Becoming bookworms: increasing independent engagement with books through a classroom reading routine

Purpose Establishing conditioned reinforcement for books leads to better academic outcomes. Most of the existing behaviour-analytical research on the establishment of conditioned reinforcement for observing books focuses on 1:1 instruction. This study aims to establish book preferences for a group of neurotypical and neurodivergent toddlers. Design/methodology/approach Six toddlers who did not demonstrate preference for books during initial assessment participated in the study. The dependent variable of the study was the number of 5-s intervals during which the participants engaged with a book during a 5-min free operant observation. The authors used a changing criterion design to implement three phases of intervention with similar target behaviours but decreasing numbers of prompts. Findings The participants emitted a higher number of intervals during which they observed books during post-intervention probes. Five of the six participants engaged with books for more than 90% of the 5-min observation during their last probe. Parents of four of the students also reported observing increased duration of book engagement at home. Originality/value The study tested the efficacy of a routine-based book conditioning procedure. The findings show that systematically increasing the effort for participants to engage in a book reading activity, paired with social reinforcement, established increased preference for books for all participants.