A comparison of procedures for programming noncontingent reinforcement schedules

We compared two methods for programming and thinning noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) schedules during the treatment of self-injurious behavior (SIB). The participants were 3 individuals who had been diagnosed with mental retardation. Results of functional analyses indicated that all participants' SIB was maintained by positive reinforcement (i.e., access to attention or food). Following baseline, the effects of two NCR schedule-thinning procedures were compared in multielement designs. One schedule (fixed increment) was initially set at fixed-time 10-s reinforcer deliveries and was also thinned according to fixed-time intervals. The other schedule (adjusting IRT) was initially determined by participants' baseline interresponse times (IRTs) for SIB and was thinned based on IRTs observed during subsequent treatment sessions. Results indicated that both schedules were effective in initially reducing SIB and in maintaining response suppression as the schedules were thinned.     

A systematic examination of different parameters of presession exposure to tangible stimuli that maintain problem behavior

We examined the effects of three different presession conditions on tangibly maintained problem behavior for 2 students with autism, using individual-participant multielement designs. First, an analogue functional analysis demonstrated that problem behavior was maintained by access to tangible items. Next, topographies of item rejection were identified. Finally, students were exposed to (a) brief access, (b) no access, and (c) satiation to the tangible items prior to tangible sessions. The results demonstrated high levels of problem behavior following the brief-access and no-access presession conditions and low levels of problem behavior following the satiation condition. The findings are discussed in the context of how satiation might best be defined for these sorts of evaluations.     

Evaluating sources of baseline data using dual-criteria and conservative dual-criteria methods: A quantitative analysis

Scheithauer et al. (2020) recently demonstrated that differences in the source of baseline data extracted from a functional analysis (FA) may not affect subsequent clinical decision-making in comparison to a standard baseline. These outcomes warrant additional quantitative examination, as correspondence of visual analysis has sometimes been reported to be unreliable. In the current study, we quantified the occurrence of false positives within a dataset of FA and baseline data using the dual-criteria (DC) and conservative dual-criteria (CDC) methods. Results of this quantitative analysis suggest that false positives were more likely when using FA data (rather than original baseline data) as the initial treatment baseline. However, both sources of baseline data may have acceptably low levels of false positives for practical use. Overall, the findings provide preliminary quantitative support for the conclusion that determinations of effective treatment may be easily obtained using different sources of baseline data.     

A COMPARISON OF NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT AND SENSORY EXTINCTION AS TREATMENTS FOR SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR

We compared the effects of two treatments, noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) and sensory extinction (EXT), on the self-injurious behavior (SIB) exhibited by 3 individuals with developmental disabilities. Results of a functional analysis indicated that their SIB was not maintained by social reinforcement, as indicated by undifferentiated responding across assessment conditions or higher rates of responding in the alone condition. Prior to treatment, leisure probes were conducted to identify highly preferred items for use in the NCR condition, and equipment probes were conducted to identify devices that produced the greatest behavioral suppression for use in the EXT condition. Following baseline, treatment was implemented in a multiple baseline across subjects design, and the effects of NCR and EXT were compared in a multielement format. During NCR sessions, participants had continuous access to a highly preferred item. During EXT sessions, participants wore equipment (gloves or protective sleeves) that seemed to attenuate stimulation directly produced by their SIB, while still allowing the behavior to occur. Results indicated that both procedures were effective in reducing SIB, although NCR was associated with either more rapid or greater overall response suppression.     

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS AND EXTINCTION OF SELF-INJURIOUS ESCAPE BEHAVIOR

Three studies are presented in which environmental correlates of self-injurious behavior were systematically examined and later used as the basis for treatment. In Study 1, 7 developmentally disabled subjects were exposed to a series of conditions designed to identify factors that maintain self-injurious behavior: attention contingent on self-injurious behavior (positive reinforcement), escape from or avoidance of demands contingent on self-injurious behavior (negative reinforcement), alone (automatic reinforcement), and play (control). Results of a multielement design showed that each subject's self-injurious behavior occurred more frequently in the demand condition, suggesting that the behavior served an avoidance or escape function. Six of the 7 subjects participated in Study 2. During educational sessions, “escape extinction” was applied as treatment for their self-injurious behavior in a multiple baseline across subjects design. Results showed noticeable reduction or elimination of self-injurious behavior for each subject and an increase in compliance with instructions in all subjects for whom compliance data were taken. The 7th subject, whose self-injurious behavior during Study 1 occurred in response to medical demands (i.e., physical examinations), participated in Study 3. Treatment was comprised of extinction, as in Study 2, plus reinforcement for tolerance of the examination procedure, and was evaluated in a multiple baseline across settings design. Results showed that the treatment was successful in eliminating self-injurious behavior and that its effects transferred across eight new therapists and three physicians. General implications for the design, interpretation, and uses of assessment studies are discussed.     

DRO contingencies: an analysis of variable-momentary schedules.

