Standard Chart Commentary

Return to Home Page | Return to Commentary Menu

PRACTICED MUSIC REAPS FUN

In 1998 someone asked me what the Precision Teaching acronym PRACTICED meant. I dug up my transcribed copy of a presentation Og delivered in 1989. Og had an entire phrase, PRACTICED MUSIC REAPS FUN. Herewith, I have included excerpts from that paper:

Lindsley (1989) coined a whole phrase of acronyms that sum up PT:

PRACTICED MUSIC REAPS FUN

PRACTICED:

P = Particular. (The practice should be close to what your final performance is going to be -- very specific)

R = Rapid.

A = Added. (You add the practice to the other instruction. It is not an "in place of". It's used to enhance other instruction.)

C = Counted. (Preferably, the child does the counting.)

T = Timed. (Again, by the child.)

I = Informed. (The learner must inform him or herself.)

C = Charted. (Again, the child does the charting.)

E = Errorful.

D = Daily.

MUSIC:

M = Multiply. (Frequencies grow and decay by multiplying. And they bounce same multiple up as down. And they're spread by equal multiples.)

U = Unique. (As Og put it: "We should expect our procedures to be as unique as our clothing. We do not expect Tommy's shoes to fit Ruth. And we should not expect Tommy's curriculum to fit Ruth. The behavioral needs are at least as great -- I say two times more, two to three times more uniqueness needed in behavioral environments than in our clothing.")

S = Specific. (As Og put it: "Specific is really kind of related to this Particular thing, but it's more general. Like, if you train speech -- you're a speech pathologist -- and you train a person who stutters, "Not ... To ... Stutter ... In ... Speech ... Path ... Sessions, ... But ... To ... Speak ... More ... Slowly ... And ... More ... Distinctly." And they go out in the parking lot, and someone bumps their car, they say, "Wh-wh-wh-at th-th-the h-h-el-ell do y-y-you th-th-think you're d-d-doing for ch-ch-christ s-s-sa-aa-ake to th-the car?" That's how specific behavior is. The best way a speech pathologist could teach people in a 20 minute session once a week to control stuttering 24 hours a day 7 days a week, is to teach them how to monitor their own stuttering, and put their own stuttering on self-control, self-monitoring.")

I = Independent. ("As corrects go up, errors can go up, stay the same, or go down. As feelings go up, behavior can go up, stay the same, or go down. As positive feelings go up, negative feelings can go up, stay the same, or go down. Everything we've looked at in behavior is independent.")

C = Consequence. ("Consequence is what I got from uncle Fred Skinner, who may be probably one of your grandparents. So, he said the most important thing about behavior are its consequences. But we still haven't learned that. And the world thinks 'causes.' So, whenever you have a behavior problem, and it starts, do not look at what started it, look at what follows it. The child is having a tantrum in school, and goes, "Wah anh! Wah! an anh! aaa! Wa aa ahh!" And the principal comes in and says, "What's going on here? What happened? What happened? What happened?" What's the answer? "I don't know. He hasn't stopped yet!" The cause of the behavior is on the tail end. Behavior is PUSHED. It's not pulled. It's a rear enging thing. Great big engine on its butt. That's behavior. You should learn that, and expect that.")

REAPS FUN:

R = Retention.

E = Endurance.

A = Application.

P = Performance Aims.

S = Stability.

FUN:

F = Fun.

U = Understanding.

N = No cheating.

Other Comments by Og at the San Diego PT Conference:

• "Learning is not fun. Having learned is fun."
• "In education today we are bringing cripples just above normal."
• "50's and 60's were the worst thing to happen to our culture."
• "Athletics and academics should be the same. In posting grades on the door, why hide academics? We're the only country that does it. If we did athletics the same way, the campus newspaper would have headlines like: "Student 5496 ran the 440 in x seconds and came in first!"

Og's Comments in the PT Conference Chart Share on Reasons NOT to Publish:

1. "Bad terms in print."

2. "When you publish, it kills its growth."

3. "Developer -- should not publish what your students should publish."

REFERENCE:

Lindsley, O.R. (1989). Wrap-up address on Precision Teaching. Keynote Address presented at the meeting of the Precision Teaching Conference, San Diego, March of 1989. (Presentation taped March 1989 and transcribed April 1989 by J.W. Eshleman.) - JE

Return to Home Page | Return to Commentary Menu