Jennifer J. McComas

Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior Increases Resistance to Extinction: Clinical Demonstration, Animal Modeling, and Clinical Test of One Solution

Basic research with pigeons on behavioral momentum suggests that differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) can increase the resistance of target behavior to change. This finding suggests that clinical applications of DRA may inadvertently increase the persistence of target behavior even as it decreases its frequency. We conducted three coordinated experiments to test whether DRA has persistence-strengthening effects on clinically significant target behavior and then tested the effectiveness of a possible solution to this problem in both a nonhuman and clinical study. Experiment 1 compared resistance to extinction following baseline rates of reinforcement versus higher DRA rates of reinforcement in a clinical study. Resistance to extinction was substantially greater following DRA. Experiment 2 tested a rat model of a possible solution to this problem. Training an alternative response in a context without reinforcement of the target response circumvented the persistence-strengthening effects of DRA. Experiment 3 translated the rat model into a novel clinical application of DRA. Training an alternative response with DRA in a separate context resulted in lower resistance to extinction than employing DRA in the context correlated with reinforcement of target behavior. The value of coordinated bidirectional translational research is discussed.

Responding to Rule Violations or Rule Following: A Comparison of Two Versions of the Good Behavior Game with Kindergarten Students.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differential effects of 2 versions of the Good Behavior Game (Barrish, Saunders, & Wolf, 1969), allocating teacher attention to rule violations (GBG-response cost) and to rule following (GBG-reinforcement), on student and teacher behavior. The participants were 6 kindergarten students who were nominated as the 3 most disruptive students in each classroom. The study was conducted using single-case A/B/A/C/B/C reversal design with each teacher randomly assigned to either GBG-response cost or GBG-reinforcement condition for implementation in the first B phase. Results indicated that both versions were effective at reducing rule violations and that GBG-reinforcement consistently resulted in either comparable or lower levels of rule violations across classrooms and students. In addition, GBG-reinforcement was preferred by the teachers as a better fit to their classrooms. The implications of the findings to teachers and school psychologists in classroom settings are discussed.

Brief experimental analysis of early reading interventions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how brief experimental analyses (BEAs) could be used to identify effective interventions for Kindergartners (2 girls and 2 boys, 5 years and 7-10 months old) with low performance and/or growth slope in letter sound fluency (LSF). Interventions were tested within a multielement design with brief mini-reversals until an intervention yielding at least 20% improvement ona specific subskill measure or a curriculum-based measure of LSF was identified. BEA-identified interventions were implemented one-on-one for 5 to 9 weeks. A multiple-baseline design across participants showed large intervention effects (average adjusted d=2.4) on general outcome measures, supporting treatment validity of BEAs. Findings extend the BEA literature to younger participants, early reading interventions, and early reading measures.

Use of a concurrent operants paradigm to evaluate positive reinforcers during treatment of food refusal

The authors evaluated the responsiveness of 4 preschool-aged children to positive reinforcers within a concurrent operants paradigm during mealtimes. The children were presented with two identical, concurrently available sets of food. Each set differed in quantity and quality of positive reinforcement paired with acceptance of each bite of food or in the number of bites of food required to obtain positive reinforcement. Experiment 1 evaluated 1 child’s responsiveness to positive reinforcement while permitting escape from bite offers. Experiment 2 evaluated 2 children’s responsiveness to positive reinforcement when escape extinction occurred. Results from these experiments suggested that the children were responsive to positive reinforcers and chose more often the bites paired with the greater quantity and/or quality of reinforcement. Experiment 3 evaluated 1 child’s responsiveness to positive reinforcement both without and with escape extinction. Results suggested that positive reinforcement affected choice behavior and that escape extinction affected amount of food consumed.

Teaching an individual with severe intellectual delay to request assistance conditionally

The purpose of this study was to evaluate intervention procedures to teach conditional use of a communicative request for assistance and independent task performance. A 40‐year‐old man with autism and severe mental retardation with a history of escape‐related problems was taught to use a graphic symbol to request assistance and to engage independently in a vocational assembly task. A multiple‐probe design across each of three components of the assembly task was executed to evaluate the effect of teaching requesting assistance and followed by independent task completion. Dependent measures included requests for assistance and independent task completion. Intervention was associated with initial acquisition of requests for assistance. As the participant became increasingly independent in completing the task, production of requests for assistance correspondingly diminished. A post‐hoc analysis revealed that the speed with which independent task completion occurred was substantially faster than when assistance was required. The implementation of the two independent variables was successful as the participant learned to moderate his use of requests for assistance. A discussion of competing schedules of reinforcement is offered as the explanation for this outcome.

