A Comparison of Group-Oriented Contingencies for Addition Fluency

Math fact fluency is critical for understanding complex mathematics. Explicit timing interventions have shown promise for improving math fluency, and they may benefit from being paired with group-oriented contingencies. Further, investigations of independent and dependent group-oriented contingencies would help to identify their relative advantages. This study compared the effect of group contingency variations of an explicit timing intervention with goal setting and graphic feedback. Independent and dependent group-oriented contingency groups were compared along with an explicit timing only group. First-grade students completed daily addition probes and received graphs for the previous weeks’ performance at the beginning of each week. Twice per week, the contingency groups received rewards based on their performance consistent with the contingency type. Results indicated that students in the independent group-oriented contingency condition had the greatest improvements in addition fluency. There was no difference found between the dependent and the explicit timing only group.