Differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL) to reduce dysfunctional social behaviors of a head injured man

Differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL) is a technique in which a positive reinforcer is delivered at the end of a specific interval if a target behavior has occurred at a criterion rate. Traditionally, it has been used in educational settings to manage classroom behaviors. Recently, therapists have begun to use DRL to reduce the rates of a variety of behaviors in non-educational settings. In this study, DRL was part of a behavioral intervention to reduce dysfunctional verbal and physical behaviors of a head-injured young man. The complete intervention program included DRL, changing criteria, and token reinforcement. Over a period of 15 weeks, the intervention resulted in reductions in behaviors in both categories from high rates to near-zero rates.     

EFFECTS OF SPACED RESPONDING DRL ON THE STEREOTYPED BEHAVIOR OF PROFOUNDLY RETARDED PERSONS

Stereotypic responding and social behaviors of three profoundly retarded children were measured before and during application of a DRL contingency for stereotypic responding. A variant of the standard DRL procedure, spaced responding DRL, was used, in which reinforcement is delivered following a response if that response has been separated from the previous response by at least a fixed minimum time interval. Three children were treated by using a reversal design. Results showed that: (a) during baseline sessions, the children engaged in high rates of stereotypic responding and very low rates of appropriate social behavior; and (b) during DRL sessions, appropriate behavior increased markedly as stereotypic responding was reduced. The data suggest that spaced responding DRL may be effective in increasing appropriate social behavior as well as in reducing stereotypic responding.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF INAPPROPRIATE VERBAL BEHAVIOR

The present study examined the possible function of inappropriate verbal behavior of an adult man who had been diagnosed with both mental retardation and psychosis. Results of a functional analysis indicated that inappropriate verbal utterances were maintained by attention. An intervention consisting of the differential reinforcement of appropriate verbal behavior effectively reduced the inappropriate behavior.     

EFFECTS OF REINFORCEMENT FOR ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIOR DURING PUNISHMENT OF SELF-INJURY

A number of variables influence the effectiveness of punishment and may determine the extent to which less intrusive forms of punishment may be used as alternatives to more intrusive interventions. For example, it has been suggested that response suppression during punishment may be facilitated if reinforcement is concurrently available for an alternative response. However, results of basic research demonstrating this finding have not been replicated with interventions more commonly prescribed as treatments for problem behavior. We evaluated the effects of relatively benign punishment procedures (reprimands or brief manual restraint) on the self-injurious behavior of 4 individuals who had been diagnosed with mental retardation, when access to reinforcement for alternative behavior (manipulation of leisure materials) was and was not available. In all cases, punishment produced greater response suppression when reinforcement for an alternative response was available.     

Decreasing classroom misbehavior through the use of DRL schedules of reinforcement

In three studies, reinforcing low rates of responding reduced inappropriate behaviors. In the first study, the talking-out behavior of one TMR student was reduced when the teacher allowed 5 min of free time for a talk-out rate less than 0.06 per minute. In a second study, the talking-out behavior of an entire TMR class was reduced when reinforcement was delivered for a response rate less than 0.10 per minute. In a third study, successively decreasing DRL limits were used to reduce off-task verbalizations of an entire high school business class. In each case, the DRL procedure proved manageable for the teacher and successful in reducing misbehavior.     

Effects of DRL and DRL combined with response cost on perseverative verbal behavior of an adult with mental retardation and obsessive compulsive disorder

Although there has been increased interest in the identification and diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in people who have developmental disabilities, clinical research has been reported infrequently. The present single‐case study evaluated the effects from systematic behavioral intervention with a 26‐year‐old man who had moderate mental retardation, OCD, and exhibited perseverative verbalizations. Verbalizations were reduced when the man gained access to preferred activities contingent upon a low response frequency (DRL: differential reinforcement of low‐rate responding). The behavior was reduced further when a DRL contingency was implemented in the form of a response cost procedure. The implications of these findings for the treatment of OCD in people with developmental disabilities are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DIFFERENTIALLY REINFORCING LOW RATES OF MISBEHAVIOR WITH NORMAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN1