Functional assessment in a residential setting: Identifying an effective communicative replacement response for aggressive behavior

Antecedent and consequent analyses were conducted in a residential setting to identify environmental variables maintaining aggressive behavior of a 24-year-old man with profound mental retardation. Results of the consequent analysis indicated the aggressive behavior was maintained by positive reinforcement (i.e., attention). Data from the antecedent analysis suggested that aggression was less likely to occur when social attention in the form of physical contact and conversation was available than when only conversation was available. A multielement design was used to compare rates of aggressive behavior and independent requests for attention across two functional communication training procedures that differed only in terms of the response effort. One condition required pointing to a picture of two people interacting (Point), the other condition required spelling the word “talk” on a laminated paper replica of a computer keyboard (Spell). Aggressive behavior occurred at lower rates in the Point condition than in the Spell condition. Additionally, independent requests occurred exclusively in the Point condition. Follow-up data indicate maintenance of treatment results for 2 years and daily use of several additional picture requests. Results are discussed in terms of linking treatment to assessment in natural settings and factors to consider when selecting interventions.

CALCULATING CONTINGENCIES IN NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS: ISSUES IN THE APPLICATION OF SEQUENTIAL ANALYSIS

Analysis and interpretation of behavior-environment relations are increasingly being conducted with data that have been derived descriptively. This paper provides an overview of the logic that underlies a sequential analytic approach to the analysis of descriptive data. Several methods for quantifying sequential relations are reviewed along with their strengths and weaknesses. Data from descriptive analyses are used to illustrate key points. Issues germane to contingency analysis in natural environments are discussed briefly. It is concluded that the conceptual distinctions among contiguity, contingency, and dependency are critical if the logic of sequential analysis is to be extended successfully to a behavior-analytic account of reinforcement in natural environments.

Effects of the High-Probability Request Procedure: Patterns of Responding to Low-Probability Requests

The effects of high probability (high-p) requests on compliance with low-probability (low-p) responses have received increasing attention in investigations aimed at increasing compliance. Differential effects of high-p treatments and at least three distinct patterns of responding to low-p requests have been presented in recent literature. We present a series of case studies with three children who had developmental disabilities and who displayed severe noncompliance. The effects of high-p treatments across several topographies of behavior in a variety of settings are representative of the three patterns presented in recent literature. In Pattern 1, increased compliance to low-p requests was most likely when compliance with high-p requests immediately preceded the low-p requests. In Pattern 2, compliance with low-p requests initially occurred differentially immediately following compliance with high-p requests, but across sessions these effects were sustained in the absence of the high-p requests. In Pattern 3, compliance with high-p requests did not result in compliance with subsequent low-p requests and compliance to high-p requests also decreased across sessions. This paper provides case illustrations of these patterns, a discussion of hypotheses regarding the basis for these differential effects, and implications for future analyses involving high-p procedures.

The Use of Functional Reading Analysis to Identify Effective Reading Interventions

Children who fail to become fluent readers by the end of the primary grades are likely to achieve below same-age peers throughout their school careers. With growing use of curriculum-based measures (CBMs), it is easier to identify those students who are achieving below same-age peers. Moreover, a process of conducting individualized assessment and intervention aimed at improving achievement could be developed within a response to intervention (RTI) model. For example, functional analysis procedures can be used to identify effective reading interventions for students achieving below expectations. The present study employed a multielement design to analyze the effects of various supplemental reading interventions on the oral reading fluency rates of 3 third-grade children. Differential effects were shown across conditions, leading to an individualized intervention recommendation for all participants. Generalized effects were shown over time in CBMs for all participants. Results are discussed in terms of the treatment utility of functional reading analysis for children who exhibit below-expected levels of reading achievement on CMBs and in terms of an RTI approach to identification and service provision for struggling readers.

Experimental analysis of academic performance in a classroom setting

We evaluated the effects of specific stimulus prompts on accuracy of academic performance with adolescents who displayed academic problems in a public special education classroom. We conducted analyses of instructional strategies within a multielement design with two students who had mild disabilities. Differential effects of the strategies on reading comprehension were not apparent on demand (independent-level) tasks but were apparent on high-demand (instructional-level) tasks. These results suggested that the application of experimental analysis methodologies to instructional variables may facilitate the identification of stimulus prompts associated with accurate academic performance.