{"id":{"repo_id":"brock","oai_identifier":"oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/19693"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/brock/oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/19693","repository":{"repo_id":"brock","name":"Brock University","base_url":"https://brocku.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"A Comparison of Hero-Identified and Hero-Unidentified Dependent Group Contingencies to Increase Children’s Physical Activity During Recess","abstract":"Physical activity is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle and is associated with numerous physiological, mental health, and academic benefits for children. Despite these advantages, many children fail to meet the recommended daily physical activity levels. Previous research has shown that dependent group contingencies (DGC) can increase children’s physical activity at school. Within DGCs, one target student (the “hero”) is selected in advance, and the class earns a reward only if the hero meets a predetermined goal. Variations in how the hero is revealed may affect the intervention’s effectiveness. In a hero-identified DGC, the hero is revealed to the class only if they met their goal. In a hero-unidentified DGC, the hero remains anonymous regardless of the outcome. Although both variations have been used in classroom settings, they have never been directly compared. We used a multielement within a concurrent multiple baseline design across three classes to compare the effectiveness of the hero-identified and hero-unidentified DGC variations on physical activity. Both variations increased physical activity, with the hero-identified DGC condition producing larger gains at both the classwide and individual level of analyses. All classes voted to participate in the hero-identified DGC condition for the follow-up session. Physical activity levels maintained at the 4-week follow-up for Classes A and B and partially maintained at the 2-week follow-up for Class C. Across classes, participants rated the hero-identified DGC more favourably than the hero-unidentified DGC.","abstract_html":"Physical activity is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle and is associated with numerous physiological, mental health, and academic benefits for children. Despite these advantages, many children fail to meet the recommended daily physical activity levels. Previous research has shown that dependent group contingencies (DGC) can increase children’s physical activity at school. Within DGCs, one target student (the “hero”) is selected in advance, and the class earns a reward only if the hero meets a predetermined goal. Variations in how the hero is revealed may affect the intervention’s effectiveness. In a hero-identified DGC, the hero is revealed to the class only if they met their goal. In a hero-unidentified DGC, the hero remains anonymous regardless of the outcome. Although both variations have been used in classroom settings, they have never been directly compared. We used a multielement within a concurrent multiple baseline design across three classes to compare the effectiveness of the hero-identified and hero-unidentified DGC variations on physical activity. Both variations increased physical activity, with the hero-identified DGC condition producing larger gains at both the classwide and individual level of analyses. All classes voted to participate in the hero-identified DGC condition for the follow-up session. Physical activity levels maintained at the 4-week follow-up for Classes A and B and partially maintained at the 2-week follow-up for Class C. Across classes, participants rated the hero-identified DGC more favourably than the hero-unidentified DGC.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kendra White"],"institution":"Brock University","degree_name":"M.A. Applied Disability Studies","degree_level":"Master","degree_discipline":"Faculty of Social Sciences","degree_department":"Center for Applied Disability Studies","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Dr. Kimberley Zonneveld"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-09-29","date_published":"2025-09-29","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:23:20Z","subjects":["dependent group contingency","physical activity","percentile schedules","children","recess"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10464/19693","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Dr. Kimberley Zonneveld"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Center for Applied Disability Studies"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kendra White"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-09-30T15:56:05Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-09-30T15:56:05Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-09-29"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Brock University"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Faculty of Social Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. Applied Disability Studies"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["dependent group contingency","physical activity","percentile schedules","children","recess"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10464/19693"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Physical activity is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle and is associated with numerous physiological, mental health, and academic benefits for children. Despite these advantages, many children fail to meet the recommended daily physical activity levels. Previous research has shown that dependent group contingencies (DGC) can increase children’s physical activity at school. Within DGCs, one target student (the “hero”) is selected in advance, and the class earns a reward only if the hero meets a predetermined goal. Variations in how the hero is revealed may affect the intervention’s effectiveness. In a hero-identified DGC, the hero is revealed to the class only if they met their goal. In a hero-unidentified DGC, the hero remains anonymous regardless of the outcome. Although both variations have been used in classroom settings, they have never been directly compared. We used a multielement within a concurrent multiple baseline design across three classes to compare the effectiveness of the hero-identified and hero-unidentified DGC variations on physical activity. Both variations increased physical activity, with the hero-identified DGC condition producing larger gains at both the classwide and individual level of analyses. All classes voted to participate in the hero-identified DGC condition for the follow-up session. Physical activity levels maintained at the 4-week follow-up for Classes A and B and partially maintained at the 2-week follow-up for Class C. Across classes, participants rated the hero-identified DGC more favourably than the hero-unidentified DGC."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Comparison of Hero-Identified and Hero-Unidentified Dependent Group Contingencies to Increase Children’s Physical Activity During Recess"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Dr. Kimberley Zonneveld"],"dc:contributor.department":["Center for Applied Disability Studies"],"dc:creator":["Kendra White"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-09-30T15:56:05Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-09-30T15:56:05Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-09-29"],"dc:description.abstract":["Physical activity is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle and is associated with numerous physiological, mental health, and academic benefits for children. Despite these advantages, many children fail to meet the recommended daily physical activity levels. Previous research has shown that dependent group contingencies (DGC) can increase children’s physical activity at school. Within DGCs, one target student (the “hero”) is selected in advance, and the class earns a reward only if the hero meets a predetermined goal. Variations in how the hero is revealed may affect the intervention’s effectiveness. In a hero-identified DGC, the hero is revealed to the class only if they met their goal. In a hero-unidentified DGC, the hero remains anonymous regardless of the outcome. Although both variations have been used in classroom settings, they have never been directly compared. We used a multielement within a concurrent multiple baseline design across three classes to compare the effectiveness of the hero-identified and hero-unidentified DGC variations on physical activity. Both variations increased physical activity, with the hero-identified DGC condition producing larger gains at both the classwide and individual level of analyses. All classes voted to participate in the hero-identified DGC condition for the follow-up session. Physical activity levels maintained at the 4-week follow-up for Classes A and B and partially maintained at the 2-week follow-up for Class C. Across classes, participants rated the hero-identified DGC more favourably than the hero-unidentified DGC."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10464/19693"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Brock University"],"dc:subject":["dependent group contingency","physical activity","percentile schedules","children","recess"],"dc:title":["A Comparison of Hero-Identified and Hero-Unidentified Dependent Group Contingencies to Increase Children’s Physical Activity During Recess"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Faculty of Social Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. Applied Disability Studies"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:23:20Z"}