ACHIEVEMENT PLACE: THE RELIABILITY OF SELF‐REPORTING AND PEER‐REPORTING AND THEIR EFFECTS ON BEHAVIOR 1, 2

Abstract

The reliability of the boys reporting their own behavior and the behavior of their peers was measured in two experiments at Achievement Place, a community based, family style, behavior modification program for delinquents based on a token (point) economy. The results of these experiments indicated that; (a) the boys were not “naturally” reliable observers, (b) the reliability of peer‐reporting could be improved by providing training on the behavioral definitions and by making points contingent on agreement between each boy's peer‐report and an independent adult observers' report, (c) the reliability of self‐reporting could be improved by making points contingent on agreement between the self‐report and the trained peer's report, and (d) giving self‐reports and peer‐reports did not produce a systematic effect on the boys' room‐cleaning behavior as measured by an independent observer.