Effective nonpunitive procedures for reducing counterproductive classroom behaviors are of potential benefit to both students and teachers. A recent strategy for dealing with this class of problem behaviors involves the reinforcement of acceptably low levels of such behavior. The laboratory version of this procedure, called differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (or DRL), provides for a reinforcer to be delivered contingent upon a response that is separated from the last preceding response by a minimum amount of time. To make this procedure more amenable to classroom use, the present authors have modified it so that a reinforcer is delivered if fewer than a specified number of responses occur within a preset time interval (Deitz and Repp, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1973, 6 , 457–463). Previous studies using this procedure have found it effective in reducing and maintaining low rates of targeted behaviors. However, these effects have been demonstrated with groups of subjects and/or individuals from dependent populations. The present study investigated use of this modified DRL procedure with individual students in normal elementary classrooms. In the first of three studies, “talk-outs” of an 11-yr-old fifth-grade male were reduced when nonexchangeable gold stars were made contingent on two or fewer responses per session. During baseline sessions, an average of 4.45 talkouts were observed per 45-min session. Average responding subsequently fell to 1.83 when the modified DRL contingency was applied, increased to 7.60 during a reversal phase, and dropped again to an average of 1.20 when the contingency was reapplied. In the second study, out-of-seat behavior of a 12-yr-old sixth-grade female was reduced when gold stars were made contingent on two or fewer responses per 45-min class period. Baseline responding averaged 6.10 responses per session. When the contingency was applied, average responding fell to 0.16. During the reversal period, responding increased to an average of 6.00 and fell again, after the contingency was re-introduced to an average of 0.40. In the third study, a reduction in both talking-out and out-of-seat behaviors of another 11-yr-old fifth-grade male was demonstrated with a multiple-baseline design. Using different lengths of baselines, gold stars were made contingent first on a low rate of out-of-seat behavior, and then on a low rate of talk-outs. Out-of-seat responding fell from a baseline average of 7.50 to a treatment average of 1.14. Talk-outs went from a baseline average of 4.66 to a treatment average of 1.14. In all three studies, the modified DRL procedure proved effective with the children and was manageable by the classroom teacher. For the students, nonexchangeable conditioned reinforcers (stars) were sufficient to maintain lowered rates of inappropriate behavior with the modified DRL schedule; there was no need for an elaborate token economy, a process that in many cases may be only a form of behavioral “overkill”. As in other studies investigating DRL schedules, students were not informed of their accumulation of responses; the differential effects of providing or withholding this feedback need to be investigated. Overall, these studies add single-subject replication with normal children to the literature on modified DRL procedures.     

SOCIAL VALIDATION OF COMPONENT BEHAVIORS OF FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS,ACCEPTING CRITICISM,AND NEGOTIATING

This study evaluated whether behaviors often taught as part of social skills training are judged favorably by others. Community judges evaluated the performances of people in various situations requiring one of three social skills: following instructions, accepting criticism, and negotiating to resolve conflicts. These skills were displayed in videotaped scenes by actors with and without mental retardation who acted out roles that had different types of authority relationships, and when different components or clusters of behavior (nonverbal, specific verbal, or general verbal behaviors) were performed well or poorly. The highest ratings by judges were of videotaped scenes that depicted correct use of all behaviors, regardless of which skill was being examined, whether or not the actor had mental retardation, or what the relationship was between the two actors. The lowest ratings were of videotaped scenes that depicted poor performance of all behaviors, and intermediate ratings were obtained when only some of the behaviors were performed poorly. These results, as well as the verbal responses of judges to questions, indicated that the different behaviors commonly used in teaching the skills of following instructions, accepting criticism, and negotiating are relevant to judgment of social performance, and are likely to be reinforced and maintained by social contingencies.     

