Targets of Self-Monitoring: Productivity, Accuracy, and Attention

Self-monitoring has become one of the most widely employed self-control procedures in special education for students with learning disabilities and emotional or behavioral disorders. Although its success has been documented across age groups, settings, and diverse applications, researchers have continued to study the question of whether focusing self-monitoring on certain target behaviors – particularly attention to task or academic performance – will yield superior outcomes for students. We review 11 available studies that have examined this issue, classifying each study according to the ways in which the researchers had students monitor their own behavior. The results show only small differences among the different methods and indicate a need for teachers to continue exercising professional judgment in planning the use of self-monitoring.