The article proposes a sequential alternating treatments design requiring that two treatments be initially implemented in a random or counterbalanced fashion followed by a sequential change in one or both treatments across settings, subjects, or tasks. This design is appropriate when it is not feasible to obtain a traditional baseline condition.…

A commonly associated side effect of extinction as a treatment for behavior disorders is an initial increased frequency of the target response, called an "extinction burst." This study analyzed 113 sets of extinction data and found that extinction bursting occurred in only 24% of cases and was less common when extinction was combined…

This study examined how 3 students (ages 14-18, with emotional or behavioral disorders) allocated their responding across 2 concurrently available tasks associated with unequal rates and equal versus unequal qualities of reinforcement. It found that time allocated to concurrent response alternatives was approximately proportional to obtained…

Analysis of the reinforcement and extinction components of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) of three women with developmental disabilities and self-injurious behavior (SIB) found that DRO was only effective in combination with the relevant extinction component (withholding of attention for SIB). (Author/DB)

Independent descriptive (correlational) and functional (experimental) analyses, conducted with six subjects with profound mental retardation exhibiting self-injurious behavior (SIB), found that the descriptive analysis was useful in identifying the extent to which SIB was related to social versus nonsocial contingencies but was limited in its…

This study observed a classroom of 15 students (ages 3 to 11) with behavior disorders, using amount of teacher attention to generate hypotheses about problem behavior function which were then validated in individual functional assessments. For 14 of the students, accurate hypotheses were efficiently generated by noting how teachers distributed…

Basic and applied research on variables that influence the extinction of operant behaviors is reviewed and applied to the treatment of behavior disorders. The potential value of a general technology for the use of behavioral extinction is discussed. The paper concludes that current research findings are not sufficient for the development of a…

The effects of two methods of negative reinforcement on three young children (ages two and three) with developmental delays and chronic food refusal were examined. Physically guiding the child to accept food contingent on noncompliance and nonremoval of the spoon until the child ate were tested. Both treatments were effective; however, parents…

Descriptive and functional analysis of the bizarre speech of an adult with moderate mental retardation found that bizarre speech appeared to function as an attention-producing behavior. Two different yet functionally equivalent treatments (noncontingent scheduled attention and social language skill development) were found to be effective in…

Two elementary school students with emotional/behavioral challenges increased task engagement and reduced disruptive behavior when allowed to choose academic tasks. The effects of choice making were distinguished from preference, by yoking a no-choice phase to a previous choice-making condition; the yoked control phase was inferior to the…

This paper summarizes brief functional assessments of 79 cases of people with developmental disabilities and self-injurious, aggressive, stereotypic, or other aberrant behavior. Outcomes were evaluated across three variables: (1) referring topography, (2) control over behavior, and (3) the identified maintaining conditions for aberrant behavior.…

This study investigated the relationship between self-restraint (e.g., entanglement of limbs in clothing or furniture) and self-injurious behavior (SIB) using functional analysis with five males with severe mental retardation. Results suggested that self-restraint, like SIB, may be maintained by idiosyncratic contingencies. (Author/DB)

The study investigated the relationship between topographically different child behaviors (compliance and inappropriate activities) in four mentally retarded subjects (aged 3-5) by using a methodology that tests for response covariation. Regardless of the intervention used, the behavior targeted, or the direction manipulated, the nontargeted…

High-probability requests were provided to two boys (age seven) with behavior disorders and severe disabilities as an antecedent to delivering a low-probability request. Results showed an immediate increase in appropriate responding when the intervention was delivered. Generalized responding and response maintenance were also exhibited.…

Two studies involving three adolescents with severe emotional disturbance/behavior disorders and learning difficulties examined effects of problem difficulty and reinforcer quality upon time allocated to two sets of arithmetic problems. Results have implications for understanding the effects of problem difficulty and reinforcer quality on behavior…