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| Relationships Between Unconditioned and Reflexive Motivating Operations and Problem Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 120 D |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Jose A. Martinez-Diaz (Florida Institute of Technology) |
| Discussant: Ernest A. Vargas (B. F. Skinner Foundation) |
| CE Instructor: Nicole L. Hausman, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Three different papers explore the relationship between unconditioned and reflexive motivating operations and problem behavior. The first paper provides a conceptual framework for the assessment and treatment of problem behavior maintained by socially mediated negative reinforcement. The importance of assessing motivating operations and discriminative stimuli prior to treatment, and manipulating them in treatment, is emphasized. In addition, it provides examples of applications from the author's clinical practice. The second paper presents two laboratory studies on the effects of sleep deprivation, and its interaction with temperature changes, on nocifensive behaviors. These studies also will show how motivating operations also relate to respondent behavior. The third study presents descriptive assessment data on possible relations between seizures and problem behavior in 3 adults with developmental disabilities. Implications for the potential role of seizures as motivating operations that increase the probability of problem behavior within specific time periods are discussed, and future directions of research are presented. |
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| Motivating Operations and Discriminative Stimuli in Problem Behavior Maintained by Socially Mediated Negative Reinforcement |
| JOSE A. MARTINEZ-DIAZ (Florida Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: I will explore the role of motivating operations and discriminative stimuli in the assessment and treatment of behavior maintained by social negative reinforcement. My paper begins with a conceptual scheme to clarify the difference between motivational and discriminative variables and how they interact with each other. I will expound on the relationship between motivating operations and escape/avoidance contingencies, and how establishing operations may evoke challenging behavior. I will discuss why discriminated avoidance is a misleading term, clarifying the true role of discriminative stimuli in escape/avoidance behavior. I will conclude with implications for the treatment of challenging behavior. Case studies provide examples of the conceptual framework. |
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| Using a Dual Respondent Task to Examine the Individualistic and Conjoint Effects of Motivating Operations |
| MARK T. HARVEY (Florida Institute of Technology), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University), Robert Kline (Veterans Administration Hospital at Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: Two studies will be presented to orient the audience to a respondent paradigm for studying motivating operations (e.g., pain nociception and sleep disruption). Investigators measured duration and latency of hind limb withdrawal when rats were subjected to (a) REM sleep deprivation for 48 hours, (b) 48 hours of sleep fragmentation, or (c) housed in their home cage. Study 1 demonstrated that 44°C was noxious to animals across all conditions while sleep disruption resulted in increased nocifensive behaviors. Study 2 conducted a brief parametric analysis of cooled/heated temperatures to determine equal allocation across two adjacent temperature controlled pads. Nocifensive behaviors occurred when the animals occupied both sides of the dual respondent chamber, but equal allocation occurred when the heated side was 44.7°C and the second side was cooled to 1.3°C. Subsequently the dual respondent paradigm was used to evaluate the effects of sleep disruption on pain sensation; sleep deprived animals allocated more time to a heated plate despite previous research demonstrating its aversiveness. Sleep disruption proved to be a powerful motivating operation which changed duration allocation by increasing the noxious value of pain sensation related to cold. Clinical implications of pain sensation and sleep disruption on operant and respondent behavior will be reviewed. |
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| Descriptive Analysis of Epileptic Seizures and Problem Behavior in Adults with Developmental Disabilities |
| ADA C. HARVEY (Florida Institute of Technology), Paul J. Yoder (Vanderbilt University), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: The authors studied possible relations between seizures and problem behavior in 3 adults with developmental disabilities. Each person was observed for between 56 and 92 days to record occurrences of seizures and problem behavior. Results of our descriptive analysis indicated an association between seizures and problem behavior for each participant. For Stan, most problem behavior occurred following absence seizures. For Tom, problem behavior only occurred before tonic-clonic seizures but showed no relation to absence seizures. For Mick, problem behavior began before absence seizures, but no consistent relation was established between problem behavior and tonic-clonic seizures. Findings suggest that seizures and problem behavior may be associated, but these patterns appear to be highly idiosyncratic across individuals. Implications for the potential role of seizures as motivating operations that increase the probability of problem behavior within specific time periods are discussed, and future directions of research are presented. |
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