Progressing from brief assessments to extended experimental analyses in the evaluation of aberrant behavior

The role of experimental analyses in guiding treatment is well established. However, not all experimental analyses yield conclusive results. Outcomes may be inconclusive due to time limitations that preclude extended observation and detailed experimental manipulations, or may result from interactions across experimental conditions, multiple control, or other unknown factors. In this study, we describe an assessment sequence that moves through four phases beginning with relatively brief (1 to 2 hr) analyses and culminating in extended analyses that may control for experimental confounding effects (e.g., interaction effects). Data illustrating the model are presented for 20 individuals referred for severe behavior problems including self-injury, aggression, stereotypy, and tantrums. Analyses were considered to be complete only when clear and replicable response patterns emerged. Results showed that clear and replicable response patterns emerged for 85% of the participants.     

The evaluation and treatment of aggression maintained by attention and automatic reinforcement.

In the current investigation, we used direct and indirect methods to assess and treat several topographies of aggression that were hypothesized to have separate operant functions in a young boy with severe mental retardation and pervasive developmental disorder. First, a functional analysis of aggression, using the methods described by Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, and Richman (1982/1994), was conducted and produced inconclusive results. Next, indirect methods were used to develop a second functional analysis, which showed that chin grinding (firmly pressing and grinding his chin against the skin and bones of others) persisted independent of social contingencies and that the other topographies of aggression (e.g., hitting, kicking) were maintained by social positive reinforcement (attention). A treatment designed to decrease aggression maintained by attention—functional communication training with extinction—reduced all forms of aggression except chin grinding. This latter topography of aggression, which we hypothesized was maintained by automatic reinforcement, was reduced when the response-reinforcer relation was interrupted through response blocking and the child was provided with an alternative form of chin stimulation.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND EXTINCTION OF DIFFERENT BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS EXHIBITED BY THE SAME INDIVIDUAL

Specific extinction procedures were matched to the function of two target behaviors displayed by the same individual, with results indicating that the matched extinction procedure suppressed the behavior for which it was designed. One of the target behaviors was exposed to an irrelevant extinction procedure, which produced no beneficial effects. These results support previous research indicating the need to match extinction procedures to the function of problem behavior.     

ON THE REINFORCING EFFECTS OF THE CONTENT OF VERBAL ATTENTION

During a functional analysis, a boy with autism and oppositional defiant disorder displayed destructive behavior that was maintained by attention in the form of verbal reprimands (e.g., “Don't hit me”). In a second analysis, contingent verbal reprimands produced higher rates of the behavior than contingent statements that were unrelated to the target response (e.g., “It is sunny today”), suggesting that some forms of attention were more reinforcing than others. A treatment based on these analyses reduced the behavior to near-zero levels.     

DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT OF ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIOR AND DEMAND FADING IN THE TREATMENT OF ESCAPE-MAINTAINED DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR

The escape-maintained destructive behavior of a boy with autism was reduced during instructional sequences with differential reinforcement of compliance (DRA), escape extinction without physical guidance, and demand fading. The procedure decreased destructive behaviors to near-zero levels and greatly increased compliance.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF CIGARETTE PICA

A series of analyses was conducted to assess and treat the pica of cigarette butts by a young man with mental retardation and autism. First, we demonstrated that pica was maintained in a condition with no social consequences when the available cigarettes contained nicotine but not when the cigarettes contained herbs without nicotine. Second, a choice assessment (Fisher et al., 1992) confirmed that tobacco was preferred over the other components of the cigarette (e.g., paper, filter, etc.). Third, an analogue functional analysis (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994) demonstrated that cigarette pica was maintained independent of social consequences. Fourth, a treatment designed to interrupt the hypothesized response—reinforcer relationship reduced consumption of cigarettes to zero. Finally, because cigarette pica occurred primarily when the individual was alone or under minimal supervision, a procedure based on stimulus control was developed to improve the effectiveness of the intervention in these situations.     

Effects of idiosyncratic stimulus variables on functional analysis outcomes.

As the methods for the functional analysis of problem behavior have continued to develop, there has been a greater focus on the specificity of controlling variables, both antecedents and consequences. Accelerating research interest in the role of antecedents reveals that a large array of stimulus variables can influence the rate of problem behavior. Indeed, the variety of these stimuli is so great that it is sometimes possible to overlook specific stimulus variables during initial assessment. The present study shows that a failure to identify these very specific (idiosyncratic) stimulus variables is serious because their presence can systematically alter the outcomes of functional analyses that are designed to assess the motivation of problem behavior. Guidelines are therefore discussed concerning when to suspect that idiosyncratic stimuli might be acting to influence assessment data, thereby promoting a search for additional stimulus variables whose identification can aid in improving the design of functional analysis conditions.     

