ABSTRACT
In a New England nursery school, teachers had noted the problem of waning, almost nonexistent participation by their children at group singing time. The teachers sought a method of improving choral singing, especially after hearing and accepting the psychologist's comments regarding the possible benefits which may accrue to youngsters in this multisensory, social, linguistic art form. Two groups of children were observed at singing time. First group had twelve typical middle-class four-year-olds, but only one true singer. Three boys in the first group and one boy and one girl in the second insisted on remaining both mute and at the most distant point from the piano. The children were advised that "singers" at music time would earn chips and at the end of singing time, the chips would be "cashed in" for a Disney character. In time the reinforcements were "thinned out" through escalation of the criteria, and subsequent observations of music time indicated a continued high degree of participation.
