A descriptive analysis of social consequences following problem behavior.

The social consequences delivered for problem behavior during functional analyses are presumed to represent common sources of reinforcement; Final acceptance however, the extent to which these consequences actually follow problem behavior in natural settings remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether access to attention, escape, or tangible items is frequently observed as a consequence of problem behavior under naturalistic conditions. Twenty‐seven adults who lived in a state residential facility and who exhibited self‐injurious behavior, aggression, or disruption participated. Observers recorded the occurrence of problem behavior by participants as well as a variety of consequences delivered by caregivers. Results indicated that attention was the most common consequence for problem behavior and that aggression was more likely to produce social consequences than were other forms of problem behavior.     

Longitudinal analysis of leisure-item preferences.

Twenty‐two individuals with developmental disabilities participated in two leisure‐item preference assessments, spaced approximately 16 months apart. Results showed (a) an overall increase in item contact across assessments for 13 participants and (b) at least some overlap across assessments in the five most highly ranked items for every participant. These results highlight individual differences in the stability of preference over time and suggest the need for research to identify the determinants of temporal shifts in preference.     

Implicit attenuation of subsequent emotion by cognitive activity

The successful regulation of emotion relies heavily on executive function. Until very recently, however, the specific effects of executive function activity on other processes havereceived relatively little empirical attention.The link between executive function and emotional responses suggests that the activation of executive function may play an important role in the attenuation of emotional responses. We conducted twoexperiments to test the hypothesis that decrements in emotional responses following cognitive task performance might be caused, at least in part, by the activation of executive function.First, we sought to test whetherthe activation of executive function reducedemotional responsesimplicitly, without any volitional effort.Next, we sought to examine the link between prior activation of executivefunction and the attenuation of subsequent emotional responses, by comparing the effects of an executive-function-demanding task with the effects of a task that is equally effortful but does not engage executive function.We discuss our results in the context of the role of executive function in the attenuation of emotion.     

Fading-figure tracing in Williams syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe impairment of visuospatial abilities. Figure-drawing abilities, which are thought to reflect visuospatial abilities, have yet to be fully investigated in WS. The purpose of the present study was to clarify whether drawing abilities differ between WS individuals and typically developing children (TD). We compared the performance of two groups of subjects (WS, mean age 16 years; TD, 5-6 years of age) using a fading-figure tracing task that requires subjects to trace a target figure that is gradually disappearing from a PC screen. Although the TD group exhibited clearly improved performance with long fading time, the WS group did not. Moreover, the TD group exhibited poor performance for figures with more than six angles, regardless of the figure type (e.g. closed or open), whereas the WS group exhibited generally poor performance for figures with more than five angles but relatively preserved performance for open figures. These findings indicate that a combination of decreased visuospatial span associated with incomplete development of visual scanning and disproportionate development of global processing may cause drawing disabilities in WS.     

NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT: A FURTHER EXAMINATION OF SCHEDULE EFFECTS DURING TREATMENT

We conducted 2 studies to determine whether dense and thin NCR schedules exert different influences over behavior and whether these influences change as dense schedules are thinned. In Study 1, we observed that thin as well as dense NCR schedules effectively decreased problem behavior exhibited by 3 individuals. In Study 2, we compared the effects of 2 NCR schedules in multielement designs, one with and the other without an extinction (EXT) component, while both schedules were thinned. Problem behavior remained low as the NCR schedule with EXT was thinned, but either (a) did not decrease initially or (b) subsequently increased as the NCR schedule without EXT was thinned. These results suggest that dense schedules of NCR decrease behavior by altering its motivating operation but that extinction occurs as the NCR schedule is thinned. The benefits and limitations of using dense or thin NCR schedules are discussed.     

A COMPARISON OF TWO PAIRING PROCEDURES TO ESTABLISH PRAISE AS A REINFORCER

Some individuals with intellectual disabilities do not respond to praise as a reinforcer, which may limit their ability to learn. We evaluated 2 procedures (stimulus pairing and response—stimulus pairing), both of which involved pairing previously neutral praise statements with preferred edible items, to determine their usefulness in establishing praise as a reinforcer. Results of Study 1 indicated that stimulus pairing was not effective in conditioning praise as a reinforcer for 3 of 4 subjects; results were inconclusive for the 4th subject. Results of Study 2 indicated that response—stimulus pairing was effective in conditioning praise as a reinforcer for 4 of 8 subjects. After conditioning, praise also increased the occurrence of additional target responses for these 4 subjects.     

Elimination of position-biased responding in individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities

Five individuals with autism or other developmental disabilities participated in paired-stimulus preference assessments during repeated baseline probes. All subjects initially showed a pronounced bias by typically selecting the stimulus placed in either the left or right position. Biased responding for 3 subjects was eliminated when training trials were conducted in which a stimulus of known lesser quality was presented as one of the choices. Reinforcer-quality training was unsuccessful for 2 subjects, as was a condition in which reinforcer magnitude was modified to favor unbiased responding. These subjects' biased responding was eliminated only when a correction procedure (repetition of error trials) was implemented.     

Some determinants of changes in preference over time

Results of longitudinal studies suggest that the stability of preferences varies across individuals, although it is unclear what variables account for these differences. We extended this work by conducting periodic assessments of preference for leisure activities over 3 to 6 months with 10 adults with developmental disabilities. Although previous research has collectively shown that preferences identified via repeated assessment are highly variable, our results showed that preferences were relatively stable for the majority (80%) of participants. In an attempt to identify some environmental determinants of shifts in preference, we provided extended daily access to high-preference items (preference-weakening manipulation) and paired access to low-preference items with social and edible putative reinforcers during brief sessions (preference-strengthening manipulation). Preference assessments continued over the course of these manipulations with 2 participants. Results showed that changes in preference across time could be produced systematically and suggest that naturally occurring changes in establishing operations or conditioning histories contribute to temporal shifts in preference. Implications for preference assessments, reinforcer usage, and planned attempts to change preferences are discussed.     

Establishment of mands following tact training as a function of reinforcer strength

We examined some conditions under which a response acquired as a tact might facilitate the establishment of a mand. We taught 3 participants with developmental disabilities to tact the items ranked highest and lowest in a preference assessment and subsequently tested to see if the responses occurred as mands. All participants manded for the highly preferred item but rarely manded for the nonpreferred item. These results indicate that, although tact and mand functions are different, conditions can be created to facilitate transfer from the former to the latter. Implications for communication training are discussed.