The effects of a high-probability instruction sequence and response-independent reinforcer delivery on child compliance

We compared the effects of a high-probability (high-p) instruction sequence and a fixed-time (FT) schedule of reinforcement on the compliance of 2 typically developing children. A multielement experimental design with a reversal component was implemented according to a multiple baseline across participants arrangement. Both the high-p and FT conditions resulted in increased compliance for both participants during the multielement sessions. These results suggest that it may be possible to increase compliance without a response requirement of the type arranged in the high-p instruction sequence.     

Further evaluation of antecedent interventions on compliance: the effects of rationales to increase compliance among preschoolers

Functional analyses were conducted to identify reinforcers for noncompliance exhibited by 6 young children. Next, the effects of rationales (statements that describe why a child should comply with a caregiver-delivered instruction) were evaluated. In Experiment 1, 3 participants received the rationales immediately after the therapist's instruction. In Experiment 2, 3 additional participants received more practical rationales immediately before the therapist's instruction. The results indicate that rationales were ineffective for all 6 children. A guided compliance procedure increased compliance for 1 child; contingent access to preferred items with or without response cost increased compliance for the other participants. Although levels of problem behavior varied within and across participants, they were often higher in the rationale and guided compliance conditions.     

Effects of reinforcement and response-cost history on instructional control

The present study compared the effects of reinforcement or punishment versus no additional consequences for instruction following on instructional control and subsequent rule-governed insensitivity. In two experiments, adult participants were presented with repeated choices between a short progressive-time schedule and either a fixed time-schedule or a longer progressive-time schedule. In Experiment 1, three groups were given an initially accurate instruction relative to the direct contingency. A control group experienced no additional consequences for compliance with instructions, whereas compliance resulted in additional points for a second group, and noncompliance led to the subtraction of points for a third group. In a subsequent phase, instructions became inaccurate and there were no additional consequences for compliance or noncompliance for any group. Consistent with previous results, rule-governed insensitivity was observed in all participants. Experiment 2 employed the same procedure, except instructions were inaccurate throughout all sessions, and compliance in the subsequent phase resulted in diminishing points per session. Reinforcement for following instructions increased instructional control and subsequent rule-governed insensitivity. This increase was maintained even after the termination of additional consequences, a result that supports theoretical suggestions that a history of reinforcement for complying with instructions and rules is an important factor in rule-governed insensitivity.     

Choices between positive and negative reinforcement during treatment for escape-maintained behavior.

Positive reinforcement was more effective than negative reinforcement in promoting compliance and reducing escape‐maintained problem behavior for a child with autism. Escape extinction was then added while the child was given a choice between positive or negative reinforcement for compliance and the reinforcement schedule was thinned. When the reinforcement requirement reached 10 consecutive tasks, the treatment effects became inconsistent and reinforcer selection shifted from a strong preference for positive reinforcement to an unstable selection pattern.     

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.     

An analysis of modifications to the three-step guided compliance procedure necessary to achieve compliance among preschool children

After a 3‐step guided compliance procedure (vocal prompt, vocal plus model prompt, vocal prompt plus physical guidance) did not increase compliance, we evaluated 2 modifications with 4 preschool children who exhibited noncompliance. The first modification consisted of omission of the model prompt, and the second modification consisted of omitting the model prompt and decreasing the interprompt interval from 10 s to 5 s. Each of the modifications effectively increased compliance for 1 participant. For the remaining 2 participants, neither modification was effective; differential reinforcement in the form of contingent access to a preferred edible item was necessary to increase compliance. Problem behavior varied across participants, but was generally higher during guided compliance conditions and lower during differential reinforcement conditions.     

A multiple-schedule evaluation of immediate and subsequent effects of fixed-time food presentation on automatically maintained mouthing

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the immediate and subsequent effects of fixed-time (FT) food presentations on mouthing. The effects of FT food presentations were analyzed within a three-component multiple schedule in which baseline conditions were implemented during the first and third components and treatment conditions were implemented during the second component. Results indicated that FT food reduced mouthing and that levels of mouthing during post-FT components were reliably lower than pre-FT components. Behavioral mechanisms responsible for treatment effects are discussed.     