THE EFFECTS OF SEVERE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN ON THE TEACHING BEHAVIOR OF ADULTS

Applied behavior analysts have focused on how adults can influence the problem behavior of children using a variety of behavior modification strategies. A related question, virtually unexplored, is how the behavior problems of children influence adults. This child-effects concept was explored empirically in a study involving 12 adults who were asked to teach four pairs of children in which one member of the pair exhibited problem behavior and the other typically did not. Results demonstrated that problem children displayed tantrums, aggression, and self-injury contingent on adult instructional attempts but not at other times, whereas nonproblem children showed little or no problem behavior at any time. Importantly, from a child-effects perspective, adults engaged in teaching activities with nonproblem children more often than with problem children. Also, when an adult worked with a problem child, the breadth of instruction was more limited and typically involved those tasks associated with lower rates of behavior problems. The implications of these results are discussed with respect to theories of escape behavior, current assessment practices, and intervention issues related to maintenance. The existence of child effects suggests that problem behavior may be better understood when it is conceptualized as involving a process of reciprocal influence between adult and child.     

ON THE RELATION OF MANDS AND THE FUNCTION OF DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR

When standard analogue functional analysis procedures produce inconclusive results in children with conversational speech, the child's mands may help to identify the function of destructive behavior. In the current investigation, functional analyses conducted with 2 children who exhibited self-injury, aggression, and property destruction were undifferentiated across conditions. Based on informal observations and school and parental report, an analysis was conducted using mands to help determine the function of the destructive behavior. Using a multielement design, the therapist's compliance with the child's mands occurred either on a fixed-ratio (FR) 1 schedule or contingent on destructive behavior. Destructive behavior occurred at high and consistent levels when reinforcement of mands was contingent on destructive behavior and at near-zero levels when reinforcement of mands occurred on the FR 1 schedule. Based on these results, a second analysis was conducted in which compliance to mands occurred only when the child appropriately requested it (i.e., functional communication training plus extinction) and, for 1 child, compliance with mands was terminated contingent upon destructive behavior (i.e., functional communication training plus response cost). For both children, the rates of destructive behavior decreased markedly. The results suggest that assessing the child's mands may be useful in decreasing destructive behavior when a functional analysis is inconclusive.     

REDUCTION OF SEVERE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN THE COMMUNITY USING A MULTICOMPONENT TREATMENT APPROACH

Problem behavior often prevents community integration of people with developmental disabilities. Therefore, we evaluated a multicomponent approach for remediating problem behavior in public community settings (specifically, supermarkets). We selected treatments based on hypotheses about the variables controlling the problem behavior (hypothesis-driven model). The multicomponent intervention included choice making, embedding, functional communication training, building tolerance for delay of reinforcement, and presenting discriminative stimuli for nonproblem behavior. Treatment progress was monitored using measures of latency and task completion rather than traditional measures of frequency and time sampling. Results showed substantial increases in task completion and duration of time spent in supermarkets without problem behavior. Outcomes were socially validated by group-home staff and cashiers. We discuss how the intervention approach taken can resolve some of the issues involved in assessing, measuring, and treating problem behavior in the community.     

ESTABLISHING DISCRIMINATIVE CONTROL OF RESPONDING USING FUNCTIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE REINFORCERS DURING FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING

Functional communication training (FCT) is a popular treatment for problem behaviors, but its effectiveness may be compromised when the client emits the target communication response and reinforcement is either delayed or denied. In the current investigation, we trained 2 individuals to emit different communication responses to request (a) the reinforcer for destructive behavior in a given situation (e.g., contingent attention in the attention condition of a functional analysis) and (b) an alternative reinforcer (e.g., toys in the attention condition of a functional analysis). Next, we taught the participants to request each reinforcer in the presence of a different discriminative stimulus (S^D). Then, we evaluated the effects of differential reinforcement of communication (DRC) using the functional and alternative reinforcers and correlated S^Ds, with and without extinction of destructive behavior. During all applications, DRC (in combination with S^Ds that signaled available reinforcers) rapidly reduced destructive behavior to low levels regardless of whether the functional reinforcer or an alternative reinforcer was available or whether reinforcement for destructive behavior was discontinued (i.e., extinction).