Effects of a verbal warning and overcorrection on stereotyped and appropriate behaviors

In Experiment I, the effects of a verbal warning, such as is used in Overcorrection, delivered contingently on the stereotyped mouthing behavior of two autistic/retarded children were examined. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used. The results indicated that the mouthing of one child was reduced to a nearzero level and mouthing of the second child was moderately reduced. Appropriate toy play and inappropriate object manipulation failed to show systematic changes in occurrence when mouthing was decelerated. In Experiment II, the same subjects and experimental design were used to assess the effects of a positive practice Overcorrection procedure delivered contingent on mouthing behavior. Overcorrection reduced the mouthing of both subjects. There were no systematic changes in inappropriate object manipulation but one subject did demonstrate an increased occurrence of appropriate toy play. In addition, this subject often engaged in aggressive/escape behaviors during Overcorrection, suggesting that the procedure was aversive to him.     

Functional analysis and treatment of verbal perseverations displayed by an adult with autism

The function of perseverative speech for an adult man who had been diagnosed with autism and mental retardation was examined. Results showed that verbal perseverations were maintained by social attention. An intervention consisting of differential reinforcement of appropriate verbal responses and extinction of perseverative verbal responding was effective in decreasing verbal perseverations.     

Use of a token economy to eliminate excessive inappropriate social behavior in an adult with developmental disabilities

Adults with developmental disabilities frequently have both deficits in appropriate social skills and excesses in inappropriate social behavior (Matson, LeBlanc, & Weinheimer, 1999). Typically, published treatment studies have focused on social skills training procedures that teach and promote the use of new social behaviors. However, only a few studies have focused on management of existing social behaviors that are problematic because they occur excessively or in an inappropriate context (Wright, Herzog, & Seymour, 1992). The current study focuses on management of three types of inappropriate social behavior in a 26‐year‐old male with moderate mental retardation: inappropriate social interactions, inappropriate sexual behavior, and verbal aggression. A token economy with response cost procedure was implemented using a DRO interval as the basis for earning tokens. Using a multiple‐baseline design across behaviors, each of the three types of inappropriate social behavior was successfully treated. After demonstrating the success of the procedure, the DRO interval was increased while maintaining the reductions in inappropriate social behaviors. Appropriate behaviors such as initiating conversation, shaking hands, etc maintained throughout the intervention. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of methylphenidate on a functional analysis of disruptive behavior: a replication and extension

In the present investigation, a functional analysis of the disruptive behavior of a 18-year-old man who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and moderate mental retardation was conducted, both when he was taking methylphenidate and when he was not taking the medication. The results of this functional analysis demonstrated that the participant's disruptive behaviors were reinforced by access to attention only when he was not taking methylphenidate.     

Conditioned suppression or facilitation as a function of the behavioral baseline

Rats were exposed to a multiple schedule of reinforcement. During one component, a bar-press was followed by reinforcement only if it occurred between 15 and 20 sec after the previous response. This differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) schedule produced a typical slow rate of responding. During the other component, reinforcement followed the first response to be emitted during limited periods of time which occurred at fixed intervals. These fixed-interval schedules with a limited hold produced higher response rates, described as `interval' or `ratio-like' behavior. Responding during the DRL component increased in frequency during a tone which ended with an unavoidable shock of low intensity, but decreased during the tone when the shock intensity was raised. The `interval' and `ratio-like' responding decreased in frequency during the tone at all shock intensities. Initial acceleration of the DRL responding appeared to be due to adventitious punishment of collateral behavior which was observed between the bar-presses. The more severe conditioned suppression during the fixed-interval components might be the result of the lower probability of reinforcement after any single response.     

A METHODOLOGY FOR DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN EXTINCTION AND PUNISHMENT EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH RESPONSE BLOCKING

We present one method for distinguishing between extinction and punishment effects. The proportion of responses that produced a consequence (blocking) was varied while hand mouthing was treated in a man diagnosed with profound mental retardation. Response patterns across the schedule changes suggested that the blocking procedure functioned as a punishing event.     