Variable-time reinforcement schedules in the treatment of socially maintained problem behavior

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) consists of delivering a reinforcer on a time-based schedule, independent of responding. Studies evaluating the effectiveness of NCR as treatment for problem behavior have used fixed-time (FT) schedules of reinforcement. In this study, the efficacy of NCR with variable-time (VT) schedules was evaluated by comparing the effects of VT and FT reinforcement schedules with 2 individuals who engaged in problem behavior maintained by positive reinforcement. Both FT and VT schedules were effective in reducing problem behavior. These findings suggest that VT schedules can be used to treat problem behavior maintained by social consequences.     

Instructions as discriminative stimuli (2): A within‐subject examination of the effect of differential reinforcement on establishing novel instructional control1

Abstract: Six undergraduates were exposed to a fixed‐ratio schedule with an instruction to respond slowly and to a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate schedule with an instruction to respond rapidly when a white circle was presented on a display monitor. When a yellow circle was presented, however, the subjects were exposed to the fixed‐ratio schedule with the instruction to respond rapidly and to the differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate schedule with the instruction to respond slowly. Following this, a fixed‐interval schedule was in effect during those stimuli and instructions. Under the white circle, response rates were higher with the instruction to respond slowly than with the instruction to respond rapidly during the fixed‐interval schedule. Such control by instructions was not observed under the yellow circle. A previous study examined establishment of novel instructional control by between‐subject comparisons and found that for three of four subjects ( Okouchi, 1999 ). In contrast, the present results demonstrate the instructional control through within‐subject comparisons for all six subjects.     

An analysis of stimuli that influence compliance during the high-probability instruction sequence

When we evaluated variables that influence the effectiveness of the high-probability (high-p) instruction sequence, the sequence was associated with a precipitous decrease in compliance with high-p instructions for 1 participant, thereby precluding continued use of the sequence. We investigated the reasons for this decrease. Stimuli associated with the low-p instruction were systematically added and removed in the context of the high-p instructions, and results suggest that the stimuli associated with the low-p instruction influenced compliance with the high-p instructions.     

THE EFFECTS OF FIXED‐TIME ESCAPE ON INAPPROPRIATE AND APPROPRIATE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR

Few studies have explored the effects of fixed‐time (FT) reinforcement on escape‐maintained behavior of students in a classroom setting. We measured the effects of an FT schedule on the disruptive and appropriate academic behaviors of 2 junior high students in a public school setting. Results demonstrated that FT escape from tasks resulted in a substantial decrease in disruptive behavior and an increase in time engaged in tasks for both participants.     

Exchange schedules in token economies: A preliminary investigation of second‐order schedule effects

Basic research shows that token‐production and exchange‐production schedules in token economies affect each other as second‐order schedules (i.e., the exchange‐production schedule's requirements affect responding toward the token‐production schedule). This relationship has not been investigated with children in academic settings despite the widespread use of token economies in this context. This study compared the effects of fixed‐ratio (FR) and variable‐ratio (VR) exchange‐production schedules of equal ratios (2, 5, and 10) on responding toward an FR 1 token‐production schedule with a child diagnosed with autism. A concurrent chains assessment was also conducted to assess the participant's relative preference for FR and VR exchange‐production schedule arrangements within her typical discrete trial training. Results showed no difference in response rate between the two schedule types. However, the concurrent chains assessment revealed an exclusive preference for the VR arrangement.     

Fixed-time schedule effects as a function of baseline reinforcement rate

Using an arbitrary response, we evaluated fixed-time (FT) schedules that were either similar or dissimilar to a baseline (response-dependent) reinforcement schedule and extinction. Results suggested that both FT schedules and extinction resulted in decreased responding. However, FT schedules were more effective in reducing response rates if the FT reinforcer rate was dissimilar to baseline reinforcer rates. Possible reasons for this difference were evaluated with data analysis methods designed to identify adventitious response-reinforcer relations.     

Improving FASD Children’s Self-Regulation: Piloting Phase 1 of the GoFAR Intervention

ABSTRACT

The initial parent training component of GoFAR, an intervention designed to improve the self-regulation and adaptive living skills of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs), was piloted in a small, randomized clinical trial of 28 participants assigned to either a time-lapsed control group or one of two parent training groups who differed on whether the child’s computerized instruction was congruent or incongruent with the parent instruction. Parental compliance and achievement of therapy goals were indicators of improvement in the child’s self-regulation skills. Children who received computerized instruction consistent with the parent training demonstrated greater self-regulation improvements than those receiving incongruent computerized instruction.     