We conducted several comparative analyses to determine the relative effectiveness of variable-momentary differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior (VM DRO) schedules. Three individuals who had been diagnosed with mental retardation participated. Results of functional analyses indicated that their self-injurious behavior (SIB) was maintained by social-positive reinforcement. Two individuals participated in a two-stage comparative analysis within multielement and multiple baseline designs. Fixed-interval (FI) and variable-interval (VI) DRO were compared in the first stage; VI DRO and VM DRO were compared in the second. All three schedules effectively reduced the participants' SIB. Treatment for the 3rd individual was conducted in a reversal design to examine the effects of VM DRO when it was implemented in isolation, and results indicated that the procedure was effective in reducing SIB. These findings suggest that VM DRO schedules may represent attractive alternatives to traditional FI schedules because momentary schedules do not require continuous monitoring and may result in higher rates of reinforcement.     

SELF-RECORDING OF ATTENTION VERSUS PRODUCTIVITY

We investigated the relative effects of self-recording of attentive behavior and self-recording of academic productivity with 5 upper elementary-aged special education students in their special education classroom. Following baseline, both self-recording treatments were introduced according to a multielement design. After the multielement phase, we assessed the pupils' performance under a choice condition, faded the overt aspects of the treatment program according to a withdrawal design, and probed maintenance over 5 weeks. Results revealed that both treatments produced clear improvements in arithmetic productivity and attention to task, neither treatment was clearly and consistently superior to the other, pupils preferred the self-recording of attention treatment, the effects were maintained for all pupils, achievement test scores improved, and pupils generally recorded accurately.     

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.     

Indirect Effects of Functional Communication Training on Non-Targeted Disruptive Behavior

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of functional communication training (FCT) on the occurrence of non-targeted disruptive behavior. The 10 participants were preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities who engaged in both destructive (property destruction, aggression, self-injury) and disruptive (hand flapping, spinning in circles, shrill laughter, screaming, crying) behaviors. Only destructive behavior was targeted for the functional analyses and FCT, but data were also collected on disruptive behaviors. All procedures were conducted in the participants’ homes by their mothers with investigator coaching. Phase 1 consisted of conducting a functional analysis within a multielement design. Phase 2 consisted of conducting FCT with demand fading and repeated extinction baselines within a reversal design. Single-case data are provided for 3 participants, and summary data are provided for all 10 participants. Results of phase 1 showed that all participants’ destructive and disruptive behavior was maintained, at least in part, by negative reinforcement. Results of phase 2 showed that both destructive behavior and non-targeted disruptive behavior occurred at lower levels during FCT when compared to the functional analysis demand condition and baseline conditions, suggesting that FCT was effective in decreasing both target destructive behavior and non-targeted disruptive behaviors.     

PROBLEM BEHAVIOR DURING PREFERENCE ASSESSMENTS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS AND PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Preferences of 2 children with developmental disabilities, whose functional analyses indicated that their problem behavior was maintained by access to tangible items, were assessed using three formats (i.e., paired stimulus [PS], multiple‐stimulus without replacement [MSWO], and free operant [FO]). The experimenter administered each format five times and compared levels of problem behavior across formats in a multielement design. Both participants exhibited problem behavior in PS and MSWO formats but not in the FO format. Results are discussed in terms of recommendations for practitioners.     

ARTIFACTUAL EFFECTS OF SENSORY-INTEGRATIVE THERAPY ON SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR

Three individuals who exhibited self-injurious behavior (SIB) were exposed to sensory-integrative therapy. Prior to treatment, a functional analysis baseline was conducted to identify the motivational features of their SIB. One subject's SIB appeared to be an attention-getting response (maintained by positive reinforcement), which varied subsequently as a function of attention being either withheld or provided noncontingently during sensory-integration sessions. The 2nd subject displayed a pattern of responding suggestive of stereotypic SIB (maintained by automatic reinforcement), which paradoxically increased during sensory-integration sessions. The 3rd subject's SIB appeared to function as an escape response (maintained by negative reinforcement), and his behavior during sensory-integration sessions was similar to that observed during baseline sessions in which demands were not present. The SIB of all 3 subjects later was reduced when behavioral interventions were applied. The data presented raise questions about the active components of sensory-integrative therapy and the functional types of SIB for which it might be appropriate.     

THE FUNCTIONS OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR: AN EXPERIMENTAL-EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Data are summarized from 152 single-subject analyses of the reinforcing functions of self-injurious behavior (SIB). Individuals with developmental disabilities referred for assessment and/or treatment over an 11-year period were exposed to a series of conditions in which the effects of antecedent and consequent events on SIB were examined systematically by way of multielement, reversal, or combined designs. Data were collected during approximately 4,000 experimental sessions (1,000 hr), with the length of assessment for individuals ranging from 8 to 66 sessions (M = 26.2) conducted over 2 to 16.5 hr (M = 6.5). Differential or uniformly high responding was observed in 145 (95.4%) of the cases. Social-negative reinforcement (escape from task demands or other sources of aversive stimulation) accounted for 58 cases, which was the largest proportion of the sample (38.1%). Social-positive reinforcement (either attention or access to food or materials) accounted for 40 (26.3%) of the cases, automatic (sensory) reinforcement accounted for 39 (25.7%), and multiple controlling variables accounted for 8 (5.3%). Seven sets of data (4.6%) showed either cyclical or inconsistent patterns of responding that were uninterpretable. Overall results indicated that functional analysis methodologies are extremely effective in identifying the environmental determinants of SIB on an individual basis and, subsequently, in guiding the process of treatment selection. Furthermore, an accumulation of assessment data from such analyses across a large number of individuals provides perhaps the most rigorous approach to an epidemiological study of behavioral function.     

