Association for Behavior Analysis International

Imitation is a prerequisite skill which is often necessary to prompt and teach more complex behaviors. The goals of the current study were to (a) teach a 5 year-old child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) the prerequisite skill of imitation; (b) teach fine motor, gross motor, and object targets across structured and unstructured teaching environments simultaneously; and (c) replicate the teaching model of Striefel (1974) using a most-to-least prompting hierarchy. The components of Striefels protocol were replicated: assessing and teaching prerequisite skills for imitation, selecting training targets, presenting the predetermined targets, choosing the order in which targeted will be trained, and training the chosen targets. In addition, two sets of generalization probes were presented to determine if the imitation skill had generalized to nontrained targets. This study was completed within a multielement design between trained targets and generalization probes. Data were collected on correct responding per trial and mastery criteria were 80% correct responding. Results demonstrated that the training program was effective in teaching the trained imitation targets (n=84) when compared to untrained targets (n=30). After training targets to mastery, the child began engaging in the nontrained targets across all types of targets and across teaching environments.

Individuals who engage in escape-maintained problem behavior may find specific aspects of demands aversive, such as the type of feedback given. Over the years several procedural modifications within functional analyses have been described to best capture problem behavior during demands (Beavers et al., 2013; Hagopian et al., 2013). The current study explored an assessment to determine if corrective feedback was the aversive factor maintaining problem behavior. Two individuals aged 7 and 12-years-old, admitted to an inpatient unit for the assessment and treatment of severe aggressive behavior, participated in this study. Error correction and no error correction conditions were evaluated in either a multi-element or reversal design. In both demand conditions, a subjective task (i.e., folding clothes, sweeping) was selected to minimize teaching inaccuracy and 30 s of escape was provided for problem behavior. During error correction sessions, regardless of whether the response was accurate, the participants were told that a mistake was made (i.e., nice try, but fold it this way). During the no correction condition, only verbal prompts were delivered. Reliability data were collected for 43% of sessions and interobserver agreement averaged 99%. For both participants, problem behavior was observed when corrective feedback was delivered. Treatment implications will be discussed.

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) may exhibit noncompliance or avoidance behaviors in the presence of specific events or stimuli. The occurrence of problem behavior may impact completion of health-related tasks, such as brushing teeth, haircuts, clipping nails, and wearing glasses or hearing aids. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate progressively more intrusive interventions to increase passive compliance during health-related tasks. Levels of problem behavior and passive compliance were measured during noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), NCR with escape extinction, and differential negative reinforcement of other behavior (DNRO). NCR resulted in decreased problem behavior and increased passive compliance during toothbrushing compared to baseline, but not to clinically relevant levels. NCR with escape extinction resulted in increased problem behavior and similar levels of passive compliance. Next, the use of DNRO will be evaluated to increase passive compliance during toothbrushing. Implications of results for practitioners will be discussed.

Restrictive and repetitive behavior (RRB) is a core feature of Autism Spectrum Disorder, which can interfere with functioning across several contexts. The current study evaluated the occurrence of RRB across academic and leisure contexts in eight individuals admitted to Inpatient-Neurobehavioral Unit (IP-NBU) of the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Thirty minutes of each context were video-recorded and scored by trained observers. In 75% of cases, RRB was most likely to occur in the leisure context when the individual had physical contact with a toy (mean= 90.93%). Of those cases with high rates of RRB during toy contact, 50% demonstrated a decrease RRB, although still elevated, once engaging with the item. In the academic context, three out of eight individuals engaged in high levels (>50%) of RRB during demand presentation, and 75% of cases engaged in higher levels of RRB during demand presentation compared to their mean RRB during academics. In 25% of cases, high levels of compliance (mean=84.46) were observed despite elevated rates of RRB (mean=66.4) during the demand presentation. These data demonstrate the variability of restricted and repetitive behavior across leisure and academic contexts, in addition to the ability of toy engagement and academic demand presentation to compete with such behavior.

Functional Communication Training (FCT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for problem behavior engaged in by individuals with developmental disabilities by teaching them to make a functionally equivalent communicative response (Carr & Durand, 1985). However, FCT is often not a practical treatment for long-term use by families if the individual requests reinforcement at a high rate. Hanley et al. 2001 demonstrated that multiple schedules effectually thinned schedules of reinforcement while maintaining low rates of disruptive behavior. The current study examined the use of multiple schedules as a schedule thinning methodology for two participants diagnosed with autism who engaged in severe disruptive behaviors. For both participants, a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) was completed via interview or functional analysis and positive reinforcement was identified as maintaining disruptive behaviors. Subsequent to the FBA, FCT was evaluated using an ABAB design. Following replication of the treatment effects, a multiple schedules arrangement was used to thin the schedule of reinforcement from 10 seconds to 180 and 200s respectively while maintaining low rates of disruptive behavior. These results partially replicate previous research on methods to thin reinforcement schedules following FCT to make the treatment implementation practical for care providers

The purpose of the current investigation was to evaluate one 6-year-olds preference for dimensions of reinforcement to inform a token economy. Inter-observer agreement was above 80%. A functional analysis showed noncompliance was maintained by negative reinforcement. During Experiment 1, conducted within a concurrent schedules design, a paired stimulus preference assessment for rate, immediacy, quality, and magnitude of reinforcement occurred. Results showed the participant most preferred a high rate of token delivery and high-quality reinforcement. In Experiment 2, conducted within an ABAB reversal design, the more-preferred token economy was compared against a less-preferred token economy. The more-preferred token economy delivered tokens according to a high rate of reinforcement to earn a high-quality reinforcer for 2 min (low magnitude) after a 5-min delay (delayed reinforcement) The less-preferred token economy delivered tokens according to a lower rate of reinforcement to earn a lower-quality reinforcer for 6 min (high magnitude) immediately after finishing work (immediate reinforcement). Results showed elevated levels of noncompliance when the less-preferred token economy was implemented. Near zero levels of problem behavior occurred when the more-preferred token economy was implemented. Task completion was higher for the more-preferred token economy. Results will be discussed to assist practitioners when developing token economies.