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| Factors Influencing the Acquisition and Maintenance of Appropriate Behavior |
| Tuesday, May 30, 2006 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| International Ballroom North |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Nathan Call (Louisiana State University) |
| Abstract: The variables that influence the acquisition of appropriate behavior are often varied and complex. Furthermore, though many of the strategies implemented for increasing appropriate behaviors are well established, the literature often lacks comparisons between procedures. Finally, established procedures for increasing appropriate behaviors can be enhanced or augmented in some cases through the systematic manipulation of one or more components of a procedure already known to be somewhat effective. This symposium will present a series of papers that will address these issues for a range of appropriate behaviors including compliance, food acceptance, and matching during discrimination training. The first paper compared rates of compliance during treatments of problem behavior maintained by negative reinforcement with escape extinction, functional communication training, and differential reinforcement of compliance. The second paper compared two stimulus-fading procedures (size versus contrast of distracter stimuli) for establishing matching as part of a discrimination task. The third paper compared the effects of non-removal of the spoon and avoidance on food acceptance in 3 individuals diagnosed with a pediatric feeding disorder. Finally, the last paper compared three prompting procedures to identify the prompting strategy that would result in the most rapid acquisition of a spoken-word-to-picture relation. |
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| Compliance during Work: A Comparison of Escape Extinction, Functional Communication Training, and Differential Reinforcement. |
| TERRY S. FALCOMATA (University of Iowa), Joel Eric Ringdahl (University of Iowa), Tory J. Christensen (University of Iowa), Jayme Mews (University of Iowa), Jeffrey R. Luke (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: Treatment for problem behavior maintained by negative reinforcement has included escape extinction, functional communication training, and differential reinforcement of compliance. In this study, we evaluated the effect of these treatment strategies on the compliance behavior exhibited by individuals whose problem behavior was maintained by negative reinforcement. During escape extinction, no consequences were provided for compliance, communication, or problem behavior. During functional communication training, escape from work tasks was contingent on appropriate communication, while problem behavior was on extinction. During differential reinforcement of compliance, escape from work tasks was contingent on completion of work tasks, while problem behavior was on extinction. Results suggested that compliance was more likely to occur during both escape extinction and differential reinforcement of compliance than functional communication training. IOA was obtained during at least 30% of all sessions and averaged above 90% for all target responses across participants. Results will be discussed in terms of potential implications with the selection of treatment procedures aimed at the treatment of problem behaviors maintained by negative reinforcement. |
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| A Comparison of Two Stimulus Fading Procedures to Teach Identity Matching to Children Diagnosed with Autism. |
| JOSLYN N. CYNKUS (Marcus Autism Center), Michael E. Kelley (Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine), Henry S. Roane (Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine), Aphrodite Foundas (Marcus Autism Center), Shuki Kathuria (Marcus Autism Center), Tiffany Kodak (Louisiana State University) |
| Abstract: Discrimination training is often used to teach children diagnosed with autism a variety of skills, such as matching, categorizing, and identifying items. In the current study, we compared two stimulus-fading procedures (size versus contrast of distracter stimuli) for establishing matching. In the size condition, we faded the size of the distracter stimuli from 1/10th of the size of the target stimuli in 10 equal steps. In the contrast condition, we faded the level of contrast of the distracters, starting with white cards as distracters and then increasing the contrast in 10 equal steps until the target contrast level. For one participant, discriminations during the first several fading steps were more accurate in the size-fading condition relative to the contrast-fading condition, and both procedures produced mastery-level discriminations with the target stimuli in about the same number of sessions (i.e., differences between conditions decreased as fading progressed). For the second participant, discriminations during initial fading steps were high in both conditions. When the discriminations became more difficult, accuracy was initially higher during the contrast condition, but accuracy never met mastery criteria. Results suggest that additional research on discrimination training is warranted. |
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| A Comparison of the Effects of Escape Extinction and Avoidance on Food Acceptance and Inappropriate Mealtime Behavior in Children with Pediatric Feeding Disorders. |
| HEATHER KADEY (Marcus Autism Center), Cathleen C. Piazza (Munroe-Meyer Institute), Henry S. Roane (Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine), Danielle W. Bradley (Marcus Autism Center) |
| Abstract: Previous research that has focused on treating children with pediatric feeding disorders has found that negative reinforcement plays a crucial role in the development of effective treatments. Although the literature on feeding disorders has examined negative reinforcement procedures, the focus has been on using escape extinction procedures (i.e., non-removal of the spoon) and physical guidance. Few studies have examined the effects of alternative negative reinforcement procedures, such as avoidance, in the treatment of pediatric feeding disorders. In the present study we compared the effects of non-removal of the spoon and avoidance on inappropriate behavior and food acceptance in 3 individuals diagnosed with a pediatric feeding disorder. For all 3 participants functional analysis results suggested that inappropriate behavior was maintained by negative reinforcement. The treatment conditions were evaluated using an alternating treatments design embedded within a multiple baseline across foods. Both treatments resulted in acquisition of food acceptance and a decrease in the rate of inappropriate behavior. Although both procedures were effective neither treatment package suggested superior results. Two independent observers achieved over 80% agreement on at least 30% of sessions. Implications for the treatment of pediatric feeding disorders and areas of future research will be discussed. |
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| Effects of Three Prompting Procedures on Acquisition during Conditional Discrimination Training. |
| CATHERINE TRAPANI (Marcus Autism Center), Tiffany Kodak (Louisiana State University), Wayne W. Fisher (University of Nebraska Medical Center, Munroe-Meyer Institute) |
| Abstract: Traditional prompting hierarchies (verbal, gestural, physical prompts) may not result in acquisition of a spoken-word-to-picture relation. Students may attend to the prompting stimulus and not attend to the relevant visual stimuli when a gestural prompt is provided (Mosk and Bucher, 1984). That is, the student may attend to the position of the stimulus where the teacher pointed instead of attending to visual properties of the target stimulus. Three prompting procedures were compared with two participants to identify the prompting strategy that would result in the most rapid acquisition of the conditional relation. Results of both participants indicated that acquisition of the target stimuli only occurred under the identity matching condition. |
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