Does rational persuasion influence potential consultees?

Abstract

Success in collaborative school-based consultation depends on whether teachers implement interventions suggested by consultants. In business literature, Rational Persuasion (RP) has been identified as one potentially effective way to influence consultee perceptions about proposed interventions. RP includes intervention information, why it is important to decide to use the intervention, and potential objections to the intervention with arguments against those objections. The influence of these RP elements on potential school-based consultees has not been studied. This preliminary analog study investigated whether presenting RP importance and objections for behavioral interventions influenced teachers' ratings of acceptability, effectiveness, and commitment-to-implement. Participants included 71 teachers enrolled in graduate education courses. The within-subject design included three video vignettes of each of three conditions for three different behavioral interventions (total of nine possible videos, three presented to each group). Results suggest that the influence of RP on acceptability, perceived effectiveness, and commitment-to-implement ratings was inconsistent. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Monitoring Treatment Integrity

“…teachers) or what has been termed treatment integrity (Gresham, 1989;Truscott et al, 2003). Treatment integrity reflects the accuracy and consistency with which each component of the treatment or intervention plan is implemented.…”

“…Identifying an effective treatment is a necessary but insufficient condition for producing behaviour change (Wickstrom et al, 1998).The success of intervention plans is largely dependent on the extent to which a treatment is implemented as intended or planned by consultees (e.g. teachers) or what has been termed treatment integrity (Gresham, 1989;Truscott et al, 2003). Treatment integrity reflects the accuracy and consistency with which each component of the treatment or intervention plan is implemented.…”

“…Likewise, including elements of rational persuasion (e.g. discussing the importance of the intervention and addressing possible objections) in brief meetings with consultees are inadequate to support consistent treatment implementation (Truscott et al, 2003). Consultee self-reports and permanent products combined with structured interviews and performance feedback are essential to monitoring and sustaining adequate treatment integrity (Mortenson and Witt, 1998;Noell et al, 2005).…”

Changing a Field of Change

“…Research investigating barriers to implementation uncover important roadblocks and solutions (e.g., Dennis, 2004;Doll et al, 2005;McDougal, Moody Clonan, & Martens, 2000;SlonskiFowler & Truscott, 2004;Truscott, Richardson, Cohen, Frank, & Palmeri, 2003). Organizational development (Zins & Illback, 2007) has been viewed as a critical skill for system-level implementation of consultation.…”

Technology and behaviour analysis in higher education

“…This basic feature of behavioural technology fosters not only replicability and improvement in procedures so that interventions become more effective and efficient, but offers clear algorithm-like description of procedures and settings that facilitate creating educational ABA-based software (Presti, Premarini, Leuzzi, Di Blasi, & Squatrito, 2017). Effectiveness is also related to the integrity of interventions (Gresham, 1989;Truscott, Richardson, Cohen, Frank, & Palmeri, 2003), in other words, the accuracy and consistency with which each element of any intervention plan is implemented. Failure to protect the integrity of interventions threatens their internal validity (Gresham, Gansle & Noell, 1993), although this can be avoided by using specifically designed software.…”