Improving Student Behavior With Restrictive Access to High Probability Responses: The Premack Principle in the Elementary Classroom

Abstract

Premack principle, often referred to as Grandma’s law, describes how individuals will perform an arduous or undesirable activity if given access to a desirable activity after the completion of the original task. Premack discovered that highly preferred restricted activities in and of themselves can be reinforcing when preceded by activities that one finds objectionable. In the classroom, the Premack principle could be used to encourage student work completion while avoiding problem behavior(s) without introducing drastic changes to the classroom environment, creating the need for investing in tangible reinforcers, or engaging in exclusionary discipline practices. The purpose of this article is to highlight how teachers could implement the Premack principle in their classrooms to ensure the greatest opportunity for positive behavior change. Providing educators with a guide for the deployment of an intervention based on Premack’s work fills the need for simple, easy to implement behavior interventions for learning spaces