a bothersome personal behavior following the collection of baseline data. In the second implemented project, the students were able to conceptualize and launch an intervention involving organizational or


community-level interventions. These experiences enabled the undergraduates to appreciate more intimately the process of behavioral change, recognize the multiple target levels to which interventions can be directed, and begin exploring the types of roles within psychology for which they might seek further training following graduation.

Quite understandably, most of the undergraduates were at least initially more at- tracted to a traditional clinical as opposed to a community approach. Positive attributes of the former include: (a) personal gratifications obtained when helping a person in dis- tress; (b) high status accrued for adopting the role of secular priest (London, 1964); and (c) intellectual fascination with deciphering the intricacies of the “mind.” The traditional role also allows for the establishment of an intimate caring relationship which mitigates the alienation and isolation prevalent in a post-industrial society and provides opportunities to imitate nurturant clinician models dramatically portrayed in the media. The area of community intervention is more abstract, somewhat less personal, and often lacking in immediate reinforcers. However, by being provided the opportunity to conceptualize and implement concrete, viable organizational and community interventions, many undergraduates began to appreciate this alternative model.

When the undergraduates adopted the community stance, they sometimes en- countered community personnel who were puzzled concerning the appropriateness of psychology majors working on supposedly nonpsychological problems. In order to com- municate effectively with a variety of agency officials, the undergraduates needed to conceptualize clear links between (a) their intervention and (b) psychological principles and effects. For example, reducing litter and the number of unshovelled paths could con- tribute to a more attractive and safer enviroment, thereby positively affecting the com- fort, satisfaction, and mental health of the individuals within these environments. In- creased church attendance could enhance the psychological sense of community felt by members in the neighborhood, and a reduction in rude telephone calls in an agency could alleviate excessive levels of tension, anxiety, and anger among telephone operators. Similarly, interventions aimed at increasing appropriate selections of medications, reducing exposure to passive smoking, ensuring that reserved parking spaces were used only by handicapped individuals, and reducing excessive noise levels in libraries were all efforts to bring about changes contributing to more effective functioning of individuals in diverse organizational and community settings. Exposure to these interventions enabled the undergraduates to see the theoretical and practical links between the target problems and interventions on the one hand, and psychological principles and benefits on the other.

When the topic of system-level change first was introduced, many undergraduates were skeptical of the roles they could assume. They felt powerless because they occupied a low status within our society and possessed few material resources. However, in par- ticipating in these interventions the students successfully negotiated with managers of companies, presidents of block clubs, the head librarian and vice president of a university, a police chief, church officials, and pharmacists. The undergraduates thereby had successful experiences in (a) approaching and negotiating with influential decision makers over a period of time; (b) involving them in a behavior change effort, and (c) ap- praising them of the results of an empirically derived behavior change effort. The students generally succeeded in adopting an activist system-oriented approach, par- ticipating in the process of change with influential individuals having decision-making responsibilities and bringing about meaningful changes within organizations and communities.


Despite their development of a genuine interest in the area of community psychology over the course of the semester, some of the undergraduates expressed concern regarding the availability of employment opportunities within this field, particularly given increasingly conservative federal policies and a recessionistic economy. This is a legitimate concern, since funding cutbacks at the federal and state levels are likely to restrict the range and extent of community change efforts. Some agencies will continue to support such programming, and many positions within community mental health provide at least some opportunities for organizational and environmental change efforts.

In summary, obstacles to students adopting a community model include a clear at- traction to the more traditional clinical approach, problems in convincing others (e.g., high status individuals in the community) of psychology’s contribution to seemingly nonpsychological interventions, difficulties in effecting change at the systems level, and a perceived paucity of jobs involving community change. While these issues are im- pediments in motivating undergraduates to adopt a community orientation, there is a clear need to expand traditional training programs so that students are introduced to this orientation as a viable alternative approach for extending human services.

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DURLAK, J. A. (1977). Description and evaluation of a behaviorally oriented school based preventive mental

DURLAK, J . A. (1979). Comparative effectiveness of paraprofessional and professional helpers. Psychological

GLENWICK, D. S., & JASON, L. A. (Eds.) (1980). Behavioral community psychology: Progress andprospects.

GOODSTEIN, L. D., & SANDLER, I . (1978). Using psychology to promote human welfare. A conceptual

JASON, L. A. (1983). Preventive behavioral interventions. In R. D. Felner, L. A. Jason, J. Moritsugu, and S.

JASON, L. A,, & GLENWICK, D. S. (1980). Future directions. In D. S. Glenwick and L. A. Jason (Eds.),

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LONDON, P. (1964). SHIVERICK, D. D. (1977).

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developing undergraduates' skills in behavioral interventions

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