THE INFLUENCE OF ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES ON THE OCCURRENCE OF BIZARRE SPEECH IN INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA |
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| Authors: | Maranda A. Trahan Jeanne M. Donaldson Matthew K. McNabney SungWoo Kahng |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA;2. Trahan Behavioral Services, Brevard County, FL, USA;3. Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA;4. Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA;5. Department of Behavioral Psychology, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA;6. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA;7. Department of Health Psychology, Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA |
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| Abstract: | We conducted a series of assessments to determine the differential effects of common antecedents and consequences that can influence the occurrence of bizarre speech in three women with moderate to severe dementia. First, a traditional functional analysis was conducted to assess the function of bizarre speech. After results revealed differentially higher levels of bizarre speech during control sessions, an antecedent analysis was conducted. During this second assessment, all consequences were held constant, and only the antecedents (i.e., open‐ended questions, yes/no questions, and comments) were altered. Bizarre speech was differentially higher when open‐ended questions were presented, replicating previous studies. The final assessment conducted was a modified functional analysis to further assess the effects of consequences on bizarre speech. More typical consequences were assessed, including two tests for a positive function (attention in the form of correction and attention in the form of following along) and two tests for a negative function (a break from one question and a break from all questions). Results consistently revealed that antecedents produced greater differentiation in responding than social consequences. These findings provide evidence that behavioral assessments may need to be modified to better capture the relevant environmental variables that influence problem behavior in individuals with dementia. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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