Candice M. Jostad, Raymond G. Miltenberger, Pamela Kelso, & Peter Knudson. (2008).
Peer tutoring to prevent firearm play: Acquisition, generalization, and
long-term maintenance of safety skills.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
41, 117-123.
Hundreds of accidental injuries and deaths to children occur annually in
the United States as a result of firearm play. Behavioral skills training (BST)
and in situ training have been found to be effective in teaching children the
skills to use if they find a firearm, but training requires substantial time
and effort. The current study examined the use of peers as tutors as a
potential way to decrease the time and resources needed to teach these
safety skills to youngsters. Peer trainers conducted BST and in situ training
with other children. Children taught by the peer trainers acquired the safety
skills and demonstrated them in naturalistic situations in which the skills
were needed. Furthermore, all of the peer trainers acquired and maintained
the skills. These results support the use of peer tutoring for teaching safety
skills to other children.
DESCRIPTORS: behavioral skills training, firearm injury, in situ
training, peer tutoring, safety skills