Translating multiple assessment techniques into an intervention selection model for classrooms

Translating current research to school-based clinical practice highlights issues not often encountered in laboratory settings. With the assistance of a consultant, teachers conducted functional analyses, brief multielement treatment comparisons, and controlled treatment evaluations under naturalistic conditions in the classroom. Teachers also provided input on treatment selection. Treatment integrity data collected throughout the study suggested that teachers implemented analyses and treatments with high integrity. The functional analysis outcomes combined with effectiveness and acceptability data led to the selection of interventions that reduced problem behavior in the classrooms for each of 3 children.     

The effects of varying levels of treatment integrity on child compliance during treatment with a three-step prompting procedure

The effects of three levels of treatment integrity (100%, 50%, and 0%) on child compliance were evaluated in the context of the implementation of a three-step prompting procedure. Two typically developing preschool children participated in the study. After baseline data on compliance to one of three common demands were collected, a therapist implemented the three-step prompting procedure at three different integrity levels. One integrity level was associated with each demand. The effects of the integrity levels were examined using multielement designs. The results indicate that compliance varied according to the level of treatment integrity that was in place.     

EXTINCTION OF SELF-INJURIOUS ESCAPE BEHAVIOR WITH AND WITHOUT INSTRUCTIONAL FADING

Three individuals with developmental disabilities participated in a study of the treatment of self-injurious behavior (SIB) maintained by negative reinforcement (escape from educational tasks). Treatment was implemented in a multiple baseline design across subjects, in which two treatments were compared in a multielement format. Both treatment conditions included an escape-extinction component in which SIB no longer produced escape. One of the conditions also included a fading component in which the frequency of instructions was initially reduced to zero and then was gradually faded back in across sessions until the instructional rate matched that of the original baseline. Results indicated that extinction alone reduced SIB to the end-of-treatment criterion in fewer sessions than did extinction plus fading for all 3 subjects. For 2 of the 3 subjects, however, there was an initial increase in the frequency of SIB at the outset of treatment with extinction (an extinction burst) that was not observed when extinction was combined with the fading component.     

REEMERGENCE AND EXTINCTION OF SELF-INJURIOUS ESCAPE BEHAVIOR DURING STIMULUS (INSTRUCTIONAL) FADING

Based on results of a functional analysis indicating that the self-injurious behavior (SIB) of 3 individuals was maintained by negative reinforcement (escape from instructional situations), the effects of stimulus (instructional) fading were evaluated in a multiple baseline design across subjects. The rate of instructions was reduced to zero at the beginning of treatment and was gradually increased (faded in) across sessions as long as SIB remained low. However, if SIB remained high for 10 consecutive sessions, extinction was implemented until SIB decreased, at which point extinction was withdrawn and fading was resumed. Treatment was completed when the rate of instructions was the same as in baseline (two per minute), and SIB remained below 0.5 responses per minute for two consecutive sessions. Results showed that instructional fading (without extinction) virtually eliminated SIB initially, but these effects were not maintained. All 3 subjects required multiple exposures to extinction and over 150 treatment sessions in order to meet the end-of-treatment criteria. Advantages and limitations of fading procedures without an extinction component, as well as extensions of both interventions to other clinical problems, are discussed.     

Differential responding in the presence and absence of discriminative stimuli during multielement functional analyses

We evaluated the extent to which discriminative stimuli (S(D)s) facilitate differential responding during multielement functional analyses. Eight individuals, all diagnosed with mental retardation and referred for assessment and treatment of self-injurious behavior (SIB) or aggression, participated. Functional analyses consisted of four or five assessment conditions alternated in multielement designs. Each condition was initially correlated with a specific therapist and a specific room color (S(D)s), and sessions continued until higher rates of target behaviors were consistently observed under a specific test condition. In a subsequent analysis, the programmed S(D)s were removed (i.e., all conditions were now conducted by the same therapist in the same room), and sessions continued until differential responding was observed or until twice as many sessions were conducted with the S(D)s absent (as opposed to present), whichever came first. Results indicated that the inclusion of programmed S(D)s facilitated discrimination among functional analysis conditions for half of the participants. These results suggest that the inclusion of salient cues may increase either the efficiency of functional analyses or the likelihood of obtaining clear assessment outcomes.