participants consisted of 4 students who attended two special education schools at the elementary level .
all students were diagnosed as having adhd , and their age range was between 9 to 11 years .
three of the four students were diagnosed with a combined type of adhd , and one person was diagnosed to have the hyperactive  impulsive type by a child psychiatrist .
the researcher directly observed the inattentive behaviors ( such as inattention to teacher and materials , not following through instructions , leaving seat ) of the participants in the classroom .
inattentive behaviors of participants ( target behaviors ) were observed during two sessions each week ( each session lasted 30 minutes ) .
all target behaviors were recorded using  duration per occurrence  recording procedure , and percentages of the behaviors were calculated .
self - monitoring of attention was used as a cognitive - behavioral technique for increasing self - control in the participants .
the programs included the following components : 
 self - monitoring cues tape : an audiotape including tones or beeps at irregular intervals .
when a student first begins to use self - monitoring , the pre - recorded tones are essential for his / her success ( 5 ) . 

a self - monitoring card : it includes a self - assessment question ( was i paying attention ? ) and spaces in which participants indicate being off - task or on - task when the tones sound . percentages of inattentive behaviors in experimental phases during self - monitoring , students were engaged to work in classroom assignments or follow their teacher 's instructions ( 5 ) . the desired goal of self - monitoring was to achieve self - control in classroom situation and to work without external cues features ( tape and card ) .
thus , during self - monitoring sessions , external cues were phased out , and students were expected to control their off - task behaviors internally .
the results indicated that the percentages of off - task or inattentive behaviors in the classroom situation reduced as a result of the self - monitoring program .
this decreasing trend from baseline to the intervention phase is displayed for all the four participants
. levels of inattentive behaviors in the follow - up are approximately similar to the intervention , and are lower than the baseline phase ( particularly for the first and fourth participants ) .
during self - monitoring , students were engaged to work in classroom assignments or follow their teacher 's instructions ( 5 ) .
the desired goal of self - monitoring was to achieve self - control in classroom situation and to work without external cues features ( tape and card ) .
thus , during self - monitoring sessions , external cues were phased out , and students were expected to control their off - task behaviors internally .
the results indicated that the percentages of off - task or inattentive behaviors in the classroom situation reduced as a result of the self - monitoring program .
this decreasing trend from baseline to the intervention phase is displayed for all the four participants .
levels of inattentive behaviors in the follow - up are approximately similar to the intervention , and are lower than the baseline phase ( particularly for the first and fourth participants ) .
direct observation of inattentive behaviors in a school- based special education situation showed that the behaviors reduced in the intervention phase of a single - subject experimental design . however , maintaining the treatment effects was difficult for the participants . based on the results of this study ,
two important points should be considered : firstly , increased effectiveness of self - monitoring technique was only observed in the context of the intervention phases and not in the follow - up phases . in other words ,
secondly , individual differences are important in accepting treatment . from a practical perspective , the findings of this study indicate that self - monitoring techniques can be applied for students with adhd in school - based special education settings . with respect to
the short - term effectiveness of self - monitoring technique , continued treatment for adhd is needed so that parents and teachers could understand the outcomes of each approach .
lastly , it should also be noted that parent management training ( 6 , 7 ) is an important factor to be considered in cbt techniques .
 beneficial effects of stimulants on core symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( adhd ) have been reported in several studies . 
 behavioral interventions have also been proposed as empirically supported interventions for adhd . 
 although cognitive - behavioral therapies ( cbt ) have been criticized for the lack of evidence - based data , some studies have indicated the positive effects of cbt techniques on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( adhd ) . 
 this article reports the effects of self - monitoring technique , as a cbt technique , on inattentive behaviors of children with adhd . 
Cases Report
Appropriate tasks to complete while using self-monitoring
Discussion