Association for Behavior Analysis International

In their seminal article, Stokes and Baer (1977) called for purposeful generalization programming as part of behavior-analytic treatment. They asserted that generalization should be considered an active learning process in itself, rather than a passive phenomenon that occurs as a by-product of another behavior-change process. Despite this call, purposeful programming for generalization of treatment outcomes remains limited. Even more alarming, generalization programming within the treatment of severe challenging behavior is often overlooked. Given the significant and detrimental impact that severe challenging behavior can have on an individual, their family, and society, it is imperative that practitioners attempt to incorporate functional and relevant treatment components. The purpose of this symposium is to disseminate guidance on methodologies to promote generalization within the treatment of severe challenging behavior. Topics covered will include a review of recent generalization literature, the use of multiple schedules to promote generalization, and the use of parent-based interventions to further support generalization of their child’s treatment gains.

Participants should have a basic understanding of generalization as well as its common methods ofprogramming and evaluation. Participants should have some familiarity with functional analysis and function-based treatment. Participants would also benefit from a basic understanding of functional communication training and signaled availability.

Using a consecutive controlled case series design (Hagopian, 2020), we evaluated rates of functional communication responses during a multiple schedule arrangement when schedule thinning criteria were based on rates of challenging behaviors. Multiple schedules are often used in conjunction with teaching a functional communication response. A common issue that arises once the communication response is established is that the individual continues to engage in the response during times in which the reinforcer is unavailable (Kuhn et al., 2010). To address this concern and to make treatment more practical, clinicians often use a multiple schedule arrangement to facilitate systematic schedule thinning. For this study, we reviewed the treatment data from 18 individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in an intensive outpatient clinic. Rates of functional communication responses were evaluated during signaled available and unavailable reinforcement within a multiple schedule arrangement when schedule thinning criteria were based on rates of challenging behavior.

Parent-based interventions address a variety of challenging behaviors by focusing treatment on the parent’s behavior as the change agent for their child’s behavior. For example, Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based intervention designed to reduce challenging behaviors in young children by improving parent-child interactions with healthy communication and effective and safe disciplinary techniques (Funderburk & Eyberg, 2011). Other parent focused interventions use a cognitive behavioral and psychoeducational approach to provide families with support in reducing accommodating behaviors (i.e., verbal reassurance, altering routines, honoring specific requests) that often perpetuate their child’s challenging behaviors associated with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behaviors (Lebowitz et el., 2019). Similarly, parent responses to severe problem behavior (SPB; i.e., aggression, self-injury, disruptions, and property destruction) may also be considered a form of accommodation (Strohmeier et al., 2020) since the responses often exacerbate and maintain (i.e., reinforce) the SPB. Therefore, parent-based interventions aimed at reducing and replacing common responses that reinforce severe problem behavior (e.g., access to tangibles, attention, and escape from demands) may be effective at producing collateral changes in child SPB. This study examines the effects of parent-based interventions for two children who exhibit SPB.