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We extended research on social skills training to determine if the activities first-grade students were engaged in while Tootling would influence their performance of two recently trained social skills: complimenting and encouraging peers. After receiving social skills training, students engaged in two experimental small-group activities, a cooperative activity and a parallel-play activity. During both activities, a Tootling intervention was applied and interdependent group rewards (e.g., every student in the class receives the reward) were delivered contingent upon the number of peer reports of classmates providing compliments and encouragements meeting an unknown, randomly selected criterion. Students also engaged in their typical classroom activity, an individual competition, without Tootling. Statistical analysis indicated that during the cooperative-play activity there were significantly higher levels of complimenting and encouraging than during the parallel-play and individual competition activities. More compliments were delivered during the parallel-play activity than during the individual competition, but there was no significant difference in encouragements across the two conditions. Also, during the parallel-play activity, compliments where higher than encouragements. These findings suggest that after social skills training, Tootling can enhance social skill performance when educators schedule activities that provide opportunities to engage in these recently trained skills. Discussion focuses on task and goal structures associated with activities and applied implications for enhancing social skill development.

While social skills training allows students to acquire social skills, often it does not enhance their performance of those skills outside the social skills training context. A withdrawal design was used to determine if a modified Tootling intervention could enhance at-risk, first-grade students' performance of two recently trained social skills (complimenting and encouraging) as they played. Following social skills training, baseline data was collected as students played a modified Jenga game in small groups. During the intervention phase, a Tootling intervention was added and the class earned a group reward contingent upon their reports of peers engaging in these recently trained social skills. After Tootling was withdrawn, it was reinstated. Analysis of class-wide data shows immediate and large (effect size estimates) increases in compliments and encouragements each time Tootling was applied, and an immediate decrease when Tootling was withdrawn. These findings suggest that the modified Tootling intervention enhanced performance of these social skills while students played. Discussion focuses on future research designed to determine if Tootling can cause meaningful increases in social skill development by increasing students' performance of social skills across social contexts. Impact Statement Social skills training allows students to acquire social skills, but typically does not result in students performing these behaviors in other social contexts. A peer-mediated intervention known as Tootling, which involves students being reinforced for reporting classmates' performance of recently trained social skills (i.e., providing encouragements and compliments), caused large and immediate increases in first-grade students' performance of these prosocial behaviors as they engaged in a small-group game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]