Students may engage in high rates of social approach responses at inappropriate times throughout the school day. One intervention that has been used to teach students appropriate and inappropriate times to access attention is a multiple schedule of reinforcement. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of a multiple schedule that indicated when…

Three participants whose problem behavior was maintained by contingent attention were exposed to 45-min presessions in which attention was withheld, provided on a fixed-time (FT) 15-s schedule, or provided on an FT 120-s schedule. Following each presession, participants were then tested in a 15-min session similar to the social attention condition…

After an initial functional analysis of a participant's aggression showed unclear outcomes, we conducted preference and reinforcer assessments to identify preferred forms of attention that may maintain problem behavior. Next, we conducted an extended functional analysis that included a modified attention condition. Results showed that the…

Functional analyses of classroom disruption were conducted during contingent teacher and peer attention conditions for three children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Attention provided by peer confederates appeared to function as a distinct form of positive reinforcement for all three children (ages seven and nine). (Author/SW)

The results of a functional analysis of problem behavior and a paired-choice assessment were compared to determine whether the same social reinforcers were identified for problem behavior and an appropriate response (time allocation). The two assessments were conducted in classroom settings with 4 adolescents with mental retardation who engaged in…

To identify the most potent reinforcers for 10 young children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the relative treatment utility of a verbal forced-choice questionnaire, child nomination, and direct observation was evaluated. Results demonstrated that all three methods were more likely to disagree than agree and that a forced-choice…

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) was applied to reduce the destructive behaviors of five-year-old quadruplets diagnosed with mental retardation and pervasive developmental disorder. Findings suggest that the effectiveness of NCR may be dependent on the use of a dense schedule of reinforcement initially and that systematic fading can increase the…

The automatically reinforced self-injury of a girl (age 11) with autism was treated by providing noncontingent access to a single set of preferred toys during 30-minute sessions. Rotating toy sets after 10 minutes or providing access to multiple toy sets resulted in reductions that lasted the entire 30 minutes. (Contains four references.)…

Previous studies have shown that presession attention for problem behavior can serve as an abolishing operation when attention functions as a positive reinforcer. In the current study, we show that the stereotypy of a child with severe disabilities was undifferentiated during standard analogue functional analysis conditions. However, when…

A study of 2 boys (ages 11 and 16) with mental retardation and destructive behaviors investigated whether alternative stimuli identified through a choice assessment would substitute for attention in a noncontingent reinforcement procedure. Both continuous noncontingent access to attention and to the identified tangible item reduced destructive…

A study evaluated the accuracy of a reinforcer survey by comparing the survey results to the results of subsequent reinforcer assessment for 20 children with attention deficit disorders using a concurrent-operants arrangement to assess relative reinforcer preference. Total accuracy for the survey was determined to be approximately 57 percent.…

This study compared three methods of stimulus preference assessment for four verbal children (ages six to nine) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, specifically evaluating the utility of a verbal choice procedure for assessing relative reinforcer value. Verbal and pictorial stimulus-choice assessments identified high- and low-preference…

A study examined the effects of reinforcement contingencies designed to increase the performance of existing reading skills in three boys (age 9) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Results showed that a combination of contingencies, modeling, and practice was effective in producing substantial increases in oral reading fluency for all…

The effects of a presession exposure to attention on responding during subsequent assessment of attention as a reinforcer were evaluated across three behavioral assessments. In each experiment, the children responded differentially within the test condition according to the presence or absence of dense schedule of attention immediately prior to…

This study compared differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) in the reduction of self-injurious behavior in three adult females with severe or profound mental retardation. Both procedures were highly effective in reducing self-injury, with NCR less limited than DRO. (Author/DB)