The Inclusive Superhero Game: Increasing Inclusive Interactions in Inclusive Education

Scott Graham; Mickey Keenan

doi:10.1002/bin.70109

The Inclusive Superhero Game: Increasing Inclusive Interactions in Inclusive Education

Scott Graham
, Mickey Keenan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which teachers could implement the Inclusive Superhero Game (ISG), an intervention derived from the unknown dependent group contingency (DGC), to increase inclusive, helping and positive or general interactions between students with and without special education needs (SEN) across two inclusive education classrooms. Specifically, the focal SEN students across both classrooms had diagnoses of dyslexia and an anxiety disorder. Additionally, this study assessed the effects of the ISG functioning as a classwide behavior management strategy. Lastly, the social validity of the intervention was assessed from the perspectives of both the teachers and the students. A reversal design was employed to compare the effects of the ISG to baseline conditions. The ISG was found to be effective in increasing each interaction type among students and somewhat functioning as a classwide behavior management strategy. Overall, the intervention was found to be socially valid. This is the first study to show that the unknown DGC is effective at increasing inclusive, helping and positive or general interactions between SEN and non‐SEN students in inclusive education classrooms.

Original language	English
Article number	e70109
Pages (from-to)	1-15
Number of pages	15
Journal	Behavioral Interventions
Volume	41
Issue number	3
Early online date	12 May 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.70109
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - 1 Jul 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 The Author(s). Behavioral Interventions published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Funding

This research was funded by a Strategic Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland (DfE) PhD Scholarship. The research was conducted in partial fulfilment of doctoral level study by the first author under the supervision of the second author.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 4 Quality Education

Keywords

inclusive Superhero game
ABA
applied behavior analysis
special education needs
inclusive education

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Cite this

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The Inclusive Superhero Game: Increasing Inclusive Interactions in Inclusive Education

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this