Beat the Buzzer

Description of the Strategy

Beat the Buzzer is a simple contingency management procedure most frequently used to reduce morning dawdling in children and decrease conflict between children and their parents. Beat the Buzzer involves setting a timer for a reasonable time limit by which the child must complete a set list of responsibilities. The night before implementing the program, the parent must explain the procedure to the child and make a list of duties the child is expected to complete in the morning before leaving the home. Typical duties include getting dressed, eating breakfast, and brushing teeth. The list is posted in a location the child can easily reference, such as on the refrigerator door or bathroom mirror. Next, the parent explains that a timer will be set each morning and that the child must have completed all duties and be ready to leave before the timer rings. The parent also explains what will happen if the child does or does not complete all duties on the list prior to this time and encourages the child to “beat the buzzer.”

The standard procedure indicates that if the child is ready on time or earlier (i.e., beats the buzzer), he or she is permitted to stay up 30 minutes past the usual bedtime that evening. For each minute or portion of a minute the child is late, he or she loses 30 minutes of television time that afternoon (younger child) or is put to bed 30 minutes early (older children). So a child who is 61 seconds late would lose an hour of television or go to bed an hour earlier that night.

When the child wakes up in the morning, the parent sets the timer for a specific time. The child is responsible for beating the buzzer, and the parent is only permitted to remind the child once of any particular duty. Arguing with the child is strictly prohibited.

A critical feature of this procedure is that parents adhere to stated consequences. Children who are not ready on time must lose the stated privilege (e.g., television time) and not access any other enjoyable activities during that time period. (Although one study has shown that children can successfully beat the buzzer without systematic consequences, it is important to note that in that particular study, no consequences were ever set forth for beating the buzzer.)

This technique has typically been used to help children learn to get ready on time in the morning with minimal parent-child conflict. However, it has also been used to reduce dawdling at cleanup time in a kindergarten classroom. It is conceivable that the procedure could be adapted for use at other problematic times prone to dawdling, such as at bedtime or during chore completion. Furthermore, modifications to the standard procedure, including use of child-selected rewards and token rewards, have been effective.

Research Basis

More than 20 years of clinical use and several published research studies back the effectiveness of this procedure. Studies using Beat the Buzzer have consisted of single-case and small n studies. This procedure has been shown to reduce time needed to get ready, dawdling, negative parent-child interactions, and parent reminders while subsequently increasing on-time behavior and compliance. Furthermore, treatment gains have been maintained, in some cases, for more than 6 months.

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