Instructions as discriminative stimuli

Four undergraduates were exposed to a fixed-ratio schedule under an instruction to respond slowly and to a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate 5-s schedule under an instruction to respond rapidly. Following this, a fixed-interval schedule was in effect under those same two sets of instructions. For 3 of 4 subjects, response rates were higher with the instruction to respond slowly than with the instruction to respond rapidly during the fixed-interval schedule. For the remaining subject, low-rate responding with the instruction to respond rapidly continued during the first 17 reinforcements of the fixed-interval schedule. Such control by instructions was not observed for other subjects exposed only to a fixed-interval schedule, with or without instructions. The results demonstrate that the effect of instructions can be altered by contingencies and suggest that instructions can function as discriminative stimuli.     

The development of ethnic identity and ethnic role taking skills in children from different school settings

The current studies were designed to investigate the influence of variations in type of school setting on the development of role-taking skills and ethnic identity. We were interested in groups of school children in grades 1 to 5 inclusive from three different types of language programs: (1) instruction in the native language (English in this case); (2) total instruction in a second language (French); and (3) partial instruction in a second language (French). All children were native-English speaking, and came from perdominantly middle class families with monolingual English-speaking parents. The children from each program were equated at each grade level on age, and verbal and non-verbal I.Q. It was expected that (1) children in the second language programs would develop identity with their native language reference group later and less consistently than children in the native language programs; because (2) the second language children would identify more with the second language ethnic group; (3) the second language children would be able to understand at an earlier grade level than the native language group the principle of reciprocity in role-taking; and (4) these difference would be more pronounced for the totally than for the partially immersed second language children. The children were required to rate a number of ethnic dolls on a 20 point rating scale according to (1) how much each would be desired as a personal friend, (2) how much each would be desired as a friend for a member of another specific ethnic group, and (3) how similar each doll was to the child. The results indicated general support for hypotheses (1), (2) and (4), particularly among the primary school samples (1, 2), but a lack of support for hypothesis (3). These results demonstrate the influence of socio-cultural factors on the development of ethnic identity and ethnic role-taking skills.     

THE EFFECTS OF BEHAVIORAL SKILLS TRAINING ON CAREGIVER IMPLEMENTATION OF GUIDED COMPLIANCE

The effectiveness of a behavioral skills training package that consisted of modeling, rehearsal, and feedback was evaluated to increase correct implementation of guided compliance by caregivers of 3 children who exhibited noncompliance. Results showed that the training package improved performance of guided compliance. Generalization probes indicated that the skills learned were exhibited in different settings 3 to 6 weeks after training ended.     

The effects of signaling stimulus presentation during noncontingent reinforcement

The effects of signaling the return of items or attention during treatment with noncontingent reinforcement were examined. First, functional analyses showed that the problem behavior exhibited by 2 teenagers with developmental disabilities was sensitive to social positive reinforcement. Next, delivery of the stimulus that maintained problem behavior on a fixed-time (FT) schedule was compared to a condition in which the removal of the stimulus during the same FT schedule was immediately preceded by a statement indicating that the stimulus would be returned and the initiation of a digital timer. Results show that the FT schedule reduced problem behavior, and the addition of an informative statement and a timer further decreased problem behavior.     

Embedding a functional analysis of compliance in small group instruction

Research on adaptations to standard functional analyses for use in classroom settings has increased in recent years. However, few studies have focused on procedural variations specific to assessing noncompliance in the context of academic instruction. In the current study, we trained a special education teacher to embed a functional analysis of compliance in small group instruction. The goal of the functional analysis was to identify an effective reinforcement contingency for compliance for a second grade student with an intellectual disability. Results suggested a combined escape + tangible contingency increased compliance to instructional prompts relative to other conditions. The functional analysis of compliance represents a variation on previous functional analyses of noncompliance with potential to increase ecological and social validity of assessment procedures for classroom settings.     

A comparison of methods for assessing child compliance during behavioral parent training

The purpose of the present study was to compare four methods of computing child compliance to parental instructions. Four noncompliant boys, ages 2.5 to 7 years, participated with their mothers in behavioral parent training. In order to evaluate the training, observers recorded the boys' compliance responses in continuous 10-sec intervals. The boys' rates of compliant responding were then computed by considering behavior (A) only in the first interval following the instruction, (B) in the first three intervals following the instruction, (C) in all intervals while the instruction was ongoing, and (D) only in the final interval of the instructional trial. The findings indicated that the first three methods were correlated strongly with each other, although there were occasional differences in the levels of compliance indicated by these three methods. The implications of the findings and the merits of each of the four methods are discussed.