RECREATING THE SCENE: AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO PROVIDE DELAYED PUNISHMENT FOR INAPPROPRIATE MOTOR BEHAVIOR

A mediated punishment procedure that involved recreating a behavioral sequence by guiding the subject through the behavior in the situation in which it occurred was used to suppress several severe problem behaviors in two developmentally delayed children. The mediational procedure was first used with a 4-year-old autistic boy for biting and then for foot stomping. Next the procedure was used for stealing and hoarding behavior with a multiply handicapped 17-year-old girl. Results indicated that the procedure was effective and produced relatively rapid results. One advantage of the procedure is that it provides an opportunity for trained personnel to apply restrictive procedures to low frequency behavior that occurs in their absence rather than relying on less qualified staff to implement the procedure immediately after the behavior occurs.     

A comparison of multiple reinforcer assessments to identify the function of maladaptive behavior

Functional analysis results indicated that maladaptive behaviors displayed by a 25-year-old man with profound mental retardation were maintained by attention from caregivers and possibly, to a lesser degree, by access to tangible items. A concurrent-schedules procedure was then used to study the relative reinforcing value for maladaptive behavior of attention versus tangible items. Results of the concurrent-schedules assessment and subsequent functional communication training indicated that preference for attention versus access to a tangible object varied.     

Multiple reinforcement contingencies to reduce aggression,self-injury and dysfunctional verbal behaviors in an adult who is sensory impaired

Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL) have been effective techniques in reducing maladaptive behaviors in therapeutic settings. Reported studies of these reinforcement-based procedures indicate that they are usually implemented in isolation, targeting only a single behavior or class of behaviors. In this study, multiple DRO and DRL contingencies were utilized concurrently in reducing two distinct classes of behaviors with a 26 year-old blind man with moderate retardation. One class of behaviors included socially inappropriate verbalizations, while the other included aggressive, self-injurious and environmentally destructive behaviors. Distinct contingencies were established according to the functions of the targeted behaviors and their severity and separate schedules of reinforcement were derived from baseline frequencies. Over a period of 20 months, the differential reinforcement interventions resulted in rapid reduction of behaviors in both classes to near-zero rates and frequencies were maintained at this low level while contingency schedules were systematically lengthened. Collateral effects are discussed including performance in functional academics and participation in community integration activities.     

EFFECTS OF REINFORCEMENT CHOICE ON TASK RESPONDING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

The effects of reinforcement choice on task performance were examined with 6 individuals who had been diagnosed with severe to profound mental retardation. Five highly preferred items were identified for each participant via stimulus preference assessments. Participants then were exposed to choice and no-choice conditions that were alternated within reversal and multielement designs. During choice sessions, participants were permitted to select between two preferred stimuli contingent on responding. During no-choice sessions, the therapist delivered a single item contingent on responding. Preference for the stimuli was held constant across conditions by yoking the items delivered during no-choice sessions to those selected during the immediately preceding choice sessions. All participants exhibited similar rates of responding across choice and no-choice conditions. These findings indicate that for individuals with severe disabilities, access to choice may not improve task performance when highly preferred items are already incorporated into instructional programs.     

Functional Analysis and Treatment of Mealtime Problem Behavior for a Person with Developmental Disabilities

We conducted a functional analysis of problem behaviors (spitting and whining) during meals and tested an intervention based on that analysis. The participant was a 13-year-old young woman with severe mental retardation and cerebral palsy. She ate all food presented to her, and the hypotheses were tested that the problem behaviors were maintained either by contingent access to trainer attention or the pace of eating. An attention analysis examined the relationship between problem behavior and trainer attention during the meal. The effect of attention following problem behavior versus ignoring was inconclusive. An analysis of the effects of teacher paced eating, student paced eating (reinforce spoon grasping) and food presented for problem behavior was conducted next. Problem behavior rates were highest when access to food was made contingent on the performance of problem behavior and lowest when spoon grasping resulted in a bite of food. Following analysis, an intervention was designed to reduce the frequency of targeted problem behaviors during mealtime. Reinforcing spoon grasping and a 10s removal of food following problem behavior dramatically reduced spitting and whining during meals. The study provides a demonstration of an extended functional analysis and treatment of a complex behavior pattern.